As always, Arizona targeted an athletic, high-contact up the middle prep bat with their first pick, then pivoted to drafting pitchers with six of their next seven picks going into the middle rounds. It's a class full of interesting fastball profiles including a few up into triple digits and one of my favorites in the class coming from Patrick Forbes. While two of their first three picks are listed at 5'10", it was otherwise a class full of size with eleven different draftees (more than half) listed at 6'3" or taller and thirteenth rounder Alex Galvan tipping the scales at 6'6", 245 pounds.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.
Note that the number before a player's name indicates their draft position. For example, "2-50" would indicate that a player was taken in the second round with the fiftieth overall pick.
1-18: SS Kayson Cunningham, Johnson HS [TX]
Slot value: $4.58 million. Signing bonus: $4.58 million.
My rank: #18. MLB Pipeline: #14. Baseball America: #12.
The Diamondbacks love high contact, athletic, up the middle prep bats and they got their guy in Kayson Cunningham. Many teams have watched Kevin McGonigle's ascent to the top prospect in the Tigers system and arguably in all of baseball. Cunningham shares a similar profile. Undersized at a generous 5'10", he has a chance to be a plus hitter with fringe-average power. His lightning quick left handed swing is super accurate, getting long through the strike zone and driving the ball out to all fields with some mustard on it. He never, ever swings and misses in the strike zone even against high end velocity and breaking stuff. Meanwhile, there is not a ton of power in the profile given his size, but his bat speed helps him generate fringy pop that could help him hit upwards of 10-15 home runs per season at the major league level with averages over .300. Drafted as a shortstop, he is a plus runner with good range that can get to balls all over the dirt. His arm is closer to average than plus and while he could potentially stick at shortstop, he's better at flipping the ball over to first base than he is at reaching back and gunning it so second base might be the best fit, where he could be a plus defender. The San Antonio native is old for the class, having turned 19 before the draft, but McGonigle was old for the class too and it's worked out just fine for him. Cunningham is an exciting young player and if he can continue to hit for some pop with wood bats, he could be an All Star in Arizona.
1C-29: RHP Patrick Forbes, Louisville
Slot value: $3.19 million. Signing bonus: $3 million ($191,100 below slot value).
My rank: #32. MLB Pipeline: #31. Baseball America: #47.
Patrick Forbes is a really fun arm with some of the highest upside of any pitcher in the class if he can put it together. He couldn't find the strike zone as a freshman and barely pitched, walking 15 of the 51 batters he faced (29.4% walk rate), but pulled it together enough to hold down a swingman role as a sophomore in 2024. He then dominated his way through non-conference play in 2025 (39/3 K/BB in 21 IP) and pushed his way into the first round conversation, but did not fare nearly as well in ACC play and lost a good chunk of his prospect stock when he walked seven batters in three innings at NC State in April. However, he righted the ship somewhat as the season came to a close, including racking up 32 strikeouts in three starts during Louisville's NCAA Tournament run to the College World Series. Forbes has explosive stuff. It's what I call a "rocket ship" fastball, exploding out of his hand with mid 90's velocity and big riding action, topping out in triple digits. He works between a sweeping slider and a sharper bullet slider, giving him an above average breaker when he rips it right. At this point, Forbes primarily pitches off the fastball and slider and the Diamondbacks will need to help bring his changeup along. The 6'3" righty creates a low release point with his short arm action, making the riding action on his fastball all the more impressive so that it can absolutely eat up in the zone. As has been made clear, his command comes and goes. Some days, he's around the zone and looks like he could have average command. On others, he can't find the zone. Honing that in will be the biggest key for Forbes remaining a starter, though the fastball/slider combination would be absolutely nasty out of the bullpen, where he could live in the upper 90's. Even without a reliable changeup, the stuff is so electric that it's not necessarily a hurdle so long as the command is taken care of. Arizona has had success with Kentuckian starting pitchers like Brandon Webb and Brandon Pfaadt, so Patrick Forbes will hopefully be next in line.
3-92: RHP Brian Curley, Georgia
Slot value: $839,100. Signing bonus: $700,000 ($139,100 below slot value).
My rank: #149. MLB Pipeline: #102. Baseball America: #216.
Sticking with the power arms, Brian Curley brings more triple digit velocity following Patrick Forbes. He began his career at VCU and rode a big sophomore season into an opportunity to transfer to Georgia, where he began in the bullpen but worked his way into the rotation. Curley's fastball sits in the mid 90's and can touch 100 in short stints, coming in with huge riding action from a higher slot. His hard, tight slider is his primary offspeed pitch with late dive under bats, while he can soften it up into a curveball or changeup if needed. The first two are more reliable than the latter two, which mostly serve as change of pace offerings to keep hitters off his power stuff. While the fastball/slider Forbes clocked in at a listed 6'3", 220 pounds, Curley is much stockier at 5'10", 210 pounds. The size combined with his high effort delivery and fringy command will likely push him to the bullpen, where he can live in the upper 90's and dice hitters up with his slider. The Richmond-area native also brings a fiery personality on the mound perfect for relief work, and I think both he and Arizona would love to have him on the mound closing games at Chase Field. While both he and Forbes were college juniors, he is more than a thirteen months older than Forbes and turned 22 more than a month before the draft, making him the age of a senior sign. Regardless, he should move quickly in a relief role or the Diamondbacks could try him out as a starter and see if they can better apply his natural athleticism to his delivery.
4-123: RHP Dean Livingston, Hebron Christian HS [GA]
Slot value: $611,300. Signing bonus: $1 million ($388,700 above slot value).
My rank: #125. MLB Pipeline: #95. Baseball America: #152.
Lacking a second round pick, Arizona spent big on fourth rounder Dean Livingston, a Georgia commit, and gave him a seven figure signing bonus akin to the #81 overall pick early in the third round, three hundred thousand more than their own third rounder Brian Curley. Livingston is pretty much how you draw it up as a prep pitching prospect. Listed at 6'4", 205 pounds with an ideal combination of present physicality and future projection, he certainly looks the part. Presently, the fastball sits in the low to mid 90's and reached as high as 97 this spring, and he throws distinct four and two seam fastballs. His breaking balls don't stand out with fairly pedestrian tilt, though he does show good aptitude to land them where he needs them. His changeup is usually pretty firm, but he can show nice fade at times. In all, Arizona is buying the athlete and what could be. Besides the presently above average velocity, the Atlanta-area product has a very clean, athletic delivery that appears destined to add even more velocity without sacrificing command. In fact, besides the lack of a standout secondary pitch, one of the only potential holes in the profile is that his delivery may be too clean, giving hitters a straightforward look at what is coming out of his hand. Despite the lack of deception, he throws plenty hard already and stays around the strike zone, and if he can take a step forward across the board with his offspeed stuff, he has a nice ceiling as a #3 or #4 starter.
5-153: OF Nathan Hall, South Carolina
Slot value: $456,400. Signing bonus: $456,400.
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #281.
Arizona's first college bat of the class is another upside play. Nathan Hall spent two years at Clemson, where he primarily came off the bench and started just 20 of the 51 games he played in, with unremarkable offensive numbers. He transferred to rival South Carolina this year and proved that all he needed was consistent playing time, this time starting 54 of the Gamecocks' 57 games in what was unfortunately a season to forget in Columbia. Hall has a projectable, athletic frame at 6'3" and a balanced profile that brings some upside too. While he's a relatively aggressive hitter, he shows strong plate coverage and ran just an 11.7% strikeout rate, leading USC with a .322 batting average in the process. He produces sneaky raw power and while he put up just seven home runs in 2025, he shows plus top-end exit velocities that might help him profile for average or better game power in the future. Right now, his swing is more geared towards ground balls and he doesn't always get his A swing off, so helping him a) get better pitches to hit and/or b) trade some contact for more power in the air could give him 15-20 home runs per season or better. All in all, it's one of the better contact/power combinations in the class, even if he doesn't tap it quite yet and chases too much. Meanwhile, Hall is an above average runner and has shown well in center field, where he could stick if Arizona needs him to. That would certainly take some pressure off his bat as it develops towards its ceiling. There is much more upside than you'd think here for an SEC (i.e., not unknown) bat who was drafted far above where he ranked on most public boards as a potential everyday center fielder or a solid fourth outfielder.
8-243: RHP Jack Martinez, Arizona State
Slot value: $223,100. Signing bonus: $167,330 ($55,770 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #242.
This is a fun senior sign for a bit of a discount. While he's not a desert native, Jack Martinez will need to travel just eight miles from school to his new big league home. Martinez grew up in Corpus Christi and stayed relatively close to home for two years at Trinity University in San Antonio, then transferred to Louisiana-Lafayette for a good-not-great junior season in 2024. Transferring a second time to Arizona State for his senior season, he racked up strikeouts in bunches with five different double digit strikeout games (including a dozen K's against rival Arizona) and finds himself a Diamondback. Martinez sits in the low to mid 90's with his fastball, reaching back for as much as 97 to blow by hitters. He throws a distinct slider and curveball, though neither stand out and can look loopier than sharp. His changeup is his best pitch, fading at the last minute and helping him run those high strikeout numbers. The 6'4" righty has the size to start but uses a high effort delivery with huge lower half extension, impacting his strike throwing. He ran a career best 9.7% walk rate in 2025, but that was more a product of scattered strikes than it was of true command and he got hit when he left the ball over the plate. Interestingly, Martinez commands his offspeed stuff better than his fastball, meaning he'll have to steal strikes with those pitches instead. It does give hitters a different look and would work really well in short stints in the bullpen, where he could approach the upper 90's at peak velocity. If he can find a way to fine tune his fastball command to match his offspeed command, there is upside of a #4 or #5 starter there. As a senior sign, Martinez turned 22 back in March.
11-333: LHP Luke Dotson, Mississippi State
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $500,000 ($350,000 against bonus pool).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: unranked.
Luke Dotson spent two years at Mississippi State, taking on a relief role as a sophomore to moderate success, then announced his intention to transfer to Texas for the 2026 season. Firmly committed to the Longhorns and falling out of the top ten rounds, it seemed highly likely that Dotson was heading for Austin, but the Diamondbacks gave him fifth round money to come to the desert instead. His fastball sits in the low 90's and touches 96, but plays up with riding and cutting action from a deceptive slot. His curveball gets nice dive over the plate, while his changeup gives him a third usable pitch against righties. Right now, the fastball is more consistent than the breaking balls and the command is closer to fringy than average, so for now he projects more as a reliever. However, the Diamondbacks seem to love his fastball and see a relatively easy, athletic delivery and a physical 6'4" frame and may think they can push him into the rotation. Transitions in the opposite direction are usually more fruitful, but reliever -> starter does work sometimes as well. For it to work, Arizona will bank on that size helping him hold his average fastball velocity deeper into starts while bringing his secondaries along. The curveball in particular shows promise of becoming a potential above average pitch.
18-543: RHP Raul Garayzar, Arizona
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $100,000.
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: unranked.
Raul Garayzar gives the Diamondbacks a second Arizona college product and this time, he's an Arizona native. Garayzar grew up in Rio Rico, a small town just north of the border near Nogales, then started his college career at South Mountain JC in Phoenix. He transferred to Arizona for his final two seasons, and though he didn't do much as a junior, he was a valuable swingman for the Wildcats as a senior and put up a 2.81 ERA in hitter-friendly conditions. The fastball sits in the low 90's and touches 95, not overwhelming velocity but its running action helps him keep the ball on the ground consistently. There's nice sweep on his slider but his changeup may be his best pitch with a ton of running action moving the opposite direction of his cutting fastball. The 6'4" righty is a big guy who generates his velocity pretty easily with a smooth, repeatable delivery that helps him show solid command. It's probably a long relief role without a ton of ceiling, but a very nice hometown get.
