Jacob Amaya considered best defensive player in Dodgers’ system

Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Mike Rosenbaum at MLB.com picked a defensive standout for all 30 MLB teams, and shortstop Jacob Amaya was named the best defensive prospect in the Dodgers minor league system.

“While his bat-to-ball skills are his strongest suit, his high baseball IQ and nonstop energy allow him to play quicker than his average speed in the middle infield, where he also shows quick, reliable hands and a strong, accurate arm,” they wrote about Amaya.

The Dodgers drafted Amaya in the 11th round in 2017 out of South Hills High School in West Covina. Amaya spent part of 2020 at the Dodgers’ alternate training site at USC as part of their player pool, and was a non-roster invitee to spring training in February and March at Camelback Ranch in Arizona.

In his last minor league season, in 2019, Amaya hit .260/.369/.391 with 28 doubles, seven home runs, and six triples between both Class-A levels.

Amaya, who turned 22 in September, was also named by Baseball America as the Dodgers’ best defensive infield prospect and their prospect with the best strike-zone discipline.

Links

• Don Sutton was memorialized by Jay Jaffe at FanGraphs.
• Al Downing, who allowed Henry Aaron’s 715th home run, talked to Bill Ladson at MLB.com after Aaron’s death on Friday.
• Michael Busch rated as the No. 5 second base prospect in baseball per MLB.com, and the most power at the position. “Busch could provide 25 or more homers on an annual basis thanks to his knack for barreling balls, his combination of bat speed and strength, and his polished approach,” Jim Callis wrote. In addition Zach McKinstry earned honorable mention, with Callis noting, “McKinstry has the potential for average or better tools across the board and is capable of playing all over the infield and outfield.”
• Former Dodgers manager Davey Johnson was hospitalized last week, getting treated for COVID-19, before being sent home on Friday, writes the Associated Press.
• From Ted Schultz at The Republic in Columbus, Indiana, on Dodgers 2018 fifth-round draft pick Devin Mann: “[Mann’s agent Jonathan] Maurer was passing along the news that there was a high possibility that Mann would be invited to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ major league spring training camp.” Mann, an infielder, was in the Dodgers’ player pool last season.