In the lower levels of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ farm system, a young ace emerges. Christian Zazueta has posted a career year so far with the Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.

Zazueta has logged a 2.37 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP with 69 strikeouts and 14 walks over 60.2 innings across 13 starts. The young righty is just 20 years old and has defied expectations in his second year in LA’s system.

Zazueta came to the Dodgers organization from the New York Yankees’ farm before the 2024 season. The Yankees traded him to LA alongside fellow pitcher Matt Gage in exchange for reliever Caleb Ferguson.

Ferguson’s tenure in New York was short, lasting just half a season. The lefty pitcher logged a 5.13 ERA with 41 strikeouts and 16 walks over 33.1 innings in pinstripes before he was traded to the Astros at the trade deadline. His numbers improved rather significantly with Houston, and he pitched to a 3.86 ERA with 26 strikeouts over 21 innings to finish out the season.

Top Dodgers pitching prospect Christian Zazueta, acquired via trade with Yankees, could be turning into an ace

The Yankees, whose rivalry with the Dodgers is newly reinvigorated after the clubs met in the 2024 World Series, didn’t get much use out of Ferguson before he was better suited as a trade piece. The Dodgers also quickly dished out one of their returns in the trade (Gage never appeared in the major leagues for LA and clocked a 4.29 ERA in 21 innings with Triple-A Oklahoma City), but if Zazueta continues growing as he has this season, they’d come out as sure-fire winners.

Zazueta is a career 4.13 ERA pitcher over three-plus seasons of professional baseball, with two-plus seasons in rookie ball. His transition to the Dodgers organization wasn’t the smoothest, and he logged a 6.36 ERA in his first 52.1 innings with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga in 2024. Something has changed in his game, though, and he’s quickly emerged as a prospect to watch in the Dodgers organization.

Zazueta is currently the Dodgers’ No. 19 prospect and he’s expected to debut in 2027 (unfortunately, not soon enough to give LA’s exhausted and injured pitching staff any depth this year). Hopefully, he continues on his upward trajectory and becomes the homegrown ace the Dodgers need a few years down the line.