With three of the first 53 picks, Arizona had some extra draft capital to play with. While I liked a few individual picks, including first rounder Ryder Helfrick and eleventh rounder Cody Boshell, I do think they came away with a bit less upside than they might have if they played the draft more aggressively. They spent their exact bonus pool without using any of the overage space, which may or may not have been the plan with seventeenth rounder Rylan Alaniz going unsigned and heading to Texas State instead, but it does represent a missed opportunity. In this class, four of the five highest bonuses went to position players, but the depth of the class is mostly pitching representing eight of the next nine highest bonuses.
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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.
1-15: C Ryder Helfrick, Arkansas
Slot value: $5.24 million. Signing bonus: $5.24 million.
My rank: #8. MLB Pipeline: #11. ESPN: #14.
The Diamondbacks got their draft going in a big way, making one of my favorite picks of the first round. Ryder Helfrick was a well-known prep prospect out of Northern California in 2023, but made it to campus at Arkansas where he has blossomed into one of the best amateur catchers in the country. He struggled as a freshman in 2024, but turned it on over the past two seasons and slashed .293/.418/.587 with 33 home runs in 123 combined games. Helfrick has a ferocious right handed swing that channels all of the strength in his 6'1", 210 pound frame into plus power that he taps regularly, power that will absolutely play with wood bats and against pro pitching. While he is power over hit, he has cleaned up his approach significantly in Fayetteville and dropped his strikeout rate from 26.9% as a freshman to 22.5% as a sophomore to 19.1% as a junior, meanwhile upping his walk rate from 13.5% to 13.6% to 19.1% in the same span. There are still holes in his swing, as he can aggressively hunt for power and pull off the ball, leaving him especially susceptible to offspeed stuff away, but he impressively made adjustments and actually ran better strikeout and walk rates in SEC play (18.6% and 20.0%) than outside of it. In all, it's a very attractive offensive profile that could hit 30+ home runs per year with reasonable on-base percentages, which is plenty of offense at the games toughest defensive position. Helfrick has come a long way behind the plate and now looks the part of a plus defender back there, showing much more agility and consistency with his glovework while retaining the cannon arm he has always had. Catchers almost always fall into one of two categories: glove-first guys who you just hope and pray will hit enough to keep their glove on the field, or bat-first guys who you know will hit but who may be forced off the position. Helfrick is neither, combining plus power and a solid hit tool with plus defense to give him the upside as a potential All Star catcher. How he adjusts to pro ball and closes up the holes in his swing will determine if he reaches that ceiling.
CBA-31: RHP Blake Bryant, Citizens Christian HS [GA]
Slot value: $3.12 million. Signing bonus: $2.75 million ($368,300 below slot value).
My rank: #45. MLB Pipeline: #65. ESPN: #84.
It's not often you see a high school pitcher go in this range of the draft and sign below slot, but the Diamondbacks cut a nice little deal with Blake Bryant to sign him away from a Clemson commitment for roughly the value of the #36 pick here at #31. Bryant is a massive upside play as a relatively raw, ultra talented pitcher from a small town in South Georgia. The fastball sits in the low to mid 90's and touches 96, which is nice velocity for now but almost certain to continue to climb as he develops. He's already getting better at holding that velocity deeper into games and has plenty room to fill out his lanky frame. The 6'6" string bean shows a 12-6 curveball and a sweeping slider that both show considerable upside, though they can pop out of his hand a little and break early at times. He adds a changeup, but it's a fourth pitch at this point. Not terribly unexpected for a player from a small town off the beaten path, his mechanics are relatively raw with significant head whack and an arm slot that can wander from pitch to pitch. However, Bryant's arm talent is absolutely undeniable and just a short time in a pro development system could help him leap forward as a pitcher. He's very athletic on the mound and comes with significant projection, looking like a potential ace to those highest on his upside. Arizona will develop him deliberately and patiently to help him reach that lofty ceiling, starting with sharpening his offspeed stuff, streamlining those mechanics, and feeding him plenty of steak and eggs. Bryant is slightly old for a high school draftee and turned 19 in August.
2-53: SS Carson Kerce, Georgia Tech
Slot value: $1.85 million. Signing bonus: $1.9 million ($51,800 above slot value).
My rank: #97. MLB Pipeline: #114. ESPN: #122.
Carson Kerce was a big helium name late in the draft cycle, one who ranked outside the top 100 on most public boards, barely snuck into my top 100, and ultimately went in the second round. He did so by improving in each of his three seasons in Atlanta, jumping from a .282/.392/.366 line with two home runs as a freshman to .313/.411/.475 with four home runs as a sophomore last year to an exceptional .384/.473/.679 with eleven home runs this year as a junior. Kerce only checks in at 5'11" but packs a punch at the plate with a simple approach from the right side: if he likes it, he drops his barrel to the baseball and drives through it, rarely looking to do too much and instead making a ton of contact right on the barrel. He'll take walks when he doesn't get what he likes, but when he does, he doesn't let too many hittable pitches go by and happily jumps on strikes. That approach has worked extremely well in college, running low strikeout rates and even finishing second in all of Division I with 29 doubles in 61 games. The power has always been well below average, but he found the barrel so often in 2026 that it's hard to discount at least some impact potential. While he spread his home runs around the field with metal bats in 2026, the power will probably primarily come to the pull side with wood. Earlier in the seasons, most projections would have had him at five to ten home runs per season in the big leagues, but his strong 2026 has those most bullish on him (including the Diamondbacks, obviously) thinking he could pop for double digits more often than not. Kerce played third base earlier in his Georgia Tech career and took over at shortstop in 2026, where his gritty style of play helps him project as fringe-average at the position. More realistically, his actions may be just a bit stretched at shortstop, so there is a reasonably good chance he slides off to second or third base in the long run. The Atlanta-area native projects as a utility infielder at his floor or, if the impact continues to play with wood like the Diamondbacks expect, a high average starter somewhere on the infield.
3-88: OF Brayden Dowd, Florida State
Slot value: $915,100. Signing bonus: $775,000 ($140,100 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #178. ESPN: #128.
Brayden Dowd is an interesting one with a bit of a polarizing profile, but one the Diamondbacks really like. He's been all over the country already, growing up in the Detroit area before beginning his career at Southern Cal. He was one of the Trojans' best hitters especially in his sophomore 2025 season, then transferred across the country to Florida State for his junior 2026 season. A solid year in Tallahassee cemented him as a potential top five round prospect, though going here in the third round was a bit sooner than many expected. Dowd does a lot of things well on the field even if he lacks a single standout tool. A very patient hitter, he draws a ton of walks (21.2% walk rate) and makes good contact against velocity, though it's more average against offspeed. Like Carson Kerce, he doesn't try to do too much at the plate and works through the ball with an all fields, line drive approach from the left side. That approach has limited his power output in college, but the exit velocities are indicative of potential average power and some 15+ homer seasons in the big leagues if he tries to turn on it more often. Dowd is an average runner whose speed plays up due to his instincts, going ten for ten in stolen bases in 2026 while getting good jumps in center field. A more explosive defender may push him to left field in the long run, but for now he'll get every chance to stick in center field which would of course help the bat profile better. If Dowd moves to left field, he probably won't hit quite enough to play every day, and the Arizona system is always stacked with great up the middle players. The Diamondbacks do appear confident that he'll continue to put things together at the plate and love his makeup.
4-116: RHP Josh McDevitt, Missouri
Slot value: $670,900. Signing bonus: $550,000 ($120,900 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #236. ESPN: unranked.
Moving to the college pitching side, the Diamondbacks found a lot they like in Josh McDevitt. He barely pitched over his first two seasons and struggled when he did get on the mound, but took a huge step forward as a junior and served as Missouri's Friday night starter. McDevitt leans primarily on his fastball, sitting in the low to mid 90's and touching 97 at peak with ride to zip past bats. It got great results in 2026 despite high usage, consistently missing bats and profiling as a potentially plus pitch. He shows an inconsistent curveball with nice snap at times, though the pitch is inconsistent and he does not command it as well as his fastball. He rounds it out with a solid sinking changeup that has been a bit more reliable than the curveball, though both secondaries play second fiddle to the fastball. The 6'2" righty works from a three quarters delivery and gets nice extension combined with a lower release point, both of which are factors in helping the fastball play up and giving Arizona a lot to work with. The command is fringy but he holds his stuff well over his starts, giving Arizona the ingredients it needs to turn him into a solid big league starting pitcher. To get there, he'll need to get more consistent with his curveball and his command, and given that he is very old for a college junior having turned 22 a month before the draft, he has a little bit less time to work on everything. If starting doesn't work out, the fastball quality should take yet another step forward in the bullpen and he won't need to lean much on his offspeed stuff.
5-148: RHP LJ Mercurius, Oklahoma
Slot value: $491,700. Signing bonus: $450,000 ($41,700 below slot value).
My rank: #127. MLB Pipeline: #186. ESPN: #187.
From Paul Sewald to Ryne Nelson to Tommy Pham, Phoenix's desert brother Las Vegas has provided the Diamondbacks several players in recent years. LJ Mercurius will make one more. After graduating from Faith Lutheran in Sin City, he stayed home to play at UNLV with his brother Xander for his first two years of college. A strong sophomore season earned the brothers the opportunity to transfer to Oklahoma, where LJ came out of the gate red hot with a dominant run through non-conference play (4-0, 0.39 ERA, 0.63 WHIP, 34/6 K/BB in 23.1 IP against Oklahoma State, Coppin State, Gonzaga, and Santa Clara) and established himself as a potential second round pick. SEC play was a different story as he got knocked around to an 8.92 ERA in 35.1 innings, resetting his draft stock, but he did put an exclamation mark on his season by tossing 5.2 innings of one run ball against UNC in the College World Series Finals to earn the National Championship-clinching win for the Sooners. Mercurius works with the same low to mid 90's fastball as Josh McDevitt, similarly peaking at 97, though his movement is a little more generic. He has a sharp slider that missed mid-major bats in bunches and also shows a solid changeup, making for a very solid three pitch mix. Mercurius throws plenty of strikes but his control is well ahead of his command, leading to too many pitches catching the heart of the plate and leading to his tendency to get blown up at times. Arizona likes his uptempo, athletic delivery that should be conducive to further velocity gains as he adds to his skinny 6'2" frame, giving him a chance to stick as a starter if he tightens things up a little bit. If he moves to the bullpen, he can lean on his quality fastball/slider combination.
11-326: 1B Cody Boshell, Bishop Snyder HS [FL]
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $750,000 ($600,000 against bonus pool).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. ESPN: #142.
Arizona spent most of the first half of the draft saving money, leaving them plenty of space to go over slot and make some splashes in the back half. Cody Boshell wound up the only big splash there, taking early fourth round money (roughly the value of the #105 pick) to sign away from a Tennessee commitment here in the eleventh round. He brings huge upside in somewhat of a Jac Caglianone package, without Caglianone's sky high chase rates. Boshell is a 6'3", 220 pound slugger with a violent left handed swing that produces plus raw power with strong biometric data to back it up. He gets the ball in the air as well, making for a potential 30 home run bat if things break right. Additionally, Boshell performed well on the 2025 summer showcase circuit and created many fans out of those who saw him on the right days, perhaps none more so than in Arizona. More advanced pitchers will probably find holes in his swing and force him to refine his operation a little bit, and his advanced age (he turned 19 in May) gives him a hair less development time than others in his graduating class. Defensively, the Jacksonville native lacks significant upside due to fringy speed and is raw regardless, showing choppy actions in the outfield and an aggressive style of play that will need to be toned down as the game speeds up in pro ball. He does have a plus arm that was up to 96 on the mound, where he was a significant pitching prospect with a sharp breaking ball and a sturdy frame. The Diamondbacks see a physical left handed power hitter with a track record of performance and see him hitting in the middle of their order in a few years.
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