New month, same sweet-swinging Cartaya for Double-A Tulsa
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Diego Cartaya, the top-ranked prospect in the Dodgers' organization, has been as potent offensively as advertised over his last eight outings with Double-A Tulsa.
While he may have started the season with a .190/.288/.337 slash line in 26 contests, he showed up to Riverfront Stadium for Thursday night's tilt at Wichita posting a 1.099 OPS in his last seven contests. He scored nine runs in those seven games, and three via the big fly.
"I'm just trying to stay simple at the plate, and just put the ball in play," Cartaya said after Wednesday's contest. "And I feel like when I do that, good things happen."
He had hit home runs in three straight games heading into Thursday, and he wasted little time in resuming his homer streak.
In the third inning off of Twins left-handed prospect Aaron Rozek, Cartaya drilled a line-drive homer to cut the Wind Surge’s lead down to 3-2. Continuing his homer streak was necessary for the Drillers, as they ended up winning, 5-4.
He left the yard even earlier on Wednesday. Within three pitches of his first at-bat of the game, he crushed a solo shot out of the park to deep left. The No. 1 catching prospect in baseball made it count too, recording a 101 mph exit velocity off of Twins prospect Carlos Luna.
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Cartaya collected another extra-base hit in the form of a double to left in his next at-bat against the right-hander. Cartaya was the only hitter for Tulsa to record two hits in their 7-2 loss to the Twins' Double-A affiliate.
On Tuesday, Cartaya jumped on the first pitch he saw in his second at-bat off of another right-handed Twins prospect in Blayne Enlow. That one drove in not only himself, but teammate Yusniel Diaz as well. It was an opposite-field home run that time, and it proved to be the difference in the Drillers' 9-8 victory over the Wind Surge.
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Tulsa's prior outing was on Sunday, and they picked up a 4-1 win against Northwest Arkansas. Cartaya padded the Drillers' 2-0 lead with a solo shot to left off of another right-hander -- this time a Top 10 Royals prospect in Jonathan Bowlan. Not only did he begin his homer streak in that contest, but he also began a three-game streak of multihit games.
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Cartaya, the No. 12 prospect in baseball, got off to a rocky start as he kicked off his Double-A journey this season. Scoring at least one run in eight straight games and homering in four straight, however, points to the 21-year-old finding his groove. Flexing his 60-grade power, Cartaya is now up to 24 RBIs in 34 games this year as he looks to continue his ascension through the Dodgers' organizational ranks.