SCOTTSDALE — The Arizona Diamondbacks only have one consensus top 100 prospect in baseball, but there is an internal belief that the strength of the farm system is its depth.
The club has improved in that aspect after the series of trade deadline moves last summer, a 2024 draft class that included said top 100 player in Ryan Waldschmidt and the addition of high draft picks via free agent departure (Christian Walker) and Rookie of the Year incentives (Corbin Carroll).
When looking at MLB Pipeline’s top 15 Diamondbacks prospects, Waldschmidt and pitcher Patrick Forbes were taken using those extra draft picks, pitchers David Hagaman, Kohl Drake and Mitch Bratt were all acquired in a trade for Merrill Kelly and Arizona’s last three first-round picks are considered top five prospects in the system: Tommy Troy, Slade Caldwell and Kayson Cunningham.
National outlets are mixed on the strength of the system, with FanGraphs and The Athletic’s Keith Law ranking Arizona just inside the top half of the league, while MLB Pipeline and ESPN dropped the D-backs into the low 20s. The D-backs are deep with infielders, but there are pitchers making their way up.
Here are the top prospects to keep a particularly close eye on and five more under-the-radar names to file as potential risers this season:
Top Diamondbacks prospects to watch
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
OF Ryan Waldschmidt, 23
Waldschmidt became Arizona’s top prospect with a dominant second half in Double-A Amarillo last season, and he entered his first big league camp this spring with eyes on making the decision to send him down difficult.
The team opted to re-assign him to the minor leagues, but with an advanced approach, power from the right side and better defense than expected, Waldschmidt will knock on the big league door if he builds on his 2025 performance. He ended Cactus League with a three-hit game on Sunday.
“He does as good a job as anybody of mitigating his weaknesses at the plate and maximizing his strengths,” D-backs farm director Chris Slivka told Arizona Sports. “There’s a lot of things that we care about here, like controlling the strike zone and putting forth those high-quality at-bats. I think, as far as intangibles, he’s another guy who works his butt off.”
Waldschmidt slashed .309/.423/.498 in 66 games with Double-A Amarillo last year with strong strikeout (17.7%) and walk rates (15%). He finished the year with 18 home runs and 29 steals.
Jordan Lawlar is getting his feet wet in center field, Alek Thomas has a lot to prove and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is expected to mostly start at designated hitter upon returning from a torn ACL. With some moving parts in the outfield, Waldschmidt could become the elephant in the room if there are shortcomings.
“I just know one thing, Ryan Waldschmidt is an absolute baseball junkie,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “Every time there’s a conversation in the dugout, he’s in the middle of it. I like that.”
OF Druw Jones, 22
Early-career injuries limited Jones’ playing time after he went No. 2 in the 2022 draft, and the offense has been hit-and-miss thus far. There’s no denying his upside defensively in center field, as he won the 2025 Minor League Defensive Player of the Year award.
After a brutal start at the plate in High-A Hillsboro last year, Jones turned his season around. His OPS in the first half was .595. In the second half, it improved to .797 with fewer strikeouts and more power.
“I think he started to commit to some things at the plate mechanically,” Slivka said. “I think that for him, it’s about finding consistency in those moves and continuing to build on what he ended with last year. … He got up on the plate a little bit. His direction was a little bit better.”
Jones left the club temporarily to play in the World Baseball Classic this spring and went 4-for-10 with five walks for Team Netherlands. Eyes will be on him to build off his improvements with Rule 5 eligibility next winter.
OF Slade Caldwell, 19
Caldwell played his first professional season last year, hitting so well in Single-A Visalia (.914 OPS) that the D-backs promoted him to High-A Hillsboro, where he became the youngest player in the league as a teenager.
Caldwell struggled to a degree at the next level (.681 OPS), but he finished the year with a .408 on-base clip and 25 stolen bases as a short speedster who played all three outfield spots.
“Probably just being physical,” Caldwell said translated. “And going in the outfield and getting balls and stuff like that. Just my instincts, my energy.”
Law wrote that Caldwell has the chance to be an old-school lead-off man who sees pitches, gets on base, steals bags and hits for average over power.
He had a low swing rate and .311 slugging percentage in Hillsboro, areas where his game will need to evolve. Dealing with the length of a minor league season after getting drafted out of college was the toughest adjustment, he said.
Caldwell explained he played through most of last season with a herniated disk in his back, which he claimed did not impact him heavily on the field. Sitting on bus trips was more painful. Caldwell has been slow-played this spring and said he will be good to go for the start of the season.
“Everything,” he said he’s looking to improve. “Just more experience as far as approach things.”
INF Jose Fernandez, 22
Fernandez is probably no longer under the radar for spring training fans. The 6-foot-3 shortstop showed power with three home runs and nearly every ball put in play hit over 100 mph off the bat in Cactus League. He has a strong arm and played all over the infield in his young career.
At the Spring Breakout prospect showcase on Saturday, he delivered three hits, including a triple.
“I remember watching him when he was 18 on the backfields,” Lovullo said. “(Assistant general manager) Amiel Sawdaye said to me, ‘Look at this kid. If he were an 18-year-old high school senior, he’d be a first-round draft choice.’ … We always felt like we had somebody that had that ability. And now just to put it together and harness it, create some bat speed and some leverage, swing at strikes, control the zone. Those are all the things that he’s been doing.”
The D-backs protected him from the Rule 5 Draft and placed him on the 40-man roster, even though he has not played in Triple-A yet.
Fernandez has hit way better against lefties than righties in his career, so being able to handle himself right-on-right could make the difference between Fernandez developing into an everyday or role player.
“Fernandez, he’s been a sleeper in the system,” Slivka said. “As far as what he has left to prove is continuing to gain consistency on the routine play at shortstop, managing his at-bats a little bit better, controlling the strike zone, checking off those right-handed breaking balls. But his makeup is great.”
INF Tommy Troy, 24
Troy became another spring training standout, as he hit .429 in his first 11 games and sprayed the ball to all fields.
He stuck to second base in Cactus League after getting some run in center field last year to add versatility.
The Diamondbacks’ infield is full entering the year, but Troy with quality at-bats, speed and flexibility profiles as a useful depth piece early who could develop into a regular. The right-handed bat reached Triple-A Reno last year, and his on-base percentage stayed nearly identical after the leap from .381 in Double-A to .382.
“He’s improved a lot at second base, continuing to get his feet underneath him defensively,” Slivka said. “He had a full season playing in second last year, and he’s getting some outfield reps, too, just to open up some more opportunities and pathways to push to the major league level.”
INF Jansel Luis, 21
Luis may be a familiar name for Arizona Fall League fans, as he represented Arizona in the Fall Stars Game last autumn.
The Dominican switch-hitter hit .311 last season between rookie ball and Visalia, only clubbing five home runs but with 21 doubles, eight triples and 26 steals.
Luis flashed power this spring with a dead-center home run off longtime major league pitcher Michael Wacha after he was an exit velocity darling in the AFL. He was prone to chasing pitches out of the zone last year, but the tools and upside he showed rocketed him to No. 3 on FanGraphs‘ list and No. 5 on Law’s list of D-backs prospects.
Pitchers Kohl Drake/Mitch Bratt
Drake and Bratt are not the nastiest pitchers in the system, but they are strike-throwing lefties who are closer to the big leagues if the need for a starter surfaces.
The Diamondbacks have five experienced major league starters in the rotation, plus Kelly when he returns in early April and Corbin Burnes looking at a midseason return from Tommy John surgery.
With Cristian Mena dealing a shoulder injury and Blake Walston working back from Tommy John surgery, Drake and Bratt represent some of the club’s pitching depth if something unforeseen goes down early.
MLB and Law ranked pitchers Daniel Eagen, Forbes and Hagaman ahead of the duo, but that group has minimal if any Double-A experience.
Drake and Bratt did not perform particularly well in limited big league outings this spring, so it will be noteworthy who creates some separation to jump next in line for when the D-backs need a starter.
Honorable mentions:
RHP Daniel Eagen, 23: Arizona’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year dominated in Hillsboro (2.49) and made his last four starts of the year in Amarillo. With a deep secondary arsenal to draw whiffs, how quickly can he jump into the same pool as Arizona’s depth starters like Drake and Bratt?
RHP David Hagaman, 22: Hagaman threw 42.1 innings last year in his return from Tommy John surgery to a 2.98 ERA, as he struck out 11.7 batters per nine innings. He continued to pile up strikeouts in the AFL with 14 in 12 innings. How will he look when the workload increases this season?
INF Kayson Cunningham, 19: Arizona’s 2025 first-round pick got his feet wet in Visalia last year and will embark on his first full professional season. “Obviously my hit tool,” Cunningham said. “That’ll always play at any level I play at. My speed, my defense, just me being an athlete will carry on the rest of my pro career.” He’s had the chance to hit with Corbin Carroll and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on the backfields this spring and delivered two hits in the Spring Breakout game.
INF Demetrio Crisantes, 21: A hitting machine in Visalia in 2024 (.341 average), Crisantes suffered a season-ending shoulder injury last May. The Nogales native returned to action this spring and is still highly touted for his hit tool.
INF LuJames Groover, 23: After a rough first couple games in Cactus League, Groover has taken off at the plate, hitting .341 in 14 games. He went 7-for-his-last-13 and is a .297 hitter in 211 minor league games.
System sleepers to watch
(Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images)
Catchers Carlos Virahonda, 20, and Ivan Luciano, 19
Virahonda and Luciano are young but caught some attention in rookie ball and Visalia last year.
“Both had pretty solid seasons last year, but the jumps they’ve made in the offseason give us a lot to be excited about. Those are a couple of guys to keep on the radar,” Slivka said.
Virahonda, a 2023 signee from Venezuela, hit .300 last year with a plus throwing arm and good athleticism behind the plate.
He said defense is his strength as a player, while his bat is coming around.
“I improved, I matured mentally and I think that’s why I had a good year last year. It was a learning year,” Virahonda said in Spanish on Saturday. “I do well with the pitches that are in my zone that I’m ready to attack, but chase is something that I would like to improve upon.”
Luciano was a second-round pick in 2024 out of Puerto Rico who hit .286 last year and threw out 29% of base stealers.
RHP Dean Livingston, 19
Livingston was a fourth-round draft pick last summer straight out of high school in Georgia. The Georgia commit is 6-foot-4 and can deliver heat. He enters his first minor league season.
“Dean Livingston, a high school draft pick last year, is already up to 97-98 mph on our backfield,” Slivka said. “He’s giving us a lot of reasons to be excited.”
RHP Jaitoine Kelly, 18
Kelly received some exposure this spring. The teenager became the youngest pitcher to start a WBC game, and he pitched well for the Netherlands with two shutout innings.
He made his affiliate debut late last season for Visalia and has the frame and stuff to make a move up the prospects list this season if he can hone it.
“His stuff and velocity is continuing to move forward,” Slivka said. “He’s a big guy, 6-foot-4, great frame and he’s going to grow into that. He has upside to be a really talented starting pitcher.”
INF Cristofer Torin, 20
Torin hit .291 in 127 minor league games last season. He did not show much power, but he worked quality at-bats to reach base while providing quality defense up the middle. According to MLB Pipeline, Torin made contact on 86% of his swings in Hillsboro. He is seen internally as a breakout candidate this year.
RHP Wellington Aracena, 21
Potentially a hidden gem of the Blaze Alexander trade will be the young, hard-throwing starter who struck out 114 batters in 92 innings last year between A-ball and High-A. Aracena tossed three innings with one run in the Spring Breakout game while hitting triples digits on the radar gun.
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