2025 MLB Draft Review: Arizona Diamondbacks

Full list of draftees

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.

2024 MLB Draft Review: Arizona Diamondbacks

Full list of draftees

The Diamondbacks did not pick until #29 this year, but Corbin Carroll's Rookie of the Year Award and an extra CBA pick meant they got to pick at #29, #31, and #35, giving them the eleventh largest bonus pool in the league. That allowed Arizona to target several expensive preps across all three days of the draft, including four on day three of which they may be able to sign one or two. Athleticism and upside were a constant theme in this class, which they traded for the safety of more polished players. I personally love this class and I'm be very excited to see what comes out of it.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.
Note that the number before a player's name indicates their draft position. "2-50" would indicate that a player was drafted in the second round with the fiftieth overall pick.

1-29: OF Slade Caldwell, Valley View HS [AR] {video}
Slot value: $3.05 million. Signing bonus: likely to be well above slot value.
My rank: #17. MLB Pipeline: #27. Baseball America: #19.
The Diamondbacks started this draft with a bang, floating arguably the #3 prep prospect in the country all the way down to the #29 pick with what is certain to be a massive bonus to divert him away from an Ole Miss commitment. Slade Caldwell is a unique prospect, and not just because he comes from off the beaten path a little bit in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Generously listed at 5'9", he may be an inch or two shorter than that but he is for real. Caldwell has a lightning quick bat with some of the fastest hands in the class, quickly deploying his left handed swing for hard contact all over the zone. Lauded as one of the better pure hitters in the class, he controls the strike zone very well and rarely misses his pitch, giving him the potential for a plus hit tool when all is said and done. The power is fringy, but he gets the bat up to top speed so quickly that he still packs a lot more juice than you'd expect for a kid his size and should flirt with double digit home run totals annually. Beyond that, he's a plus runner that will stick in center field long term where his fringy arm isn't an issue. It's easy to make the comparison to fellow DBack outfielder Corbin Carroll, while it similarly makes sense to do so with 2022 Mets first rounder Jett Williams. Given the career arcs of those two, I think that's a very favorable projection for Caldwell, who could hit atop the Arizona batting order for years to come while flirting with .400 on-base percentages and stealing 20-30+ bags a year. I love the pick.

PPI-31: OF Ryan Waldschmidt, Kentucky {video}
Slot value: $2.90 million. Signing bonus: likely to be around slot value.
My rank: #19. MLB Pipeline: #23. Baseball Reference: #33.
Speaking of Corbin Carroll, his winning Rookie of the Year last year gave the Diamondbacks an extra pick after the first round and they used it to grab another really good one. Ryan Waldschmidt was a late riser up boards, having begun his career at Charleston Southern in 2022 before transferring to Kentucky. After an unremarkable sophomore season in Lexington, he broke out in 2024 as one of the SEC's most dynamic players. He's a metric darling, grading out well in virtually every measurable. He uses a compact right handed swing to blast balls around the park with sneaky plus power, showing batted ball data with the production to match. Not only that, but he's a very disciplined hitter who rarely chases and does plenty of damage within the zone, giving him an above average hit tool as well. If there's one wart on the offensive profile, it's that he doesn't do much damage when he does chase, so he'll have to continue to control the strike zone in pro ball. Waldschmidt is also an above average runner who may stick in center field, though given he dropped out of the first round this year, more teams may see him as a left fielder where his below average arm won't be as much of an issue. The offensive bar is higher in left field, but I'm confident the Tampa-area native can clear it and become a dynamic contributor in a multitude of ways.

CBA-35: SS JD Dix, Whitefish Bay HS [WI] {video}
Slot value: $2.63 million. Signing bonus: difficult to predict.
My rank: #72. MLB Pipeline: #75. Baseball America: #62.
JD Dix was always going to be difficult to place on draft boards, and as it turns out he went about a round earlier than most expected. Scouts have a longer history with him, but he battled a shoulder injury over the summer that sapped his strength and wound up having labrum surgery. He didn't face the toughest competition up in the Milwaukee area and opinions varied wildly on him. For that reason, there are some similarities to Boston's Nick Yorke pick in 2020, though Yorke did face better competition in the San Francisco Bay Area while Dix is a better defender. Dix has impressive strength in his 6'2" frame and can really whip the bat through the zone, with strong wrists that can adjust and get the barrel to balls all over the zone with authority. A very advanced hitter for his age, he's decidedly hit over power at this point, but I wouldn't put it past him to develop average or better power in games despite not having unlocked it quite yet. He's also a sound defender who has shown well at shortstop, though the shoulder injury will call his arm strength into question. If he has to move over to second base, he still should have the bat to profile as a high on-base type with 10-20 home run power, and if he sticks there you suddenly have a steal of a draft pick. Dix runs well and should be a factor on the bases as well. At full strength, this is an exceptionally well-rounded profile. It's difficult to ascertain just how large of a bonus it will take to keep him from a Wake Forest commitment, as he was drafted much earlier than some expected but may still require a hefty sum to stay out of Winston-Salem.

2-64: C Ivan Luciano, El Shaddai Christian HS [PR] {video}
Slot value: $1.32 million. Signing bonus: likely to be below slot value.
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #220. unranked.
This pick was a surprise to many, as Ivan Luciano did not rank on the Baseball America 500 and was indeed off the radar for many prospect evaluators, including myself. The Diamondbacks will likely get him for well below slot value, looking to pull him away from a Miami of Ohio commitment in a range at least a few rounds earlier than he was expected to go. Luciano is an up arrow guy who showed well at the MLB Draft Combine right there at Chase Field, where Arizona decision makers no doubt got a good look at him. Compact and strong at 5'10", he's built like a catcher and looks the part. His defense has steadily crept forward, as he has learned to more effectively deploy his above average arm and his throws have gotten more accurate. Having worked with Yadier Molina, he's also moving better back there and now looks like he'll stick as a catcher long term, with the potential to even become an above average defender back there on his current trajectory. Similarly, the bat has taken strides, as his swing gets more fluid and powerful. It's overall an average all-around offensive profile befitting of a backup catcher at this point. Adding to intrigue is his age, as Luciano was tied for the second youngest player taken in the entire draft (alongside New York prep pitcher/Brewers 18th rounder Tyler Renz and behind fellow Puerto Rican catcher/Reds' tenth rounder Yanuel Casiano), meaning he won't turn 18 until the offseason. That gives him upwards of a year's extra time to develop physically and hone his craft. The Diamondbacks are buying into that youth as well as the steady, continual improvements he has displayed in all aspects of his game.

3-102: RHP Daniel Eagen, Presbyterian {video}
Slot value: $717,700. Signing bonus: likely to be around slot value.
My rank: #81. MLB Pipeline: #83. Baseball America: #107.
Presbyterian College in South Carolina is the smallest Division I school in the country with an enrollment of about 1200 students. Prior to 2024, they had not had a player drafted since Bud Jeter (elite baseball name) was a 25th round pick by the Diamondbacks way back in 2013, and in finding himself here in the third round, Daniel Eagen becomes the highest drafted player in school history. Eagen, whose high school (Fuquay Varina HS south of Raleigh) was nearly twice the size of his college, pitched to an 8.44 ERA over his first two seasons before taking off in 2024 and earning Big South Pitcher of the Year honors. Long and lanky at 6'4", he sits in the low 90's with his fastball and tops out around 96, coming in with huge riding life from a very high slot. His deep, sharp curveball looks like a plus pitch, while his shorter slider has taken a step forward as well. His changeup remains behind the rest of the arsenal. Previously wild and hittable, the North Carolina native has sharpened his command in 2024 with an uptempo yet simple delivery. He's a solid athlete that could unlock additional upside as he jumps into a pro development program and looks like a potential mid-rotation starter.

4-132: SS Tytus Cissell, Francis Howell HS [MO] {video}
Slot value: $535,800. Signing bonus: likely to be above slot value.
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #234. Baseball America: #471.
Every year, I have to put the laptop down and stop my research somewhere, leaving names on the table. This year, Tytus Cissell was on that list of players I would have likely added to my board if I had a little more time, and he's a big gamble for the Diamondbacks who may also provide a huge payoff. Most scouts would agree that he is far from proven against upper tier pitching, having not been seen much on the summer showcase circuit and facing average pitching in the St. Louis area. And though he stands 6'2", he's not quite physically developed yet with a skinnier frame. That said, there is plenty of upside. Cissell is a switch hitter that grades out very well in athletic testing, with fast hands, quick feet, and springy actions in all athletic contexts that could make him a star in any sport. There's a bit more impact from the left side of the plate, and as he gets stronger and fills out that frame, he could grow into average or better power in time. He's also a plus runner that has shown well at shortstop, where he could stick with additional refinement. Cissell is coming off a strong spring as well where everything seemed to be coming together. Committed to Missouri, he'll likely require a hefty bonus from the Diamondbacks to leave the Show Me State and head to the desert, but the Diamondbacks are buying into the athleticism, projection, and trajectory while accepting the risk that comes with his lack of testing against higher level arms.

5-164: RHP Connor Foley, Indiana {video}
Slot value: $392,300. Signing bonus: likely to be a bit above slot value.
My rank: #121. MLB Pipeline: #106. Baseball America: #109.
In Connor Foley, the Diamondbacks are getting a high octane, high upside arm that needs some refinement. Hailing from Jasper, the same small town in southern Indiana that produced Scott Rolen and later whose Dubois County neighbor, Huntingburg, gave us top White Sox prospect Colson Montgomery, Foley has spent the past two seasons blowing away Big Ten hitters at Indiana. He has huge arm strength that enables him to sit in the mid 90's with his fastball and reach back for as much as 99, with big riding life making it a potential plus-plus pitch down the line. He also shows a power slider that could overwhelm Big Ten hitters with its velocity, though it's movement profile isn't as impressive and he'll need to refine the pitch more to miss pro bats. Foley stands out for an advanced changeup that he'll use regularly, showing hard late fade to miss bats at an extremely high clip. There's also a show me curveball, but it's a fourth pitch. The 6'5" righty brings impressive size to the table but struggles with command, and that combined with the lack of feel for spin may push him to the bullpen in the long run. That said, he's an excellent athlete who could take another step forward under the Diamondbacks' tutelage and just turned 21 the day before he was drafted, making him very young for a college draftee.

11-344: OF Bo Walker, Starrs Mill HS [GA] {video}
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: will be well above slot value if he signs.
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #384.
Almost everybody drafted in the top ten rounds will sign, but rounds 11-20 are where it gets iffy, especially for high schoolers. Bo Walker has a Georgia Tech commitment to contend with, though given the Diamondbacks' massive bonus pool and the fact that they grabbed him with their very first pick of day three, there's reason to believe they have a shot to land him. Walker, like many players taken before him, is an excellent athlete in need of refinement. He's extremely projectable at 6'3" with plenty of room to add good weight. Walker gets great separation in his right handed swing and could grow into serious power, though at this point he'll have to work to get to it beyond getting stronger. It's a raw setup and swing, as he employs a wide base and the swing can get disconnected at times with below average barrel accuracy. As the Diamondbacks (or Yellow Jackets) work to fix that, the upside is tremendous given the way he moves in the box. The Atlanta-area native is also a plus runner with a chance to stick in center field, where his average arm will fit.

20-614: C Hunter Carns, First Coast HS [FL] {video}
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: will be well above slot value if he signs.
My rank: #106. MLB Pipeline: #152. Baseball America: #69.
Based on draft position alone, Bo Walker seems like he'd be more likely to sign than Hunter Carns, and we also have two more high schoolers in eighteenth rounder Jackson Hotchkiss (Washington commit) and nineteenth rounder Tyler Bayer (Kennesaw State) to contend with. That said, if the Diamondbacks move money around effectively want to make it happen, they could get a huge talent in Carns, who will likely demand seven figures to skip out on a Florida State commitment. Carns, like many in this draft class, is a premium athlete with tremendous upside. He's much more athletic than most catchers and could remind scouts of Harry Ford and Caleb Lomavita in that sense, though the offensive profile is a little different. Already packing a ton of strength into his 6' frame, he shows natural above average power in games with a compact right handed swing. His bat to ball is a bit behind and he can get very streaky in the box, though there were stretches where he torched opposing pitching and looked like a day one draft pick. Unlike most catchers, he's a plus runner that moves extremely well all over the diamond, and that agility plus his strong arm gives him plenty of ceiling behind the plate. Similarly to his offense, he'll need to refine his actions to get there and currently grades out average defensively. Perhaps the biggest drawback in his profile is his age, as he turned 19 back in April and therefore was a full year older than many of his class of 2024 contemporaries.

2023 MLB Draft Review: Arizona Diamondbacks

Full list of draftees

The Diamondbacks had clear priorities here beyond just staying exclusively on the college side (except for unsigned twentieth rounder Dominic Voegele). For hitters, they prioritized batted ball data, looking for hitters that could hit the ball hard and get it on a line, and they didn't necessarily care for up the middle defenders. For pitchers, which they focused on later in the draft, they prioritized stuff over command, with few sure-thing starters but lots of guys who could be real impact arms if they took a step forward in that command department. Personally, I loved the Tommy Troy pick at the top, and I think Jack Hurley could be a real steal in the third round if they can clean up his approach against offspeed stuff.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.
Note that the number before a player's name indicates their draft position. "2-50" would indicate that a player was drafted in the second round with the fiftieth overall pick.

1-12: 2B Tommy Troy, Stanford {video}
Slot value: $5.04 million. Signing bonus: $4.4 million ($643,800 below slot value).
My rank: #6. MLB Pipeline: #17. Baseball America: #12. Prospects Live: #8.
I'm a huge Tommy Troy fan, so getting an easy top ten talent in this class (in my opinion) at pick #12 and saving over $600,000 in the process is a huge win. Entering the 2023 season, Troy was coming off a big sophomore season (.339/.371/.568) and perhaps an even more impressive run through the Cape Cod League (.313/.385/.539), establishing himself as a likely first round pick. Then a more patient approach at the plate helped him to a massive junior season, slashing .394/.478/.699 with 17 home runs and a 42/35 strikeout to walk ratio over 58 games. Listed at just 5'10", he doesn't initially stand out on the field, but he does as soon as you see him play. Troy employs a quick right handed swing with exceptional feel for the barrel that helps him quietly post high exit velocities, so despite his size, he profiles for above average power in pro ball. He's never been one to swing and miss much, but he increased his walk rate from 4.6% as a sophomore to 11.9% as a junior as he became much more patient and now looks like a complete hitter. He's still fairly aggressive, but with his bat to ball ability and feel for making adjustments, he's not striking out much at all. The defense can get a methodical, so he fits best at second base in the long term with his average arm though he did see time at third base for Stanford this year. The San Jose-area native is an above average runner as well, so he can impact the game in a wide variety of ways. He's off to a nice start to his pro career, slashing .271/.374/.469 with four home runs and a 28/16 strikeout to walk ratio through 27 games between the Arizona Complex League and High A Hillsboro.

2-48: 3B Gino Groover, North Carolina State {video}
Slot value: $1.78 million. Signing bonus: $1.78 million.
My rank: #53. MLB Pipeline: #62. Baseball America: #52. Prospects Live: #42.
LuJames "Gino" Groover is a professional hitter through and through. Originally a Charlotte 49er, he transferred to NC State as a sophomore and has been an elite two year performer, slashing .348/.435/.557 with 23 home runs and a 70/64 strikeout to walk ratio over 114 games during his time in Raleigh. Like Tommy Troy, Groover has elite feel for the barrel even with a moderately aggressive approach, rarely ever swinging and missing and sending screaming line drives around the field with regularity. The exit velocities are certainly there, but because his flat swing is more geared towards line drives and hard ground balls, his in-game power has been more average to this point. Given limited production on the Cape, there are some questions as to how his power will translate to wood bats as well. At the minimum, though, his barrel ability will make him an extra base machine who could flirt with 40 doubles per season. He'll have to hit because his defense is a bit of a question mark. He's a well below average runner with limited range in both the infield and outfield, and he doesn't have much of an arm either so third base seems like a bit of a stretch. At 6'2", he's tall enough to handle first base, where he'll have to learn to elevate the ball a bit better and tap his power more consistently. So far, he's slashing .315/.358/.438 with one home run and an 8/4 strikeout to walk ratio over 20 games between the Arizona Complex League and High A Hillsboro.

CBB-64: LHP Caden Grice, Clemson {video}
Slot value: $1.21 million. Signing bonus: $1.25 million ($36,800 above slot value).
My rank: #82. MLB Pipeline: #118. Baseball America: #121. Prospects Live: #62.
The Diamondbacks drafted Caden Grice as a pitcher, but he's a serious two-way prospect and he's actually exclusively been a hitter so far in his short pro career. He's been a three year starter as a position player for Clemson, really establishing himself as a freshman (.317/.427/.618) but taking a step back as a sophomore (.244/.360/.453). He bounced back fully in 2023, slashing .307/.411/.618 with 18 home runs and a 74/30 strikeout to walk ratio over 59 games, leading to confidence he can make his prodigious tools translate up to pro ball. Grice is huge, standing 6'6", 250 pounds, and he can wallop a baseball with the best of them. It's elite, plus-plus power with 90th percentile exit velocities up over 110 MPH, giving him the ability to obliterate baseballs (such as this mammoth grand slam in the ACC Tournament that should also be appreciated from the side view). That power, though, comes with a lot of swing and miss. Despite cutting his strikeout rate from a sky high 36.3% as a sophomore to a still high 26.9% as a junior, stemming from improvement against offspeed stuff, he still whiffs way too much with some of the lowest contact rates in the class. That will be a major barrier to his ability to tap his power in pro ball, even though he's trending in the right direction. Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks actually announced Grice as a pitcher, so none of this may even matter. He threw just sixteen innings over his first two seasons at Clemson, but stepped into the weekend rotation as a junior and posted a 3.35 ERA and a 101/33 strikeout to walk ratio over 78 innings. While the offensive profile is certainly an extreme one, he's actually a pretty straightforward prospect on the mound. The fastball sits in the low 90's, getting up to about 95 with some life, while his slider flashes above average with late bite and his changeup shows some promise as an average pitch. The South Carolina native shows solid command and repeats his delivery well with a durable frame, so it's a pretty clear #3/#4 starter profile if he can add a tick or two of velocity. Grice is a fringy runner like you'd expect, but he's a good athlete for his size and everything is trending in the right direction, so once he (if he ever) gives up hitting, he has a chance to really take another step forward on the mound. This will be an exciting talent to track. He hasn't pitched yet, but he went 3-11 with a home run and four strikeouts to three walks in four games in the Arizona Complex League.

3-80: OF Jack Hurley, Virginia Tech {video}
Slot value: $887,000. Signing bonus: $887,000.
My rank: #35. MLB Pipeline: #36. Baseball America: #38. Prospects Live: #35.
Long considered a fringe-first round talent, Jack Hurley surprisingly fell all the way to the Diamondbacks in the third round, where he signed for full slot value. A huge sophomore season at Virginia Tech (.375/.452/.664) had him hurdling towards the top ten picks, but he plateaued a bit in 2023 by slashing .320/.414/.713 with 17 home runs and a 40/20 strikeout to walk ratio over 45 games for the Hokies, missing some time with injury later in the season. Hurley employs a high energy style of play that sees him leaving it all on the field on both sides of the ball, which endeared him to area scouts that got to see it in action. Despite standing a skinny six feet tall, he generates massive torque from a lightning quick barrel with his left handed swing and shows off true plus raw power. He's tapped that power with 72 extra base hits in 103 games over the past two seasons, though there are questions about the hit tool. Hurley is an extremely aggressive hitter that feasts all over quality fastballs, but he can look hopeless at times against breaking balls, frequently chasing them below the zone. That's my chief concern with his profile, and how he manages the heavy dose of breaking balls he'll see in pro ball will determine how far he goes. The central Pennsylvania native is an above average runner that could stick in center field if he can refine his routes a bit, where he'll run into a wall for you if you need him to. Sticking in center field will really benefit the profile and buy his hit tool time to come along, and he has enough arm to make right field work as well. Results have been mixed so far, slashing .262/.367/.388 with two home runs and a 36/14 strikeout to walk ratio through 27 games between the Arizona Complex League, Low A Visalia, and High A Hillsboro. 

4-112: LHP Grayson Hitt, Alabama {video}
Slot value: $597,500. Signing bonus: $1.2 million ($602,500 above slot value).
My rank: #108. MLB Pipeline: #88. Baseball America: #96. Prospects Live: #213.
Grayson Hitt was a well-known prep prospect that made it to campus at Alabama, where he took some time to find his footing but built himself into a solid prospect. A solid run through the Cape Cod League (4.35 ERA, 25/10 K/BB in 20.2 IP) and a loud showing in fall practice had him shooting up boards, and he entered the spring a potential top fifty pick with eyes on the first round. Through eight starts, he was more good than great, posting a 4.19 ERA and a 49/25 strikeout to walk ratio over 38.2 innings, then unfortunately went down with Tommy John surgery in April. Still, the Diamondbacks liked what they saw late in 2022 and early in 2023, giving him close to the slot value for Caden Grice's spot a round and a half earlier to go pro and finish his rehab in the desert. At his best, Hitt shows a deep arsenal headlined by a few true out pitches. His fastball can sit in the low to mid 90's and touched 97 in the fall, with improving riding action from a higher slot. He can work that fastball into a cutter which can be extremely difficult to square up at its best, while his true slider flashes plus in its own right. His curveball and changeup are less impressive but he'll still flip them in to give hitters another look, and together it makes for an extremely uncomfortable at bat for lefties. Hitt struggled with command early in his Alabama career and has steadily improved in that regard as he's learned to repeat his delivery, though it's still fringy and he walked almost 15% of his opponents in 2023. In order to remain a starter, the Memphis-area native will need to continue ironing out his delivery while learning to more effectively incorporate softer stuff into his arsenal and keep hitters off balance. Surgery aside, he has a big, durable frame at 6'3" and comes with mid rotation upside.

5-148: 3B Kevin Sim, San Diego {video}
Slot value: $421,100. Signing bonus: $375,000 ($46,100 below slot value).
My rank: #140. MLB Pipeline: #180. Baseball America: #222. Prospects Live: #202.
I like Kevin Sim and I find him to be an interesting prospect. The son of former KBO star Jeong-Soo "Hercules" Shim, Kevin has a nice all-around offensive profile that's hard to find for a discount in the fifth round. He showed well in the Cape Cod League last summer (.239/.349/.424) then put up his best season yet this past spring, slashing .298/.401/.624 with 13 home runs and a 26/24 strikeout to walk ratio over 38 games, missing the last month of the season with injury. Sim has plus raw power like his dad, with strong batted ball data from a lean, muscular 6'2" frame. He's an aggressive hitter that can be prone to chasing, but he makes a lot of contact as well to balance it out, also making adjustments and drawing his walks where available. He struck out at a 27.5% clip on the Cape, which is a little concerning even if he did tap his power, and overall it may be a little bit of a jump for him going from WCC pitching to the minors. The bat is going to have to make that jump because even though he's shown natural feel for third base, his below average speed and athleticism, plus his average arm, may push him to first base or left field in the long run. I think he has what it takes to be an above average defender at first base, but unless you're Tre' Morgan over there, first base puts a ton of pressure on your bat no matter how good you are defensively. So far, he's slashing .275/.318/.392 with two home runs and a 27/4 strikeout to walk ratio over 26 games between the Arizona Complex League and Low A Visalia.

6-175: LHP Philip Abner, Florida {video}
Slot value: $328,300. Signing bonus: $300,000 ($28,300 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: unranked. Prospects Live: #401.
Philip Abner was a well-known prep prospect out of his Charlotte-area high school, but made it to campus at Florida and struggled as a freshman. Eligible as a sophomore because he turned 21 back in May, he turned in a strong second campaign with a 3.16 ERA and a 51/19 strikeout to walk ratio over 31.1 innings, reestablishing himself as a solid prospect. He sits in the low 90's with his fastball, topping out around 95 while spinning a pair of big breaking balls that he has tightened up this spring. The fastball has nice riding action while the breaking balls dive across the plate, and together everything plays up because he hides the ball well with and creates tough angle with a crossfire delivery. The command has improved, but remains fringy. He made just one start in his two years in Gainesville and looks like a pure reliever going forward, with an arsenal that will really make life tough on left handed hitters. If he can hold his command together, he profiles as a matchup lefty who can pitch in high leverage roles. In his first appearance at Low A Visalia, he tossed one inning and allowed one walk but nothing more.

7-205: LHP Ryan Bruno, Stanford {video}
Slot value: $256,700. Signing bonus: $140,000 ($116,700 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #233. Baseball America: #225. Prospects Live: #301.
Ryan Bruno is a fairly similar pick to Philip Abner, one round later and for half the money. Also a nationally known prep prospect out of his South Florida high school, he made it to campus at Stanford and struggled immensely as a freshman, walking 14 of the 29 batters he faced. He took a step forward as a sophomore (2.72 ERA, 71/35 K/BB in 39.2 IP) but plateaued a bit as a junior, where he had a 5.29 ERA and a 56/36 strikeout to walk ratio over 34 innings. Bruno has huge stuff, led by a mid 90's fastball that can approach triple digits that he leans on heavily. His changeup is a nasty, plus-plus offering with exceptional late fade, and together the two pitches help him miss a ton of bats. However, his command is close to the bottom of the scale, as he struggles immensely to repeat his delivery coming around a firm plant leg. His arm can get left behind and he can cast the ball, he can overcorrect and spike it, and everything in between, and after improving from 20 to 30 grade command between 2021 and 2022, he did not take a similar step forward in 2023. The fastball/changeup combination could make him lethal if he can get to even 40 grade (below average) command, but to this point we're just not there yet. Bruno also throws a fringy slider with loopy break. It's a pure relief outlook right now.

8-235: 1B Jackson Feltner, Morehead State {video}
Slot value: $204,900. Signing bonus: $175,000 ($29,900 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: unranked. Prospects Live: unranked.
This pick may be a bit under the radar, as Jackson Feltner did not rank on any major draft lists, but there's no question he can hit. Over three years at Morehead State, Feltner is a career .376/.371/.672 hitter with 45 home runs and a 127/92 strikeout to walk ratio over 154 games, and in 2023 he ran a higher walk rate (18.4%) than strikeout rate (16.9%) for the first time. At 6'3", 220 pounds, he is country strong and can send baseballs a long way, with plus raw power based more on that strength than on bat speed. His ability to lace the ball around the field with authority, giving him 87 extra base hits in his three seasons, has helped him torment Ohio Valley Conference defenses with extreme consistency when he's not putting the ball over the fence. A very patient hitter, he may get into a little bit of trouble against more advanced pitching as he works into those deep counts, and as a first baseman (potentially competing with Gino Groover, Caden Grice, and Kevin Sim from this draft class alone), his bat can't really afford many missteps. A right handed hitter, the Eastern Kentucky native likely profiles as a platoon or bench bat going forward given that lack of positional flexibility. So far, he's slashing .212/.280/.318 with one home run and a 25/7 strikeout to walk ratio over 19 games between the Arizona Complex League and Low A Visalia.

13-385: RHP Hayden Durke, Rice {video}
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $350,000 ($200,000 against bonus pool).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: unranked. Prospects Live: #188.
Hayden Durke has been on a bit of a circuitous ride so far. A native of the small town of Abbeville, Louisiana along Bayou Vermilion, he began his career at the University of Louisiana Lafayette near his hometown, then transferred to Rice this spring but a failed drug test kept him out of action. Making up for lost time in the Cape Cod League right before the draft, he struggled from a performance perspective (10.80 ERA, 14/16 K/BB in 13.1 IP) but opened eyes with explosive stuff and signed for early sixth round money here in the thirteenth. His fastball sat in the mid 90's and touched 99 with some hop, while he showed two vicious breaking balls in a curve and a slider in addition to a changeup. He has an uptempo delivery and struggles to repeat his arm slot, but you can't ignore that kind of electric stuff. The Diamondbacks are likely writing off his command struggles to rust from not pitching this season, and they see him missing bats in bunches up in pro ball. Durke is likely a reliever long term but again, since he hasn't been seen much, anything can happen. Command has continued to elude him in the Arizona Complex League, where he had a 9.72 ERA and a 10/10 strikeout to walk ratio over 8.1 innings.

19-565: 2B Wyatt Crenshaw, Arizona State {video}
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $5,000.
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: unranked. Prospects Live: unranked.
The Diamondbacks just about wrapped it up with a hometown pick. Wyatt Crenshaw grew up in the far southeastern Phoenix suburb of Chandler, Arizona, attending Perry High School in nearby Gilbert. He began his career at Colorado Christian in the Denver area, then transferred back home to Arizona State for his super senior season. In his one year in Tempe, he slashed .264/.308/.481 with nine home runs and a 50/13 strikeout to walk ratio over 53 games, then caught on with the Billings Mustangs in the independent Pioneer League and slashed .314/.429/.627 with four home runs in 15 games. His performance caught the attention of his hometown Diamondbacks, and now he'll get to stay in the desert. Crenshaw doesn't have a standout tool, showing some sneaky pull side power from the left side and looking like a more patient hitter in the Pioneer League (17.2% walk rate) than he was at ASU (5.7%). He does have a tendency to swing and mis and his approach has been aggressive more often than not, so he'll have to find some balance there if he wants to catch up to pro pitching. He has a chance to work his way up as a potential utility infielder. So far, he's hitting .235/.344/.353 with one home run and a 16/8 strikeout to walk ratio over 18 games in the Arizona Complex League.

2022 MLB Draft Review: Arizona Diamondbacks

Full list of draftees

I really like what the Diamondbacks did at the top of the draft, bringing in who I believe to be the best player in the class followed by the pitcher with the best combination of stuff and command in the class, followed by the best hitter in college baseball. However, the draft quickly got odd, as they wound up with four unsigned high schoolers on day three despite coming in about $350,000 below their bonus pool and $1.1 million below the 5% overage allowance. So the fact that they couldn't sign Malachi Witherspoon, Aiva Arquette, Gavin Turley, or Riley Kelly comes down to some combination of cheaping out on the single most cost-effective way to add talent and underestimating the bonus demands of those four. They never expected to sign all four, but I have to imagine they hoped to come away with at least one, and either ownership closed the purse or all four wanted more than the roughly $475,000 they could spend without going over the pool. Still, I'm sure they could have gotten at least one if not two deals done if they had used that 5% overage. Just odd. Among the guys they did sign, I already mentioned that I loved the first couple of picks, and I also think Nogales star Demetrio Crisantes is a very interesting sleeper.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.

1-2: OF Druw Jones, Wesleyan HS [GA]. My rank: #1.
Slot value: $8.19 million. Signing bonus: $8.19 million.
Druw Jones, in my opinion, is the single best player in this class. That makes getting him at the second pick a steal in my book, especially given the Diamondbacks' success with other prep bats like Corbin Carroll, Alek Thomas, and Jordan Lawlar. Druw Jones looks like a potential superstar, and I don't say that lightly – not every draft produces one. The son of former five time All Star and hopefully soon-to-be Hall of Famer Andruw Jones, Druw is just oozing with potential. He's built exactly like you draw them up, with a long, rangy, 6'4" frame with plenty of present strength and room to add considerably more. Not only that, but he's extremely athletic as well, registering plus-plus run times and simply moving gracefully around the field and in the box. That huge speed helps make him an exceptional defender in center field, where he also shows the excellent instincts you'd expect as the sone of arguably the greatest defensive outfielder of all time. Throw in a plus arm and you have a potential perennial Gold Glover out there. At the plate, Jones is equally impressive. He holds his hands high but gets on plane with the pitch early, staying through the zone to produce plus power to all fields. His approach is presently geared towards pulling the ball to left field, but he shows exceptional plate coverage and can still do so on the outer half of the plate. When he does go the other way, he still has plenty of pop in his bat to send the ball out over the right field fence as well. As the Atlanta-area native gets stronger and more mature, he'll have all the tools and natural ability ready to work from. To top it off, there isn't much swing and miss in his game at present and he really hasn't been challenged even facing the premium pitchers in his class. All together, it's a pretty maxed out profile with very, very little to nitpick and lots to dream on. Of course there is still plenty of development to be done given that he's only 18, but compared to his peers, he's ahead of them all. I see a perennial All Star in this profile. Unfortunately, just like Corbin Carroll and Jordan Lawlar before him, he injured his shoulder almost immediately after signing and will miss the season, but I can't wait to see him back on the field in 2023.

CBA-34: RHP Landon Sims, Mississippi State. My rank: #23.
Slot value: $2.26 million. Signing bonus: $2.35 million ($88,750 above slot value).
Landon Sims has one of the most fun profiles in the draft, and the Diamondbacks are thrilled to get what they (and I) believe is a first round talent for only a small over slot bonus in the competitive balance round. Sims was a well known draft prospect out of high school, but made it to campus at Mississippi State and rocketed to fame as the closer on their 2021 National Championship team, where he posted a 1.44 ERA and a 100/15 strikeout to walk ratio over 56.1 innings. Converting to a starter in 2022, he was dominant once again to start out but was pulled from his third start in the midst of striking out ten of the first eleven batters he faced. Unfortunately, Sims ended up needing Tommy John surgery, so he finished the year with a 1.15 ERA and a 27/2 strikeout to walk ratio over 15.2 innings as a starter. So what do we have here? The Atlanta-area native has one of the best two-pitch mixes college baseball has seen in recent memory between his fastball and his slider. Sims' fastball sits in the mid 90's and gets up to 98, but plays above its velocity with tremendous riding life. You can throw a straight 96 or you can throw 96 that looks like it's exploding out of your hand, and this fastball is certainly the latter. Next we have an equally devastating slider, another plus-plus pitch with late, hard bite that left virtually the entire SEC helpless last year. Those two pitches helped him rack up a 46.9% strikeout rate as a sophomore (for reference, only Aroldis Chapman, Josh Hader, Craig Kimbrel [twice], and Edwin Diaz [if he keeps this pace] have ever bested that mark in a single season, min. 50 IP). In anticipation of moving to the rotation this spring, he added a changeup over the offseason and it looked like a potential above average pitch in workouts. It seems like he was waiting for SEC play to break it out so we didn't get to see it much in game play, but it would give him that third pitch necessary to start. Most hard throwing college relievers have command problems, but Sims is actually above average in that regard and pounds the strike zone, going right after hitters consistently and working ahead in the count often. That is a huge piece in projecting him as a starter, and he walked just two batters in those 15.2 innings as a starter this spring. To top it all off, the sturdy, 6'2" righty is an absolute fire breathing bulldog on the mound that lives for the bright lights and high pressure situations. Between the stuff, command, size, and competitiveness, he's a pretty complete package that brings everything except a track record as a starter. Once healthy, I'm again excited to see where this goes.

2-43: 1B Ivan Melendez, Texas. My rank: #63.
Slot value: $1.82 million. Signing bonus: $1.4 million ($418,500 below slot value).
In Ivan Melendez, the Diamondbacks got arguably the single best *right now* hitter in amateur baseball. A semi-hometown pick from El Paso, which is actually closer to Chase Field in Phoenix than it is to any other MLB stadium, the Hispanic Titanic began his college career at Odessa JC and transferred to Texas in 2021, where he earned significant day two draft interest but ultimately wound up returning to school to cut his strikeout rate. That move paid off in a big way, as he looked like a man amongst boys this spring with 32 home runs, a .387/.508/.863 slash line, and a 51/52 strikeout to walk ratio over 67 games. Melendez produces mammoth exit velocities with a lightning quick right handed swing and 225 pounds of brute strength packed into his 6'3" frame, helping him lead all of Division I baseball in home runs by three over second place Luke Franzoni of Xavier (Angels, 19th round). He lofts the ball extremely well with a steep uppercut, helping all of his plus-plus raw power play in games and it will continue to do so. Last year, that uppercut led to a 26.1% strikeout rate that scared teams off, but he dropped it to 16.2% this spring and now may have a fringe-average hit tool. He's recognizing pitches better and getting his barrel there more efficiently, though opposing pitchers may still be able to find holes in his swing in pro ball. Melendez will always have to deal with strikeouts, so the key will be patching up as many holes as he can, accepting the strikeouts that do come, and just doing immense damage when he does make contact. Based off of what he did in 2022, that contact should come much more often now. A year ago, he served as Texas' DH, but he took over as the every day first baseman this spring and showed well. An average or above average first baseman still does not provide much defensive value, but it's something and he should have plenty of bat to profile there regardless. Worst case scenario, he should be a power hitting bench bat and could move quickly if his approach translates to pro pitching. So far, he's slashing .206/.365/.353 with two home runs and a 20/10 strikeout to walk ratio over 21 games between the Arizona Complex League and Low A Visalia.

3-82: LHP Nate Savino, Virginia. My rank: #117.
Slot value: $782,400. Signing bonus: $700,000 ($82,400 below slot value).
Nate Savino is a really, really hard one to pin down. A potential first round pick out of high school in 2020, he reclassified and came to Virginia a year early and immediately slotted into the rotation when the season began shortly after his 18th birthday. In 2021, he looked more good than great and the prospect shine wore off a little, and then while he showed flashes of bigger things to come in 2022, he just as often looked ordinary out there. The final numbers this spring came out to a 3.69 ERA and a 79/32 strikeout to walk ratio over 78 innings, highlighted by a complete game shutout against Duke and on the opposite end, three straight starts against Georgia Tech, Miami, and Pittsburgh in which he allowed six runs apiece (not all earned). Savino was up to 96 with his fastball as a high schooler and showed flashes of that velocity this spring, but also sat closer to 90 at times with average life from a wide slot. He flashes an above average slider and a solid changeup from that slot, coming across the plate with east-west action, but those pitches are inconsistent as well and can flatten out. They were on more often than not this spring and he bumped his strikeout rate from a very low 14.3% as a sophomore to a decent 23.1% as a junior, which is progress for sure. Additionally, the 6'3" lefty has a durable frame and repeats his delivery well, leading to solid average command, and it could potentially improve to above average in the Arizona development system. The Diamondbacks are really buying the youth here, as Savino doesn't turn 21 until January and most kids his age would be heading back to campus for their draft year right now, ready to build on their profile. The Northern Virginia native showed just how talented he was back in high school and glimpses of that talent are shining through more and more often now, even if he hasn't quite put it all together like the coaching staff in Charlottesville hoped. To me it looks like a #4 starter profile with some upside.

4-108: RHP Dylan Ray, Alabama. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $565,800. Signing bonus: $565,800.
When the draft was moved back from June to July, it allowed players to get in extra reps in the Cape Cod League and created a new definition for "late riser." Dylan Ray falls into this group, with his helium coming so late in the game that he went unranked on MLB Pipeline's top 250 and Baseball America's top 500, while coming in at #259 on Prospects Live, but signed for full slot value at #108. Ray got hurt and didn't pitch as a freshman, then as a draft-eligible sophomore in 2022 due to an extremely early birthday, he put up a 4.60 ERA and a 49/15 strikeout to walk ratio over 31.1 innings out of the Alabama bullpen. It was very solid if unspectacular, but he went to the Cape and promptly put up a 1.63 ERA and a 17/2 strikeout to walk ratio over eleven innings, opening eyes. Ray sits in the low to mid 90's with his fastball and can get up to 98, coming in with plenty of riding life from an over the top delivery. He spins a pretty nasty curveball with depth and a harder slider when he locates them, but he struggles to command those breaking balls and often leaves them up, where they flatten out. There's a changeup in there too, but again, it's behind. The 6'3" righty has the frame and delivery to start, but needs to get much more consistent with his secondary stuff in order to do so. He's pretty young, having only turned 21 in May, and doesn't have much game experience on the mound. It's a pretty safe bet that the fastball and breaking balls would be nasty in a bullpen role, like they were on the Cape, but I have to believe that if the Diamondbacks are going to give him more than $500,000 to sign, they'll at least want to try out the Huntsville-area native in the rotation. So far in that role, he has a 6.30 ERA and a 14/3 strikeout to walk ratio over ten innings between the Arizona Complex League and Low A Visalia.

5-138: SS Andrew Pintar, Brigham Young. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $422,600. Signing bonus: $316,950 ($105,650 below slot value).
Andrew Pintar hit .333/.433/.556 as a sophomore at BYU and entered the spring as one of the more interesting prospects in the Rocky Mountain region, but his 2022 wound up being a nightmare. He hit just .209/.329/.284 with no home runs and a 17/8 strikeout to walk ratio over his first 17 games, then went down with a shoulder injury that wiped out the rest of his season. The strikeout rate ballooned from 12.8% as a sophomore to 21.5% as a junior while his walk rate dropped from 14.2% to 10.1% and he hit for zero power. If the Diamondbacks are giving him more than $300,000 to sign, it's because they believe his struggles could almost entirely be attributed to that shoulder injury and that the 2021 Andrew Pintar is the real Andrew Pintar. That version of him made a ton of contact all over the zone, spraying line drives around the field consistently while turning some into home runs when they caught enough air. The power has always been fringy, but with his wiry 6'2" frame and quick right handed bat, he does have the ability to turn on the ball and put it in the seats. Arizona will want to get the Spanish Fork, Utah native healthy again and back to feeling like himself, where they could get a high average, moderate power bat lower in the draft than you'd expect. They drafted Pintar as a shortstop, but he had fringy arm strength before the shoulder injury and almost certainly projects better at second base, where he won't be as stretched.

6-168: LHP Will Mabrey, Tennessee. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $317,100. Signing bonus: $225,000 ($92,100 below slot value).
On a pitching staff full of pitchers that could reach triple digits, Will Mabrey offered a literal change of pace in the Tennessee bullpen. After barely pitching as an underclassman, he became one of the Volunteers' most reliable relievers with a 2.63 ERA and a 52/5 strikeout to walk ratio over 41 innings this spring. Mabrey's stuff isn't overpowering, with a low 90's fastball that tops out around 95, an above average slider that plays well off his fastball, and a less used curveball and changeup. Not overly physical at 6', 185 pounds, the lefty hides the ball well and comes in with flat plane, making it difficult to pick up his stuff. Additionally, he commands everything with precision, making this a very unconventional profile for a college reliever, a demographic that typically throw poorly-located gas if they're going to get drafted. To succeed in pro ball, the Cookeville, Tennessee native will need to add a tick or two to his fastball, which combined with the life, deception, and command he possesses, could make it a very tough pitch to handle. If he does see his stuff tick up in pro ball, he could move quickly to the Arizona bullpen.

7-198: SS Demetrio Crisantes, Nogales HS [AZ]. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $247,200. Signing bonus: $425,000 ($177,800 above slot value).
First off, what a name. Second off, Demetrio Crisantes brings the Diamondbacks a hometown player to throw into the system. He attended Nogales High School on the Mexican border, and grew up a few exits north on I-19 in Rio Rico. Crisantes had been committed to play college ball at Arizona, but the Diamondbacks were able to pull him to Phoenix rather than Tucson for a sizable over slot bonus. He wasn't on my radar prior to the draft, but now having done some research, I'm bought in. He is extremely fluid in the box with a whippy, powerful right handed swing that naturally channels his strength into useable power, with great feel for the barrel that helps him drive balls all around the park. Crisantes does need to get stronger in order to maximize that power, though at a skinny six feet tall, it's not an ultra projectable frame. Still, there is enough room in there to add a tick or two, which will go a long way given the way he moves in the box. Additionally, he is extremely disciplined at the plate and Baseball America noted that he walked 32 times to just three strikeouts this spring, showcasing not only his barrel to ball skills but his pure bat to ball skills as well. At shortstop, he's springy and fluid again with enough arm strength to stick, though he'll need to quicken his transfer and arm stroke in order to stay there as he does have a tendency to gather himself and shuffle before he throws. To top it off, Crisantes is extremely young for a high school senior and will only turn 18 a few days after I publish this article. There is a ton of ceiling here for the desert kid and the Diamondbacks do very well with this type of player.

11-318: LHP Spencer Giesting, Charlotte. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: $400,000 ($275,000 against bonus pool).
Spencer Giesting gives the Diamondbacks a bit of an under the radar arm, though he did command a pretty hefty fifth round-caliber bonus as a draft eligible sophomore. After a solid freshman season as a swingman, he put up a 3.72 ERA and a 105/42 strikeout to walk ratio over 75 innings as a sophomore this spring to build off some moderate Cape Cod League success. Giesting sits in the low 90's with his fastball but has been up to 96, with flat plane and a ton of riding life that help it play above its velocity. He shows feel to spin a breaking ball with a hard slider and a solid curveball and mixes in a changeup as well. At 6'4" with a good body and athletic movement on the mound, as well as having just turned 21 shortly before the draft, he offers plenty of projection now in the Arizona development system. They'll want to help him add a tick or two to his fastball so that it can make the most of its riding life, but the main priority right now should be his below average command. Sticking in the rotation will likely require an improvement both in his fastball velocity and command, which is entirely possible, while a move to the bullpen will likely be in order if he can't get that done. Regardless, his fastball could sit closer to the mid 90's in shorter stints and get that extra bump to help the riding fastball really play. So far, he has a 7.45 ERA and a 9/7 strikeout to walk ratio over 9.2 innings between the Arizona Complex League and Low A Visalia.

12-348: RHP Malachi Witherspoon, Flagler HS [FL]. My rank: #167.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: did not sign.
Malachi Witherspoon won't be heading to the desert and will instead stay home to attend Jacksonville, alma mater of Daniel Murphy and Austin Hays. Witherspoon has plenty of relievery traits right now, but there is also tremendous raw ability from a kid who only turned 18 in August. He sits in the low 90's with his fastball and gets up to 94-95, with big spin rates that give the pitch some life. He can really rip through his curveball, again with huge spin rates and hard depth and bite that make it a potential plus pitch. Witherspoon's changeup also flashes above average at its best, giving him a really dangerous arsenal at a really young age. The 6'3" righty is a very strong kid and only projects to get stronger, making it a profile to dream on. For now, his offspeed stuff can be very inconsistent as he's still learning how to harness it effectively, and with a drop and drive delivery that features some head whack and a late arm, he comes with significant reliever risk. The definition of a boom or bust profile, I'll be very interested to see what happens at Jacksonville over the next few years.

18-528: SS Aiva Arquette, Saint Louis HS [HI]. My rank: #194.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: did not sign.
Aiva Arquette also did not sign, so he will attend Washington to build his stock. He lacks a carrying tool to this point, which may have tampered his interest out of high school, but does a lot of things well and building up a track record in Seattle will help his profile significantly. Arquette is very projectable at 6'4" and looks like a ballplayer, portending to future added strength on top of a pretty athletic frame as it is. He makes a lot of contact from the right side and can handle pitches all over the plate, though when he tries to swing for power, his swing can get a bit rigid and lead to minor swing and miss concerns. The Washington coaching staff is going to want to help him get stronger and access his power more naturally, which would be huge for his offensive projection. For now, the Hawaiian plays shortstop and should stick there in Seattle with smooth glovework and enough range and arm strength to be playable. He's not all that explosive, though, and may fit better at third base in the long run if he slows down at all with age.

19-558: OF Gavin Turley, Hamilton HS [AZ]. My rank: #69.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: did not sign.
Gavin Turley originally hails from Midway, Utah, a small town across the Wasatch Range from Salt Lake City, but he moved south to Arizona around the time his brother, Noah, started play at Yavapai JC in Prescott, Arizona. While Noah eventually transferred to the University of Arizona, Gavin played his high school ball for the powerhouse Hamilton High School program in Chandler in the far southwestern Phoenix suburbs. Instead of staying to play for his new hometown team, he'll head back up north to Oregon State and hope to follow a Dylan Crews-like path to stardom. Turley is one of the best athletes in the class, with plus-plus speed that makes him a menace on the bases. Not only that, but quick hands and loose, powerful right handed swing can generate huge exit velocities for plus raw power, and he knows it. The approach at the plate is very raw right now, as he tends to sell out for power causing his swing to get too big, which combined with aggressive pitch selection is often too much for his fringy bat to ball skills to overcome. In Corvallis, Turley will need to learn to trust his incredible raw ability and let the home runs come naturally, in which case he could easily emerge a first round pick in 2025. He's raw on the defensive side as well, with fringy instincts leading to a potential career in right field despite his blazing speed. Throw in a plus arm, and he'll fit in very well there.

20-588: RHP Riley Kelly, Tustin HS [CA]. My rank: #88.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: did not sign.
The Diamondbacks closed out the draft with one more name that didn't sign, as Riley Kelly will instead stay home in Orange County and head to UC Irvine. Kelly was a pop up name this spring when his stuff ticked up, and it will likely continue to improve in Irvine. His fastball sits around 90, topping out around 94 with some ride, and more velocity is coming. His potentially plus-plus curveball is by far his best pitch, with massive depth and bite that can be sharpened if he wants something tighter. Lastly, his changeup is a bit behind. The 6'4" righty is very projectable with plenty of room to fill out, and the UC Irvine coaching staff will have the opportunity to smooth out his mechanics as well to help him better channel his strength. He'll need to add more power to his arsenal and bring that changeup along if he wants to start, and his command could use a little tuneup as well. There is a lot to work on, but I like his chances to get it done.

2021 MLB Draft Review: Arizona Diamondbacks

Full list of draftees

The Diamondbacks didn't know if it would happen, but their guy fell to them at sixth overall and they got him. To afford Jordan Lawlar's big over slot bonus, they had to go six figures below slot in the second, third, fourth, seventh, and ninth rounds, though they did pop for another big over slot bonus in the eighth with Florida prep Gavin Conticello. Overall, I really like the class they came away with even if they took a lot of discounts, with my favorite pick being second rounder Ryan Bliss.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.

1-6: SS Jordan Lawlar, Jesuit HS [TX]. My rank: #6.
Jordan Lawlar had a lot of really big fans in the industry, actually earning the top spot on the Baseball America 500 and getting first overall buzz from the Pirates. He didn't go quite that high, but still got the third largest bonus in the draft behind only second overall pick Jack Leiter and third overall pick Jackson Jobe. Lawlar has long been praised as arguably the single most advanced high school player in the class, and it's pretty evident any time you watch him play. He's comfortable in the box against high level pitching, he's an aggressive but smart baserunner that's always looking for opportunities, and he has his head on a swivel at shortstop ready to handle whatever is thrown at him. At a young age, it's the kind of advanced feel for the game you typically see from mid-round "feel over tools" college shortstops, but with the upside of a high schooler. At the plate, he has handled everything he's seen from a stuff standpoint, picking up base hits against high velocity fastballs and quality breaking balls while using the whole field. He got off to a bit of a slow start during his high school season and swung and missed a bit more than expected, but righted the ship in plenty of time to show evaluators it was a fluke. There's a lot of twitchy strength in his 6'2" frame and should give him a chance for above average power, though for now it's looking more average than above. The swing is very clean and should he decide he wants to lift and turn on more baseballs, he should be able to do so without sacrificing his hit tool. The Dallas-Fort Worth product is supreme athlete that turns in plus run times and shows off a cannon arm at shortstop, and though he can be just a tad inconsistent with the glove, he has the range and instincts to not only stick there, but be an asset. Really, the only things that held Lawlar out of my top five were a lack of power projection (at least with regards to other top of the draft bats like Kahlil Watson, Brady House, Marcelo Mayer, and Henry Davis) and age, as he turned 19 less than a week after the draft. Still, we're looking at arguably the most complete profile in the high school class (I'd say Mayer is slightly more complete, but it's close), so it's not like he hasn't used that age to his advantage. The ceiling here is that of a 20-25 home run hitter with high on-base percentages and great defense at shortstop, with a more median outcome looking like 15-20 home runs and solid on-base percentages. Committed to Vanderbilt, Lawlar instead signed for $6.71 million, which was nearly $1 million above slot value.

2-42: SS Ryan Bliss, Auburn. My rank: #41.
Ryan Bliss was one of my favorite players in this draft class, so obviously I love this for the Diamondbacks, especially considering they got him below slot. Always a consistent performer at Auburn, Bliss busted out this year with his best season yet and slashed .365/.428/.654 with 15 home runs and a 30/23 strikeout to walk ratio over 50 games, all while running the gauntlet of SEC pitching. He's a plus hitter that makes a ton of hard contact and rarely swings and misses, striking out at just a 12.7% rate while continuing to hit for impact. Just 5'9", it's easy to label him a contact hitter and move on to the next player, but Bliss packs a punch. There's a ton of twitchy strength in that small frame and he shows a knack for turning on baseballs in his wheelhouse, maximizing every bit of power he has and adding plenty of extra bases on top of it. I saw both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America label him with 40 grade (below average) power, but I would go at least 45 grade (fringe-average) and I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up truly average in that regard, blasting 12-20 home runs a year. The western Georgia native has an aggressive approach at the plate that somewhat limits his walks, but he has such a knack for finding the barrel that I'm not worried about him striking out in pro ball, rather he just doesn't typically go deep in counts. Defensively, he's played shortstop at Auburn and has an outside chance to stick there with his scrappy style of play and quick actions, but he might have a touch less physicality than is needed for that spot (especially with Jordan Lawlar coming up behind him) and will probably move over to second base, where he could be a plus defender. Bliss plays hard and never leaves anything on the field, so he's going to continue to squeeze every bit of talent out of himself as he works his way up. I see the Diamondbacks' second baseman of the future to pair up with Lawlar. Bliss signed for $1.25 million, which was roughly $520,000 below slot value, and he's slashing .262/.290/.415 with two home runs through 15 games at Low A Visalia.

CBB-67: C Adrian Del Castillo, Miami. My rank: #56.
It wasn't a great year for the top college bats coming into the season, and a big part of that was Adrian Del Castillo, who I saw projected as high as second overall to the Rangers in preseason mock drafts. Coming into the season, he was fairly universally lauded as the most professional hitter in the draft, having hit .336/.430/.571 with significantly more walks (43) than strikeouts (32) over his first two seasons. It was a plus hit tool with above average power that he tapped in games, and few pitchers could find holes in his swing. It was a different story in 2021, as he continued to manage the strike zone well but the impact was gone. He hit just .275/.380/.395 with three home runs and a 28/27 strikeout to walk ratio over 54 games, his .120 ISO (slugging minus batting average) way down from .245 as a freshman and .189 as a sophomore. Now, it's a bit tough to know what to make of the profile. He's still a professional hitter that will have no problem handling minor league pitching, with advanced zone recognition and very little swing and miss. He's always in control of his at bats. The Diamondbacks are going to have to bring that power back out though, because questions do surround his glove. It takes three things to be a big league catcher: natural athleticism, innate feel for the position, and hard work. Del Castillo absolutely has the latter two, as his strong feel for hitting translates to a sound fundamental game behind the plate and he's worked extremely hard to get better, but for now, it looks like he's missing that third piece. The Miami native isn't the quickest back there when it comes to blocking balls in the dirt and while his arm is accurate, it's not all the plus cannon you see from a lot of other amateurs. If he's forced to move to first base, the power will have to come back. Now, there's absolutely room for optimism. As we've mentioned, that innate feel for hitting has not gone anywhere and he remains able to put together strong at bat after strong at bat, and he has shown above average power in the past on a consistent basis. The Diamondbacks will have to find a way to bring it back out of him, whether that's through a tweak in his swing or through a new workout regimen or whatever, but when he's at his best, it's as complete of a profile in the box as you're going to find. At his ceiling, Del Castillo has a chance for 20-25 home runs a year and high on-base percentages, which would be great for a catcher if he can indeed stick there. He signed for $1 million, which was $23,300 above slot value, and he's hitting .200/.322/.320 through 14 games, mostly at Low A Visalia.

3-77: RHP Jacob Steinmetz, ELEV8 Academy [FL]. My rank: #116.
In drafting Jacob Steinmetz, the Diamondbacks picked up the first ever known Orthodox Jew to play professional baseball. He's been trending up for years now, and his stock continued to rise when he transferred to ELEV8 Academy in Florida. His fastball has naturally progressed with steady, sustainable increases in velocity, and it now parks comfortably in the low 90's with a peak around 95. Steinmetz's curveball shows quality shape and depth, and as it adds more power, it has a chance to become a plus pitch. He also shows feel for a slider and changeup that are a bit behind the other two pitches, but everything is trending up. Everything he throws has high spin rates, adding extra life to the fastball and a higher ceiling for his breaking balls. While the command isn't pinpoint and he's still very much growing into his 6'5" frame, there's not a ton of effort in his simple delivery and that portends future average or even above average command. All together, the Long Island native is going to need considerable refinement and development, but there are no red flags in the profile at all and everything points to him continuing the trend he's on towards becoming an impact starting pitcher. To top it off, Steinmetz is young for his class and didn't turn 18 until a week after the draft, making him a full year younger than first rounder Jordan Lawlar and adding extra time for him to get stronger, more consistent, etc. And by all accounts, he's a hard worker who will make the most of his natural talent and then some. Committed to Fordham, he instead signed for $500,000, which was $305,600 below slot value.

4-107: RHP Chad Patrick, Purdue Northwest. Unranked.
The Diamondbacks made history with a second straight pick here, now drafting the first player ever out of Division II Purdue University Northwest in Hammond, Indiana. Chad Patrick was one of the country's best pitchers at the DII level this year, posting a 1.83 ERA and a 97/8 strikeout to walk ratio over 64 innings, going at least six innings in each of his eight starts and getting through the seventh in all but one. He carved up his overwhelmed opposition with a low to mid 90's fastball that functions as his primary weapon and can get up to 97, adding a full array of secondary pitches. He's separated a slurvy breaking ball into two distinct, average pitches in a curve and a slider, while his changeup shows nice fade and sink. Everything plays up because he pounds the strike zone and loves to get ahead in the count. The 6'1" righty deploys a clean, repeatable delivery that helps him maintain both his stuff and command deep into games, giving him every chance to work his way up as a back-end starter. If he wants to be more, he'll probably need to find a putaway pitch by taking a step forward with one of his secondaries. The northwestern Indiana native may have pitched in a small conference this year, but he's no stranger to better competition and showed well in the Northwoods League back in 2019 (3.49 ERA, 52/18 K/BB). Age is a slight drawback here, as he turned 23 a few days before I published this review and he'll want to move relatively quickly. He signed for $350,000, which was $193,500 below slot value.

5-138: C Caleb Roberts, North Carolina. Unranked.
Caleb Roberts wasn't much of a threat during his first two years at UNC, slashing just .222/.367/.272 over 57 games and never putting one over the fence. However, he hit two home runs in his first game of the 2021 season and never looked back, slashing .270/.442/.476 with ten home runs and a 41/44 strikeout to walk ratio over 55 games this spring. Roberts is a very, very patient hitter who rarely chases and really for the most part won't swing unless he gets one he likes. It's led to an extremely high 16.5% career walk rate, something that was really his only strength during those tough first two years in Chapel Hill (as you can see by the lopsided slash line in the first sentence). He's talked on strength since then and now has considerable power in his 6'1" frame, especially to the pull side, though it's a bit of a grooved swing that doesn't always adjust well to pitches outside his wheelhouse. His "make pitchers come to me" approach really helps mitigate that, though he can get into trouble with two strikes and get caught looking. The Diamondbacks will want to work with him on getting more aggressive at times and being able to expand his zone when necessary, but that's not necessarily a bad problem to have as most hitters struggle to recognize bad pitches whereas Roberts really excels there. A catcher entering UNC, the South Florida native has spent most of his time at school in the outfield, though the Diamondbacks have tried him out a bit behind the plate. He's pretty raw back there as you'd expect from someone who was pushed off the position in college and may not stick, but the bat looks a lot better if he can, perhaps enough to play every day. In the outfield, where his fringy speed relegates him to a corner, he's more likely a fourth or fifth outfielder/platoon bat. Roberts signed for full slot value at $402,000 and is slashing .149/.322/.277 over 14 games so far, mostly at Low A Visalia.

6-168: RHP Luke Albright, Kent State. My rank: #121.
Kent State has earned a reputation as the Midwest's premier pitching factory, at times outshining larger nearby schools like Michigan, Ohio State, and Indiana in that facet. Luke Albright is the latest product to come out of the MAC program, coming off a strong three year career in which he put up a 2.98 ERA and a 178/71 strikeout to walk ratio over 157 innings. His 3.40 ERA in 2021 was actually a career-worst mark, but ironically he only allowed two or fewer earned runs in every single start against teams outside the state of Michigan (combining for a 1.91 ERA) but was touched up for sixteen runs in three starts against Eastern, Central, and Western Michigan. Fortunately, the Tigers are in the American League, so he won't have to face them as often. Alright's arsenal doesn't have a clear plus pitch, but it's balanced throughout and he does a very good job deploying it. His fastball sits in the low 90's and is more or less an ordinary pitch by pro standards, while he shows good feel to spin the ball and gets sharp break on his curveball and more lateral movement on his distinct slider. The changeup isn't a weapon but it's certainly usable and should continue to serve him well against left handed hitters in pro ball. The 6'4" righty doesn't have pinpoint command and can get into trouble with walks at times, but he mitigates some of that inconsistency with a willingness to go right after hitters and pound the strike zone. That plays further into what evaluators have seen as a very competitive streak on the mound, something that will undoubtedly be a boon in pro ball as he gets battle tested. So far, he's proven durable at Kent State and hasn't missed a start since he was added to their rotation last year, giving him every opportunity to work his way up as a #4-ish starter. The Indianapolis-area native signed for full slot value at $301,600 and has allowed three runs in 2.1 innings at Low A Visalia.

8-228: 3B Gavin Conticello, Stoneman Douglas HS [FL]. Unranked.
After rolling the dice on Wisconsin prep AJ Vukovich a year ago, the Diamondbacks will do so with another power hitting teenager this spring in Gavin Conticello. Conticello has a ton of room to grow into his 6'4" frame, which along with his big left handed hack gives him a chance for plus power at the big league level. It's all projection for now, though, as that big swing can get out of whack in games and he didn't always make consistent contact even in the spring against local competition, albeit strong local competition in South Florida. Arizona will want to take its time developing his bat, helping him fill out that frame and getting more coordinated and more intentional with his mechanics. Conticello doesn't show the quickest actions out in the infield and will have to work to stick at third base in the shifting era, but his strong arm gives him every opportunity to do so. Age is a positive factor here, as he only turned 18 a month before the draft, giving him extra time to develop. There's a lot of upside here and a lot of risk. Committed to South Florida, he signed for $500,000, which was $313,700 above slot value.

10-288: LHP Hugh Fisher, Vanderbilt. My rank: #217.
Hugh Fisher has already earned Randy Johnson comps, so this will be a fun one. He never quite found his place in a deep Vanderbilt bullpen and threw just 55 innings in three seasons (three full seasons, since he sat out 2020 with Tommy John surgery), this year posting a 2.45 ERA and a 13/11 strikeout to walk ratio over 11 innings and gradually losing playing time over the course of the season. The 6'6" lefty isn't quite as big as the Big Unit, but it's still an apt comparison. He sits in the mid to upper 90's with his fastball and can rip off a vicious slider all from a nearly sidearm slot, so when it's located, it's true ninth inning stuff. Problem is, it's rarely located. Fisher has near bottom of the scale command and managed to get just one out over his final four appearances combined, with head coach Tim Corbin only allowing him to face one hitter in each of final three. Those resulted in two walks and a hit by pitch. He's not consistent with any of his mechanics and will need considerable work in pro ball, though after missing a year with Tommy John surgery he's now 22 and a half years old. There's true closer upside in the fashion of Josh Hader, himself a late round pick, but only if he improves his command at least a full grade if not two grades. The Memphis-area native signed for $100,000, which was $47,900 below slot value, and he's allowed three runs in four innings so far at Low A Visalia.

14-408: SS Channy Ortiz, Grand Canyon. Unranked.
The Diamondbacks did make one hometown pick in 2021, grabbing PHX lifer Channy Ortiz. A graduate of Apollo High School in Glendale, he only needed to head a few miles down 35th Avenue to attend Grand Canyon University. 2021 was his best season yet, as he slashed .313/.413/.454 with eight home runs and a 23/37 strikeout to walk ratio over 58 games. Ortiz is a strong contact hitter with exceptional strike zone management, always finding good pitches to hit and driving them with authority from both sides of the plate. His skinny 5'10" frame limits just how much authority that is, but it's enough that he should pick up plenty of extra base hits and ambush pitchers for home runs here and there. He's an instinctual defender that makes all the plays at shortstop, and all together it's a classic utility infield profile to go with Josh Rojas, another PHX native. Ortiz signed for $125,000 and is slashing .143/.250/.143 through ten games, mostly at Low A Visalia.

2020 Draft Review: Arizona Diamondbacks

1-18: RHP Bryce Jarvis, Duke
CBA-33: RHP Slade Cecconi, Miami
3-90: LHP Liam Norris, Green Hope HS (NC)
4-119: 3B AJ Vukovich, East Troy HS (WI)
5-149: RHP Brandon Pfaadt, Bellarmine

The Diamondbacks went for ceiling in this year's draft class, because after first rounder Bryce Jarvis, none of these guys are safe bets. Well, competitive balance pick Slade Cecconi is safe bet to be at least moderately valuable, but he has a fairly wide variance in his potential outcomes and both third rounder Liam Norris and fourth rounder AJ Vukovich are extreme boom/bust types. A year after they added a ton of depth to the system with a boatload of early picks, they could afford to go boom/bust in this draft, and each guy shows a pretty enticing ceiling. Jarvis, of course, is the most famous name after an immaculate redshirt junior season, and he's easily the best right-now product in this class.
Full index of team reviews here.

1-18: RHP Bryce Jarvis, Duke (my rank: 35)
The Diamondbacks decided to save money on their first pick, but they'll still get easy first round value. Bryce Jarvis might have had the best 2020 season in the country, and that's no exaggeration. The Nashville-area native was very effective over his first two seasons at Duke (10-3, 3.28 ERA, 161/59 K/BB in 123.1 IP), but he knew he could do better, so he turned down the Yankees in the 37th round in 2019 to return for his junior year. It turned out he was right, because after four starts, Jarvis had a 0.67 ERA, a 0.48 WHIP, and a 40/2 strikeout to walk ratio over 27 innings. That included a 15 strikeout perfect game against Cornell, a near no-hitter against Florida State, and a total of just two earned runs on 15 baserunners combined over his four starts. The difference was in the stuff – after sitting around 90 with his fastball in 2019, Jarvis was comfortably in the mid 90's in 2020 and held that velocity throughout his starts. What were previously decent offspeeds looked like plus pitches in the shortened season, as he can miss bats with his slider, curve, and changeup. The slider is a hard bender with serious bite down in the zone, the newer curve is a bit softer and shows good depth, and the changeup might be the best out of all of them with serious fade to the arm side. There is some concern as to whether he can remain a starter, as he's pretty skinny at 6'2" and pitches with effort, but he repeats his delivery very consistently, throws strikes with all four pitches, and held his velocity deep into games in 2020. He's a year older than the typical college junior and will turn 23 in December, but he should move quickly through the minors and could be a mid rotation starter in the relatively near future. He signed for $2.65 million, which was about $830,000 below slot value. Pre-draft profile here.

CBA-33: RHP Slade Cecconi, Miami (my rank: 34)
15 picks later, the D-Backs grabbed another ACC righty, though Slade Cecconi is a full year and a half younger than Jarvis. A well-known prospect coming out of Trinity Prep High School in the Orlando area in 2018, he got hurt during his senior year and decided to head to Miami instead, where he would be draft-eligible as a sophomore due to his early birthday. The results have been more solid than great, with a 4.09 ERA and a 119/25 strikeout to walk ratio over 101.1 innings between his two seasons, but he's shown enough flashes of greatness that scouts are confident in his upside. Cecconi has a great pitcher's frame at 6'4" and sits in the low to mid 90's with his fastball, adding a plus slider and a developing cutter and changeup that he has good feel for. He's usually a good strike thrower, but the problem has been consistency, as some days his velocity dips a little, others its his secondary stuff that doesn't look quite as sharp, and still others where his command can be shaky. The Diamondbacks scouts have obviously looked at him and think he's very, very close to taking a big step forward, because with all three working at their best, he looks like a legitimate impact big league starter. While he's very old for a college sophomore, having turned 21 in June, he'd be on the younger side if he were a junior and is therefore younger than most of the college pitchers in this draft. All together, it's a very nice profile that could take a big step forward very soon. Slot value is $2.20 million, but I'd imagine it might take a little bit more to keep him from heading back to Coral Gables.
Pre-draft profile here.

3-90: LHP Liam Norris, Green Hope HS, NC (my rank: 153)
For the second straight season, the Diamondbacks spent an early pick on a North Carolina prep lefty with projection to dream on. A year after grabbing Blake Walston out of high school in Wilmington with the 26th overall pick, the Snakes went up to the Raleigh suburbs to divert Liam Norris away from a UNC commitment. Norris, like Walston, will be a project. He's been very up and down throughout his closely-watched high school career, but this spring was very much an "up" for him and Arizona is bought in. At his best, Norris sits in the low to mid 90's with his fastball and can touch as high as 96, putting steep downhill plane on the ball that makes it tough to square up. He also shows a big 12-6 curve with tremendous depth, and his more horizontal slider routinely misses bats as well. The changeup is in its rudimentary stages at this point, but that is very forgivable given his age and two breaking balls. What's not as forgivable, though, is his command. Even when he's on, he struggles immensely to find the zone, to the point where he even has trouble getting plain old high school hitters to chase his explosive stuff. Norris struggles to repeat his arm slot and release point, and part of that might owe to his 6'4" size and the fact that he just hasn't quite grown into it yet. The Diamondbacks certainly hope that's the case and that he'll get more coordinated as he gets older, though his August birthday makes him relatively old for a high school senior (and nearly as old as Walston, whose June birthday made him young for last year's draft). Still, as long as his stuff doesn't regress back towards what it looked like over the summer (upper 80's FB, softer secondary stuff), there is a ton of ceiling here. Slot value is $657,600 and I'm not sure what it will take to keep him away from UNC, but the Diamondbacks saved enough with Jarvis that there should be some left over here to go over slot.

4-119: 3B AJ Vukovich, East Troy HS, WI (my rank: 131)
Wisconsin isn't the biggest baseball state in the country, but the Diamondbacks are poised to add a second small town Wisconsinite to the system. Daulton Varsho of Chili (pop. 226) is off to a great start to his pro career, while East Troy (pop. 4,281) native AJ Vukovich is coming in hot from about half an hour southwest of Milwaukee. Vukovich shows tremendous power from the right side, using his 6'5" frame and long, loose arms to create lots of whip and leverage with which to drive the ball deep. However, his hit tool needs significant work, as he swing and missed often on the showcase circuit and it limited his overall production. Even though he's relatively old for the class with a July birthday, the fact that he comes from a cold weather state buys the bat some slack and gives the Diamondbacks hope they can iron him out. Defensively, he shows a very strong arm over at third base, but his overall range is so-so and in an age where shifting has become commonplace, it might be difficult for him to stick there. There is probably a better chance he ends up in right field, left field, or at first base, and if it's one of the latter two, there will be a lot of pressure on his bat. The upside here is 30+ home runs a year,though the risk is very high. Slot value is $483,000, but I imagine it will take significantly more to keep him from heading to Louisville.

5-149: RHP Brandon Pfaadt, Bellarmine (unranked)
Brandon Pfaadt's high school and college were less than four miles apart in eastern Louisville, but he'll head across the country now as the Diamondbacks' fifth round selection. He's gotten better and better throughout his career at Bellarmine, dropping his ERA from 6.04 as a freshman to 4.03 as a sophomore before posting a breakout 2020 season: 1.38 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 27/4 K/BB in 26 innings. Given that Bellarmine is a Division II school, it wasn't the toughest competition, but he also has a very strong Cape Cod League summer under his belt as well: 2.95 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 37/11 K/BB in 36.2 innings. At his best, Pfaadt runs his fastball into the mid 90's from a very loose, whippy arm, and it's tough to square up because it seems to jump out of his hand. He has feel to spin a good curveball as well, though he's relatively new to starting and there isn't much of a changeup. The key for Pfaadt is consistency, as he hasn't proven he can hold his velocity deep into starts and the breaking ball can regress to below average at times. Pfaadt throws plenty of strikes from a durable 6'3" frame, though his delivery has a lot of moving parts that create deception but might be tougher to repeat deep into games. The Diamondbacks might try to take it slow and develop him as a starter, because he has the talent to do so, but his arm action and fastball/curveball combination could fit really well in a bullpen, where he's pitched for most of his career. Slot value is $360,800, though I imagine he takes a bit of a discount.

Undrafted: OF Danny Oriente, Louisville (unranked)
Brandon Pfaadt isn't the only player the Diamondbacks plucked out of college in Louisville, but Danny Oriente is the only undrafted free agent they've signed so far. Oriente has been a consistent performer in the middle of some stacked Louisville lineups, slashing .324/.400/.420 with three home runs and a 56/42 strikeout to walk ratio over 137 career games. The Chicago-area native doesn't have the world's highest ceiling, instead showing a good feel for the game and broad set of average skills. He's hit over power at the plate, using a simple swing, an all-fields approach, and plus bat to ball skills to make consistent line drive contact. He's also not the fastest guy in the world, but he gets the job done in the outfield. It's a fourth or fifth outfielder profile overall.