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Dodgers Place J.D. Martinez On Injured List, Activate Will Smith

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The Dodgers announced a handful of roster moves before tonight’s series opener with St. Louis. Will Smith has been reinstated from the concussion injured list, while Max Muncy and Brusdar Graterol are each back from paternity leave. In corresponding active roster moves, J.D. Martinez was placed on the 10-day IL while Luke Williams and Justin Bruihl were optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Smith missed a little under two weeks after sustaining a concussion on a series of foul tips off the mask. The Dodgers were originally planning to stretch his IL stay into this weekend but Martinez’s injury accelerated his return by a day or two. Smith won’t immediately hop back behind the dish; he’s in tonight’s lineup as the designated hitter in Martinez’s stead.

The Dodgers will stick with three catchers on the active roster for the time being. Smith’s injury led L.A. to sign Austin Wynns to a major league contract to back up Austin Barnes. Wynns can’t be optioned to the minor leagues, so the Dodgers would have to keep three catchers on the active roster if they don’t want to risk losing him.

Martinez’s IL placement was backdated to April 25, ruling him out for at least a week. He’s been hampered by back soreness in recent days; the club announced the issue as lower back tightness. The offseason signee is off to a strong start to his Dodger tenure. Through 23 games, he carries a .250/.306/.534 line with four home runs over 98 plate appearances.

Meanwhile, the decision to option Williams means L.A. will keep rookie Michael Busch on the MLB roster for now. The Dodgers promoted the top hitting prospect once Muncy hit the paternity list earlier this week. There was some thought it could be a temporary promotion but Busch will get more than the three games he’s logged so far. The North Carolina product has started his MLB career 1-11.

Dodgers To Promote Michael Busch

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The Dodgers are going to promote prospect Michael Busch, reports Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times. Busch will take the roster spot of Max Muncy, who is going on the paternity list. Busch is already on the 40-man roster and won’t require a corresponding move in that regard. The Dodgers are off tonight but start a series in Pittsburgh tomorrow, when the move should be made official.

Busch, 25, was a first round pick of the Dodgers, getting selected 31st overall in 2019. He has since been posting excellent numbers in the minors, showing both tremendous power and patience in the box. He spent all of 2021 in Double-A, walking in 14.1% of his plate appearances and hitting 20 home runs in 107 games. Last year, he split his time between Double-A and Triple-A, hitting 32 home runs in 142 games between those two levels, walking in 11.5% of his trips to the plate. His combined .274/.365/.516 batting line translated to a 118 wRC+. Busch was added to the club’s 40-man roster in November to protect him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft. He’s off to a roaring start here in 2023, hitting .337/.461/.506 through 21 Triple-A games.

If there’s a knock on Busch, it’s on the defensive side of things. A first baseman in college, he’s spent a bit of time there recently but has seen the bulk of his action as a professional at second base. He’s also had short stints at third base and left field. Playing all of those different positions is less a reflection of versatility and more a suggestion that he’s not really a strong defender and is a work in progress as the Dodgers try to find a home for him in the field. Some evaluators have compared him to the player he’s replacing today, Muncy, as both players combine power and plate discipline with some degree of defensive versatility.

The Dodgers had a relatively modest offseason by their standards, letting notable players depart while signing various veterans to one-year deals. That’s allowed them to give some runway to various younger players, such as Miguel Vargas, James Outman, Michael Grove and Ryan Pepiot, though the latter two are now on the injured list. Busch will be latest youngster to get a crack at the big leagues.

Coming into this year, Busch was ranked around the middle of many top 100 prospect lists, including Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus. The first two of those are potentially significant, given the rules under the new collective bargaining agreement. It’s too late in the season for Busch to get to a full year of service time the traditional way, but his status as a top prospect provides him with an alternate path. Under the new CBA, players with less than 60 days of service time that are on two of the preseason top 100 lists of Baseball America, MLB Pipeline or ESPN can earn a full year of service regardless of when they were called up if they finish in the top two of Rookie of the Year voting.

That may end up being a fairly moot point in this case, as it seems possible that Busch will only get a brief stay in the bigs while Muncy is on the paternity list. But if he somehow manages to stick around and perform well enough to get some decent Rookie of the Year votes, he could get himself to that full year. He didn’t crack the top 100 at ESPN but the BA and MLB Pipeline ranks are enough to get that on the table.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Dodgers Select Four Players

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The Dodgers have selected catcher Diego Cartaya, infielder Michael Busch and outfielders Andy Pages and Jonny DeLuca to the 40-man roster, per a team announcement. That quartet is now protected from being taken in next month’s Rule 5 Draft.

It’s a notable group to join the 40-man roster. Cartaya, Busch and Pages, in particular, all rank among Baseball America’s top 100 prospects in the game, with Cartaya drawing a particularly impressive placement at No. 9 overall.

The 21-year-old Cartaya split his 2022 season between Class-A and High-A, where he was notably younger than the league average at both levels. The age gap didn’t deter him, however, as he turned in a combined .254/.389/.503 batting line with 22 home runs and doubles alike. Cartaya is considered a work in progress with the glove but boasts huge raw power and a keen eye at the plate, evidenced by a walk rate north of 14% in 2022.

Busch, meanwhile, is a second baseman who slugged 32 home runs, walked at an 11.5% clip and struck out in 26% of his plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A in 2022. His combined .274/.365/.516 batting line shows plenty of promise, even though scouting reports question his overall defensive value. BA lists him 46th on its top 100.

Pages, ranked 72nd by BA, hit .236/.336/.468 in 132 games as a 21-year-old in Double-A, more than holding his own against more advanced pitching. He also fared well in the Arizona Fall League, batting .296/.398/.506 in his 98 plate appearances there. He swatted 26 home runs in Double-A this year and 31 in High-A a year ago, and BA notes that Pages has some of the best raw power of any prospect in baseball.

As for DeLuca, the 24-year-old doesn’t draw the same fanfare as today’s other three additions, but his .260/.347/.541 batting line, 25 homers, 22 doubles, five triples and 17 stolen bases were convincing enough for the Dodgers to protect him. DeLuca fanned in just 14.3% of his 119 plate appearances in Double-A this year, and while that’s a small sample from a late-in-the-year promotion, it likely tickets him for a return effort there to begin the 2023 season. With a strong showing, he could be in Triple-A before long, and a look in the Majors next season is certainly plausible now that he’s in the upper minors and on the 40-man.

Dodgers Mull Rotation Options

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Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has yet to name David Price’s replacement in the rotation, but Tony Gonsolin isn’t likely to claim the spot, writes J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group. Gonsolin certainly put together enough of an effort in 2019 (2.93 ERA/3.86 FIP across 11 appearances, six starts), but according to Roberts, the issue is that Gonsolin is behind his competitors in terms of building up the strength a starter needs to accumulate heavy usage.

In a vacuum, Ross Stripling would figure to be the top candidate to join Clayton Kershaw, Alex Wood, Julio Urias, and Walker Buehler in the rotation. Despite being temporarily traded to the Angels, Stripling’s been largely productive as a swingman and occasional starter for the Dodgers. While contributing between 74 and 122 innings over the last four seasons, Stripling has never had an ERA or FIP higher than 3.96, coming in his rookie season. In this environment, however, roles will have as much to do with readiness as past performance. Dustin May could certainly earn some consideration for the rotation, as could Dennis Santana. Edwin Uceta could also get a look. May, 22, has the highest upside of the group.

In other news from camp, the Dodgers added six players to their 60-man player pool, writes Hoornstra (via Twitter). Michael Busch, Anthony Garcia, Landon Knack, Bobby Miller, Ryan Pepiot, Edubray Ramos and Carson Taylor all join the pool as non-roster invitees.

Dodgers Sign First-Rounder Michael Busch

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JULY 5: The Dodgers have signed Busch for full slot value, Jim Callis of MLB.com tweets.

JULY 3: The Dodgers are closing in on an agreement with first-round pick Michael Busch, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports. The two sides will ultimately reach a deal, according to Heyman. As the 31st overall choice, Busch’s selection calls for a $2.31MM slot value.

Busch, a former University of North Carolina first baseman, is one of two first-rounders the Dodgers reeled in during this year’s draft. They nabbed third baseman Kody Hoese, who’s already signed, at No. 25 overall. The club received the pick it used on Busch as compensation for not signing 30th overall choice J.T. Ginn in 2018.

Entering the draft, ESPN’s Keith Law (No. 16), Baseball America (24), FanGraphs (24), MLB.com (26) ranked Busch in the vicinity of where the Dodgers picked him. Law (subscription required) credits Busch as disciplined hitter who showed “quick hands” and an ability to make impactful contact at UNC. While Heyman notes Busch could become the Dodgers’ second baseman, Law suggests he’ll be limited to first and questions whether he’ll even perform well there in the majors.

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