by Megan Garcia
Outfielder Eduardo Quintero, the Dodgers’ №4 prospect, is the Dodgers’ 2025 Branch Rickey Minor League Player of the Year. Right-handed pitcher Christian Zazueta, the Dodgers’ №16 prospect, was named the Branch Rickey Minor League Pitcher of the Year.
Both are only 20 years old.
Quintero emerged with power in his third season in the Dodger farm system. His 19 home runs set a career high.
The Venezuela native finished this season with a .293/.415/.508/.923 slash line between Single-A Rancho Cucamonga and High-A Great Lakes.
He was a two-time California League Player of the Week for the Quakes. Quintero had 14 homers and 53 RBI with a .306/.426/.533/.960 slash line when he was promoted to High-A Great Lakes on July 25. He finished his season batting .259/.384/.440/.923 with five homers and 16 RBI in 32 games for the Loons.
Quintero is described as a patient hitter and aggressive baserunner by MLB Pipeline. His 88 walks led all Dodger Minor Leaguers, while his 47 stolen bases ranked fourth.
The outfielder put up strong numbers against left-handed pitching this season. He slashed .319/.432/.630/1.062 with 15 extra-base hits against southpaws.
Zazueta completed his second season in the Dodger organization and fourth overall Minor League season in 2025. The right-hander was acquired by the Dodgers when they traded left-handed pitcher Caleb Ferguson to the Yankees on Feb. 5, 2024.
In two seasons with the Dodgers, he is 11–7 with a 3.84 ERA and 167 strikeouts in 138 1/3 innings.
His 2.41 ERA in 2025 led all Dodger Minor League pitchers with a minimum of 60 innings pitched this season. Zazueta’s 18 earned runs in 67 1/3 innings pitched where also an improvement from last season, when he posted a 5.20 ERA in 19 games (71 innings).
Zazueta’s season is highlighted by a 10-strikeout start for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga on June 18. He earned the win that day after pitching five scoreless innings.
He had a 10.8 strikeouts-per-nine-innings rate while striking out 81 batters this season. His 1.03 WHIP in 2025 is a career best.
Zazueta appeared in 16 games for Rancho Cucamonga and one for Great Lakes this season.
Quintero and Zazueta named 2025 Branch Rickey Award winners was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.