Christian Zazueta is coming off a breakout season in 2025, posting a 2.41 ERA in 17 starts, 16 of them for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga, with 81 strikeouts and 16 walks in 67 1/3 innings, his 23.8-percent strikeout-minus-walk rate tops among all Dodgers minor league pitchers with at least 50 innings last year.
The right-hander was named a California League All-Star after the season, and won Cal League pitcher of the month for allowing only six runs in his six starts in May, with 31 strikeouts against only five walks in 30 innings. His best start came on June 18 against Lake Elsinore, when Zazueta retired 15 of 16 batters faced with 10 strikeouts in his five scoreless innings.
Acquired from the New York Yankees for lefty reliever Caleb Ferguson in February 2024 — two years ago Wednesday — Zazueta last season won the Branch Rickey Award as the Dodgers minor league pitcher of the year.
Now just 21 years old, Zazueta is rising on various prospect lists this year. He was ranked the seventh-best prospect in the Dodgers system by Eric Longenhagen at FanGraphs in December, with Longhagen noting an ankle sprain and second-half workload management by the Dodgers prevented Zazueta from ranking in an even higher tier.
More from Longenhagen:
The 2026 season is his 40-man platform year, so the Dodgers have incentive to stretch him out to 110-ish innings and push him to Double-A at some point to stress test that slider against better hitters. He’s on pace to make his big league debut in 2027 as a spot starter and then establish himself as key rotation cog in the years beyond. Our grade in this instance leaves room for Zazueta’s fastball velocity and command to improve thanks to his build and athletic traits.
Zazueta was ranked 12th by Baseball America, rated 16th by Baseball Prospectus, and 17th in the system by The Athletic. Kiley McDaniel at ESPN last week ranked Zazueta as the No. 156 prospect in baseball entering 2026, 11th in the Dodgers system.
Thomas Nestico at his TJ Stats newsletter this week had high praise for the minor league right-hander, including him in the “stuff savants” category of prospects he expects to make the top 100 entering 2027.
“Christian Zazueta may be the top pitching prospect in the Dodgers system, combining strong strike throwing with electric stuff,” Nestico wrote. “His fastball sits 93-94 mph with 14 inches of [induced vertical break], a shallow -4.3° [vertical approach angle], and excellent whiff rates, while his slider and changeup round out a prototypical three-pitch starter mix.”
Zazueta made one shortened (one-inning) start for High-A Great Lakes in August to end his 2025 season, so it’s likely that’s where he starts this season.
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