Cody Snavely
The Los Angeles Dodgers shook up their minor league system, adding, releasing, and promoting multiple players throughout all their affiliated teams.
Among those players was the promotion of the Dodgers’ top catching prospect Dalton Rushing, who got the call from Double-A Tula to Triple-A OKC but, in a twist, will get the majority of playing time in left field.
It has been an impressive 2024 season for Rushing, who has hit .270/.378/.512 with a .890 OPS, seventeen home runs, and fifty-nine RBIs in two-hundred-eighty-one at-bats.
Over the last three seasons, Rushing has overtaken former top catching prospect Diego Cartaya, who is now the Dodgers’ number one overall prospect and the forty-sixth-ranked prospect on the MLB Pipeline top one hundred.
Before 2024, Rushing played only three positions: catcher, first base, and designated hitter. Over the last few weeks in Double-A, the Dodgers have started playing the young prospect in left field, and according to Triple-A, OKC manager Travis Babary Rushing will exclusively play left field to start his time with the Triple-A club.
Unsurprisingly, the Dodgers are experimenting with Rushing in left field. With September inching closer, he could be a viable call-up if all goes well in Triple-A.
The Dodgers’ outfield situation has been a problem for most of the season, with various injuries to lefty Jason Heyward, a disastrous second season for James Outman, and Andy Pages‘ up-and-down play style.
The anchor has been Teoscar Hernández, who has put together an amazing first year in Dodger Blue, hitting .267/.332/.492 with a .824 OPS, 131 OPS+, and twenty-four home runs.
However, if one area has been the worst, it has been left field, which the Dodgers tried using former top prospect Miguel Vargas to fill but decided to ship him off to the Chicago White Sox (a fate worse than death).
The Dodgers rank twelfth in the National League in total offense for left field, hitting .227/.300/.379 and having a 93 wRC+. While the team has other options, such as Amed Rosario, Kevin Kiermaier, and Tommy Edman, if they can shift Rushing to left field for 2024, we could see him as soon as next month when rosters expand.
While I am not a fan of such drastic defensive switches this late into the season, it makes sense, given the Dodgers’ current needs. It could help create competition between other bench bats for the September stretch as the team prepares its roster for October.
We had the chance to catch up with Rushing during Spring Training, and you can catch that interview here:
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