2017 Prospects: Arizona Diamondbacks Top 10 Prospects

Last Year’s Diamondbacks List

The State of the System:

“I shivered in those
solitudes
when I heard
the voice
of
the salt
in the desert"

Pablo Neruda, “Ode to Salt”

The Top Ten

1. LHP Anthony Banda
2. SS/2B Domingo Leyba
3. 3B/SS Dawel Lugo
4. OF Anfernee Grier
5. SS Jasrado Chisholm
6. RHP Brad Keller
7. RHP Taylor Clarke
8. LHP Alex Young
9. OF Victor Reyes
10. RHP Jon Duplantier

The Big Question: 🎶 Where Has All The Talent Gone? 🎶

Headlined by a trio of promising starters and flanked by high-floor position players, the 2015 Diamondbacks had one of the best farm systems in baseball. Arizona had talent in both the upper and lower levels, and three players—Archie Bradley, Braden Shipley, and Aaron Blair—in the first half of our top 101 prospect list. With the first pick of the upcoming draft on the horizon, and all the bonus pool money that comes with it, the Dbacks seemed destined to add even more talent to their already healthy farm, one that we ranked as the seventh best in all of baseball.

Fast forward two years, and the Diamondbacks now have one of the worst systems in the league. There are precious few starting pitchers who throw hard, no power hitters with a chance to anchor the middle of a lineup, no big-money teenagers steadily translating stickball protoplasm into baseball stardom. You can find a few crafty lefties and future utility players, and if you squint, even a couple of guys with big tools and miles of developmental work ahead.

Ultimately though, Arizona’s system is almost entirely devoid of impact talent. Very few players in the upper levels have a chance to be Role 50 types, much less future stars, and after a spate of free agent signings, poor trades, and almost criminal mismanagement of Latin American money, the low minors are nearly as barren. Last year, Arizona’s minor league rosters were often populated with players who would likely have been cast aside by other organizations. That trend will continue in 2017.

The unraveling of Arizona’s once-promising farm system sprang from several directions, some preventable, some not. What is clear is that the lack of young talent stems from an organization-wide failure that will hamstring the Diamondbacks for years to come. To briefly recap, the Dbacks were hurt by…

Graduations
The most innocuous development was that many of the players from the 2015 list are now in the big leagues. Brandon Drury and Jake Lamb are both developmental wins, who could be strong offensive contributors who should help the D’Backs lineup throughout the rest of the decade. Bradley and Shipley have also exhausted their prospect eligibility, though with less major league success.

Trades
A series of deals designed to help Arizona win now have instead devastated Arizona’s minor league depth without translating into big league success. The Diamondbacks shipped Dansby Swanson, the top pick in the 2015 draft, to Atlanta in a trade for Shelby Miller. Many evaluators would have considered a straight-up Swanson-for-Miller swap unwise; adding Blair to the outgoing package was foolish. It was the second time in less than a year that the Braves had picked Arizona’s pocket: Earlier in the year, the Dbacks traded Touki Toussaint, their fourth-best prospect, to Atlanta for salary relief Phil Gosselin. Arizona also dealt its top remaining positional farmhand, Isan Diaz, to the Brewers last January, only to see him blossom in Milwaukee.

To be fair, the Dbacks have added a few notable players through trades, most notably Jack Reinheimer and Dawel Lugo. Unfortunately, this is a case where the subtractions were much more damaging than the additions beneficial.

Draft
Conventional wisdom suggests that a No. 1 overall pick can alter a franchise’s long-term trajectory, and the principle perniciously applies to Arizona in Swanson’s case. Deprived of Swanson and a first-round pick last season (thanks to the Zack Greinke signing) the Diamondbacks haven’t been able to add impact talent to their farm system through the draft. Last year’s supplemental round pick, Anfernee Grier, is a project. Second-rounder Andrew Yerzy was picked ahead of where most evaluators had him. Third-rounder Jon Duplantier is an upside gamble, but he’s already had arm trouble and a heavy college workload. It’s still early, but last year’s draft looks like a punt.

International Spending
The international market is a complex arena, one that Arizona’s inexperienced front office was unprepared to navigate. The Diamondbacks blew $8 million on mercurial right-hander Yoan Lopez in 2013, which was seen as a massive overpay before his stuff went backwards. Even worse, Arizona’s brass reportedly didn’t realize that the size of Lopez’s bonus precluded them from spending in Latin America over the next two seasons. Needless to say, Arizona hasn’t injected much talent from this pipeline since, though adding Jasrado Chisholm from the Bahamas was a nice bit of scouting.

Development
It’s unfair to attribute every stagnant prospect to organizational ineptitude; sometimes players just don’t get better. Nonetheless, the story isn’t much happier on the developmental front. Most of the non-big-league-ready prospects from the 2015 list have either regressed or failed to improve significantly. Reliever Jimmie Sherfy still oscillates between unhittable and uncatchable. Wei-Chieh Huang was sitting in the low-to-mid 80s last summer. Marcus Wilson was always going to be a slow burn, but he hasn’t hit for any power in the 2.5 years he’s been in the system. Gabby Guerrero, one the prizes in the Mark Trumbo trade, was deemed surplus to requirements 16 months after the deal. Bradley and Shipley are both young and have flashed the ability that made them such valuable commodities in Arizona, but neither has approached their ceiling either.

This is not to ignore Arizona’s developmental successes, like Lamb, Drury, or Jake Barrett: the developmental machine hasn’t been entirely out of order. It’s impossible to look at the state of the farm, however, without noting that the lower minors haven’t born much fruit lately.

Diamondbacks fans looking for some solace should be comforted by the idea that the farm system will probably be better 12 months from now. With a new front office, and another high draft pick, the Dbacks should get a much-needed injection of talent a few months from now. It’s also plausible that a guy like Duplantier or Chisholm takes a step forward. The bottom line is, as the White Sox demonstrated this winter, that it doesn’t take a long time to turn a farm system around. Given Arizona’s relative standing around the league, that’s a good thing. —Brendan Gawlowski

***

1. Anthony Banda, LHP
DOB: 08/10/1993
Height/Weight: 6’2” 190 lbs.
Bats/Throws: L/L
Drafted/Acquired: Drafted in the 10th round of the 2012 MLB Draft by Milwaukee; San Jacinto College (Pasadena, TX); signed for $125,000; traded to Arizona from Milwaukee for Gerardo Parra
Previous Ranking(s): #10 (Org.)
2016 Stats: 2.12 ERA, 1.78 DRA, 76.1 IP, 70 H, 28 BB, 84 K in 13 games at Double-A Mobile, 3.67 ERA, 3.41 DRA, 73.2 IP, 73 H, 27 BB, 68 K in 13 games at Triple-A Reno

The Good: Hey guys, do you want to hear about another potential mid-rotation starter? Wait, where are you going? Yes there have been a lot of them so far—though they usually don’t sit at number one on a team’s prospect list—but Banda is…uh…well, like most of them. He works off a plus fastball that sits in the mid-90s after a velocity bump in 2016. The pitch also showed more arm-side life than in the past. He also features a low-80s curve that…anyone…that’s right! It flashes plus with good depth. Banda has a starter’s frame and delivery and a clean arm action. There’s no physical concerns about his ability to start…

The Bad: …but get this: he needs to improve both his changeup and command. Banda lacks feel for the cambio and it’s not much more than a show-me offering at present—and a “show-me the seats” offering when he hangs it. The control outpaces the command at present and the overall arsenal isn’t good enough to make much of an impact with merely average command.

The Irrelevant: Unsurprisingly, Randy Johnson has six of the ten best ERA+ seasons by a left-handed pitcher in Diamondbacks history. Slightly more surprisingly is the only other name with multiple entries in the top ten: Omar Daal.

The Role:

OFP 55—A healthy Patrick Corbin, maybe?
Likely 45—A healthy Brian Anderson

The Risks: I think someone once wrote that there is no such thing as a mid-rotation starter. The command and change will get there, or they won’t, but the fastball is good enough he will get chances to start. Unless he gets hurt, which he might, because he’s a pitcher.

Major league ETA: 2017, as needed

Ben Carsley’s Fantasy Take: Yikes. There’s nothing inherently wrong with Banda, but he’s not a top-100 name and we’re leading off the article with him, so, yeah … this isn’t going to be a terribly useful piece of internet content for dynasty league owners. Banda might have value as a decent all-around backend starter once he’s firmly entrenched in the rotation, but frankly, you can often find that type of value on the waiver wire. Take the plunge if your league rosters 200 prospects because of Banda’s proximity, but otherwise, yawn.

2. Domingo Leyba, SS/2B
DOB: 9/11/1995
Height/Weight: 5’11” 160 lbs.
Bats/Throws: S/R
Drafted/Acquired: Signed in July 2012 out of the Dominican Republic for $400,000; traded to Arizona from Detroit in three team trade
Previous Ranking(s): N/A
2016 Stats: .294/.346/.426, 6 HR, 5 SB in 86 games at High-A Visalia, .301/.374/.436, 4 HR, 4 SB in 44 games at Double-A Mobile

The Good: Leyba’s compact stroke and strong hand-eye coordination combine to generate quality bat-to-ball skills that are advanced for a 21-year-old, having already proven capable of translating against Double-A pitching. He demonstrated significant gains with his approach in a second tour of the California League to start the year, exhibiting greater selectivity and staying inside the strike zone more consistently. There’s a potentially above-average hit tool at maturity if last year’s gains continued to hold against advanced pitching. He’s a technically sound defender up the middle, with solid hands and fundamentals that allow him to convert grounders he can reach into outs. The arm can scrape average from short, while playing to solid-average on the other side of the bag.

The Bad: His body is already pretty maxed out, and there’s some lower-half density that limits both his foot speed and range to fringe-average. He lacks the kind of explosiveness or fluidity in his lateral movements that an ideal shortstop possesses, and fits more naturally at second. The swing is relatively flat, and he lacks for strength or leverage to drive pitches over the fence with much regularity. Coupled with the unremarkable run tool, his secondary offensive skills aren’t particularly exciting.

The Irrelevant: The first man to sport a “Domingo” moniker in Major League Baseball was Adolfo Domingo de Guzman Luque, better known as “Dolf” Luque. “The Pride of Havana” made his debut for the Boston Braves in 1914, and went on to win 194 big-league games across a 20-year career en route to enshrinement in the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1967.

The Role:

OFP 50—Average regular at second
Likely 45—Second-division starter or quality utility infielder

The Risks: Leyba has made steady and impressive gains at the plate, while his instincts and feel on the dirt have kept him in the running for shortstop reps despite less than ideal physicality. While he lacks for a standout tool, his solid skill set on both sides of the ball makes him a higher-probability big-league contributor.

Major league ETA: 2018 —Wilson Karaman

Ben Carsley’s Fantasy Take: If you’ve ever watched Joe Panik play and thought, “damn, I wish he had less power,” Leyba is the prospect for you.

3. Dawel Lugo, 3B/SS
DOB: 12/31/1994
Height/Weight: 6’0” 190 lbs.
Bats/Throws: R/R
Drafted/Acquired: Signed July 2011 out of the Dominican Republic for $1.3 million; traded to Arizona from Toronto for Cliff Pennington
Previous Ranking(s): N/A
2016 Stats: .314/.348/.514, 13 HR, 2 SB in 79 games at High-A Visalia, .306/.322/.451, 4 HR, 1 SB in 48 games at Double-A Mobile

The Good: The stroke is quick and direct to the ball, with good early rhythm that puts him in position to adjust within swings and make consistent contact with pitches all around (and beyond) the zone. He has strong wrists and produces solid-average bat speed, ingredients that portend above-average raw power at his peak. A former shortstop, he moves well laterally and shows soft hands on receipt. The arm strength pushes plus at third, with throws that hold their plane from line to line.

The Bad: Lugo is a wildly aggressive hitter who has shown little in the way of development over the past year in refining his approach. He frequently chases pitches outside the zone, and his lack of selectivity threatens to deflate his game power against quality arms. The glove is okay, though not an asset at third, with range limitations keeping the defensive projection in check. He’s a below-average runner already, and a thick, higher-maintenance frame means he’ll have to work hard to keep his speed from declining further.

The Irrelevant: Lugo is the one and only known “Dawel” to have ever laced ‘em up for a professional baseball team.

The Role:

OFP 50—Borderline average regular
Likely 45—Second-division starter

The Risks: There is ostensibly a path for Lugo to develop into something resembling an average regular if he can make some inroads with the approach to become a more patient hitter who draws out the majority of his power in games, but as a bat-first prospect with a fairly long track record of significant aggressiveness at this point it is a lower probability that he makes those necessary adjustments and reaches his ceiling.

Major league ETA: Late 2018/Early 2019 —Wilson Karaman

Ben Carsley’s Fantasy Take: You know that scene in Interstellar where Matt Damon’s Dr. Mann attempts to dock with the Endurance but he can’t do it and everything blows up? Dr. Mann still had a better approach than Lugo. Yeah that was a long way to go but reading this system makes me want to die.

4. Anfernee Grier, OF
DOB: 10/13/1995
Height/Weight: R/R
Bats/Throws: 6’1” 180 lbs.
Drafted/Acquired: Drafted 39th overall in 2016 MLB Draft, Auburn University (Auburn, AL); signed for $1.5 million
Previous Ranking(s): N/A
2016 Stats: .214/.267/.500, 1 HR, 0 SB in 4 games at short-season Missoula, .240/.278/.307, 1 HR, 9 SB in 20 games at short-season Hillsboro

The Good: Grier always had tools to dream on during his time in Auburn, but he finally started putting them on the field his junior season. He’s a plus runner with potentially average power in center field. That’s a nice start. His above-average arm will play in right if he loses speed or if he struggles to refine his jumps and routes in the pros.

The Bad: It’s going to be a long road to major-league contribution considering he is a college outfielder that went in the first 50 picks. He can sell out for power at times and get a little one-gear with his swing. A below-average hit tool might limit how much his power plays. His glove is carried by his premium athleticism at this point. Potential tweener profile.

The Irrelevant: Russell County High School has produced three major leaguers; Billy Moran and the Rasmus brothers.

The Role:

OFP 50—Second-division outfielder
Likely 40—Bench outfielder

The Risks: Grier has a limited amateur track record of getting his tools into games. He may not hit enough to get the power into games or be on base enough to have the speed be more than a useful weapon in the late innings.

Major league ETA: 2019

Ben Carsley’s Fantasy Take: The power/speed combo makes Grier a potential top-200 name, but that’s about as high as we can go until we see some of the tools translate to MiLB production. He’s arguably the second-best dynasty prospect in this system. I wish I lived a fuller life.

5. Jasrado Chisholm, SS
DOB: 2/1/1998
Height/Weight: 5’11” 165 lbs.
Bats/Throws: L/R
Drafted/Acquired: Signed July 2015 out of the Bahamas for $200,000
Previous Ranking(s): N/A
2016 Stats: .281/.333/.446, 9 HR, 13 SB in 62 games at short-season Missoula

The Good: Chisholm is a potential plus glove at shortstop despite only average athletic tools. He makes hard contact when he makes contact and could grow into more power and better barrel control as he adds strength.

The Bad: Despite his power performance in the Pioneer League air, Chisholm’s power plays more to gap, but the swing-and-miss potential might limit even that. He’s very busy pre-swing and can struggle to control the bat. He’s an aggressive hitter that will expand the zone even against short-season arms.

The Irrelevant: Six Bahamians have played in the major leagues, the most recent of which was Antoan Richardson, who got cups of coffee with the Yankees and Braves in 2011 and 2014.

The Role:

OFP 50—Glove-first everyday shortstop
Likely 40—Glove-first utility infielder

The Risks: Hey, another good athlete that might not hit enough to be a regular in the majors. I guess betting on athleticism beats betting the farm—literally—on Shelby Miller.

Major league ETA: 2020

Ben Carsley’s Fantasy Take: A glove-first everyday shortstop who’s three-plus seasons away from the majors? Just skip cut the line and pick up Deven Marrero or something.

6. Brad Keller, RHP
DOB: 7/27/1995
Height/Weight: 6’5” 230 lbs.
Bats/Throws: R/R
Drafted/Acquired: Drafted in the eighth round in 2013 MLB Draft, Flowery Branch HS (Flowery Branch, GA); signed for $125,000
Previous Ranking(s): N/A
2016 Stats: 4.47 ERA, 3.22 DRA, 135 IP, 147 H, 26 BB, 99 K in 24 games at High-A Visalia

The Good: Keller has a good kind of big-donkey body, a hulking John Lackey frame that can wear innings for days. He manipulates a low-90s fastball with two-way action, controlling it effectively down in the zone to create copious amounts of rolled-over contact. He sells a firm change with quality arm speed, and while the pitch doesn’t miss a ton of bats it does induce additional worm-burners on the regular. He made some strides with his slider this year as well. He doesn’t beat himself with walks, and his mound intelligence and feel for managing a game allow him to compete for multiple runs through a lineup.

The Bad: The stuff has its limits, and he can’t really claim a pitch that projects to miss bats consistently. While he made progress with the slider, he doesn’t have a ton of natural feel for spinning the ball. The delivery lacks for fluidity and great athleticism, and his fine command in the zone lags behind his control, making for a sometimes-dangerously hittable combination.

The Irrelevant: As of this writing Keller has tweeted 17 times in the new year, and save for a retweet confirming the tragic passings of Yordano Ventura and Andy Marte, all of his tweets have been about football, with the Atlanta Falcons (nine) edging out Clemson University (seven) as the chief beneficiaries of his fandom.

The Role:

OFP 50—No. 4 Starter
Likely 40—No. 5 Starter/Swingman

The Risks: Keller spent much of the year as one of the youngest pitchers in the Cal League and held his own, posting his second-consecutive season with more than 130 innings of sub-3.25 DRA pitching. He’ll need to continue developing his slider and miss a few more bats in order to reach his ceiling as a fourth-starter, but even without an above-average third pitch the innings-and-ground-balls profile can still be enough to round out a rotation.

Major league ETA: Late 2018 —Wilson Karaman

Ben Carsley’s Fantasy Take: He who fights with back-end starters should be careful

7. Taylor Clarke, RHP
DOB: 5/13/1993
Height/Weight: 6’4” 200 lbs.
Bats/Throws: R/R
Drafted/Acquired: Drafted 76th overall in 2015 MLB Draft, College of Charleston (Charleston, SC); signed for $801,900
Previous Ranking(s): N/A
2016 Stats: 2.83 ERA, 3.96 DRA, 28.2 IP, 24 H, 5 BB, 24 K in 6 starts at Single-A Kane County, 2.74 ERA, 6.32 DRA, 23 IP, 19 H, 7 BB, 22 K in 4 starts at High-A Visalia, 3.59 ERA, 5.66 DRA, 97.2 IP, 99 H, 21 BB, 72 K in 17 starts at Double-A Mobile

The Good: Clarke shot up the organizational ranks in 2016 on the back of a low-90s fastball with some deception that he can command to either side of the plate. Both secondaries have a chance to be average. That counts as good, really. I’m taking what I can get at this point. We have a ways to go. He spots the curve down in the zone well.

The Bad: The stuff is average-ish across the board. He may lack an out pitch at higher levels—or even at Double-A, where he struggled some against better-quality hitters.

The Irrelevant: Per Google Maps, the trip from Kane County to Visalia to Mobile is 4,189 miles and will take around 60 hours to complete. Please note, this route has tolls.

The Role:

OFP 50—No. 4 starter
Likely 40—No. 5 starter

The Risks: The risk is when I took this job I’d eventually have to write the Diamondbacks list. Oh, you mean for Clarke? Lacks a swing-and-miss offering, hasn’t really passed the Double-A test. He’s not an obvious bullpen candidate, though the fastball has touched significantly higher in the past. And yes, he’s a pitcher.

Major league ETA: Early 2018

Ben Carsley’s Fantasy Take: Lest he thereby become a back-end starter.

8. Alex Young, LHP
DOB: 09/09/1993
Height/Weight: 6’2” 205 lbs.
Bats/Throws: L/L
Drafted/Acquired: Drafted 43rd overall in the 2015 MLB Draft, Texas Christian University; signed for $1.4314 million
Previous Ranking(s): #5 (Org.)
2016 Stats: 2.16 ERA, 4.71 DRA, 50 IP, 39 H, 16 BB, 37 K in 9 games at Single-A Kane County, 4.59 ERA, 6.10 DRA, 68.2 IP, 79 H, 21 BB, 56 K in 12 games at High-A Visalia

The Good: Young has a really advanced slider. It flashes plus, and he can get ugly swings from both righties and lefties with it. He has an easy, repeatable delivery. The two-seam fastball moves a bit with both arm-side run and some sink.

The Bad: Despite the sink and run, the fastball sits in the upper 80s and can be quite hittable. The changeup has some fade, but not enough velocity separation to be an effective major league offering. This feels like it could just be a LOOGy profile at the end of the day.

The Irrelevant: Kevin Costner spent a semester in high school in Visalia, which may be why it gets a mention in Bull Durham.

The Role:

OFP 50—Back-end starter or lefty setup man
Likely 40—Middle reliever with platoon issues

The Risks: Below-average fastball velocity and the lack of a third pitch really limits the ceiling, although the slider is good enough, and Young is left-handed enough that their should be a bullpen spot for him in the majors eventually. He’s still a pitcher, so maybe that doesn’t even happen. I don’t know man. This is only #7. We got a ways to go still.

Major league ETA: Early 2018

Ben Carsley’s Fantasy Take: And if thou gaze long into an abyss,

9. Victor Reyes, OF
DOB: 10/5/1994
Height/Weight: 6’3” 170 lbs.
Bats/Throws: S/R
Drafted/Acquired: Signed in July 2011 out of Venezuela for $365,000; traded to Arizona from Atlanta for 2015 supplemental second-round pick
Previous Ranking(s): N/A
2016 Stats: .303/.349/.416, 6 HR, 20 SB in 124 games at High-A Visalia

The Good: Reyes is a natural hitter, with strong wrists, quickness into the zone, and good balance to track pitches deep and put quality contact on the ball. A switch-hitter, he recognizes spin well and manages to put decent swings on bad balls with some consistency. The frame has some room to project strength, and he’ll flash occasional leverage from the left side.

The Bad: In order to put decent swings on bad balls he has to chase those pitches, and chase he will do. He’s a highly aggressive hitter, and while his high-caliber bat-to-ball skills have won the day thus far in the low minors, it’s unclear if they’ll be enough to continue doing so. It’s an especially valid concern in his case, as the frame is beanpole skinny, and his narrow shoulders aren’t built for much bulk even at max capacity. He’s a fringy runner, as his long strides lack explosiveness, and the arm is a bit light for right field, so he may wind up relegated to left field.

The Irrelevant: Reyes was traded straight-up for a draft pick in 2015, and the Braves used the pick to select injury-riddled left-hander A.J. Minter, who would probably crack this top-ten list himself.

The Role:

OFP 45—Second-division left-fielder
Likely 40—Up-and-down fourth outfielder

The Risks: Reyes’ raw hitting talent lends some optimism for a big-league future, but the whole package is just a really weird profile without a ton of precedent for sustained success at the highest level.

Major league ETA: 2019 —Wilson Karaman

Ben Carsley’s Fantasy Take: You should have little interest in the low-budget remake of Raimel Tapia. Now, where were we …

10. Jon Duplantier, RHP
DOB: 7/11/1994
Height/Weight: 6’4” 225 lbs.
Bats/Throws: L/R
Drafted/Acquired: Drafted 89th overall in 2016 MLB Draft, Rice University (Houston, TX); signed for $686,600
Previous Ranking(s): N/A
2016 Stats: 0.00 ERA, 0.00 DRA, 1 IP, 0 H, 2 BB, 3 K in 1 game at short-season Hillsboro

The Good: In 2016, a healthy Duplantier showed off a lively fastball he could run up into the mid-90s and a potentially plus power curve. He’s a good athlete with the frame to start.

The Bad: Duplantier already missed an entire season—his sophomore one—with shoulder issues. The changeup lags well behind the other two offerings. The delivery has some effort and can be a bit torquey, causing him to lose his line to the plate and negatively impact his command. Between that and the durability concerns, it is hard to project a starter here, and the stuff isn’t special in the bullpen.

The Irrelevant: The track record of Rice pitchers in the majors is…well, if you are reading Baseball Prospectus, you are probably aware. The best of the lot was Norm Charlton, who picked up 11.2 WARP across a 14-year career as an itinerant bullpen arm.

The Role:

OFP 50—I guess he could be a no. 4 starter, but we are probably talking about a setup man
Likely 40—Or just a good middle reliever

The Risks: Command and change concerns plus a shoulder issue. Sigh. And he’s a pitcher.

Major league ETA: 2019

Ben Carsley’s Fantasy Take: The abyss will also gaze into thee.

Others of note:

One of These Days He’s Going to Start Throwing Strikes, and You’ll See! You’ll All See!

Jimmie Sherfy, RHP
Sherfy’s raw stuff is of the premium variety, led by a potential 70-grade heater that explodes late at 96-97. He pairs it with a nasty two-plane slider that dives late and can miss all of the bats when properly located. He’ll also work in an occasional split-like change in the upper-80s that has hard vertical action and flashes the potential for sporadic utility. The delivery is violent; it’s a max-effort affair with a long arm action, backside collapse, and some crossfire to boot. He doesn’t repeat well, and the command spends more time going than it does coming as a result. It looked like things were finally starting to come together enough for the stuff to play this year, as he destroyed everything in his path between High A and Double A. But the control hit a wall in Reno, where he was bled for walks and battered by homers. If he’s able to shake off the season’s end and keep the ball around the zone, he’s got the kind of stuff that can miss big-league bats and add homegrown value to the middle innings of games this summer. —Wilson Karaman

“Well, we did five more guys for every other organization”

Wei-Chieh Huang, RHP
Huang boasts one of the best secondaries in the system, a plus changeup in which he has the utmost confidence. He’ll double it up to righties, work backwards off it, and generally deploy it in any situation. It’s a tough pitch to read, with a good tunnel off his fastball and above-average movement. He’ll show flashes of average fastball command, but the velocity at its best is fringe-average for a right-hander, and both of his breaking pitches are below-average offerings. Huang’s frame is wiry and elastic, with obligatory durability questions that consecutive seasons with chunks lost to injury have done little to quell—he was reportedly struggling to find the mid-80s during late-season rehab in the Northwest League. If he can stay healthy, his elastic frame and fluid delivery suggest above-average command potential that could drag the profile into a big-league swing role. —Wilson Karaman

Matt Koch, RHP
I liked Matt Koch as a prospect—in the way you love a Double-A long reliever—but the Diamondbacks moving him back to the rotation is as concise an indictment of the depth of their system as I can think of (other than the preceding Top 10 list). Koch was miscast as a minor-league starter after sharing closing duties at Louisville, but once he moved to the pen in Binghamton, his heavy fastball ticked up into the mid 90s and his slider tightened up. It wasn’t an impact profile in the pen, but it was a major-league arm. He was never going to be a big K guy, but you can hide that for an inning in the pen, because he throws strikes and gets ground balls. I guess you’d have to consider the move back to the rotation a success for Koch though. He made seven appearances in the majors, including two starts, and he’s hanging around the fringes of major league depth charts. He gets 40-man money—the Mets were unlikely to add him, one of the reasons he ended up in the deal for Addison Reed—and given the Diamondbacks current bullpen depth chart, fans at Chase Field likely haven’t seen the last of him.

Colin Bray, OF
Bray is a borderline plus-plus runner and the speed plays well in center field. Despite the Cal League numbers, he has well-below-average power (and we’re only talking about a .137 ISO anyway). But it’s not like the Top 10 lacked for potential bench pieces, and Bray has the speed and glove to be one. Well, he’ll still need to hit a little, and he has a noisy, hitchy setup, and a stiff, slashing swing. That means a lot of bad contact and maybe less contact against upper minors arms. You can’t steal first base after all (and Bray hasn’t been all that efficient at stealing second in his career, despite his speed). The speed and glove still may be enough to have an up-and-down major league career, assuming the offensive profile doesn’t complete collapse in Double-A. But even in the Diamondbacks Top 10, we have to draw the line at fifth outfielders. We’re also drawing it at four others.

Top 10 Talents 25 And Under (born 4/1/91 or later)

1. Robbie Ray
2. Taijuan Walker
3. Archie Bradley
4. Anthony Banda
5. ​Brandon Drury
6. Ketel Marte
7. ​Braden Shipley
8. Domingo Leyba
9. ​Dawel Lugo
10. ​Jake Barrett

The Diamondbacks have long sought cost-controlled pitching as a way to stay relevant in a division with more deeply-pocketed peers. Zack Greinke aside, the team has stuck by that mantra and it should come as no surprise to see the top of this list deep with young, cheap arms that are under team control for 2017 and beyond. The problem is, they all come with their flaws.

Robbie Ray can bring the gas from the left side and finished fourth in the NL in strikeout rate last season, sandwiched between Noah Syndergaard’s flowing locks and Madison Bumgarner’s country manners. That’s good company, but he also struggled to retire batters efficiently (again) and hasn’t made much progress with his secondaries. Taijuan Walker is a welcome addition to the D-backs’ rotation, but he’s not exactly found consistent footing in the majors despite his undeniable talent. Archie Bradley is the much same with big raw stuff that can give hitters fits, but his lack of command leaves much to be desired. While Walker appears the safer bet to remain in the rotation long-term, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Bradley in the back of the bullpen one day, pairing his fastball with that hammer curve. Of course, either or both could iron out a kink or two and become stars. It’s just a matter of development, a common thread applicable to most young hurlers.

Brandon Drury and Ketel Marte, have their warts, too. Drury has been a stalwart of prospect lists for a few years now and his rookie season came with its peaks and valleys. He played five different defensive positions in 2016 and didn’t rate well at any of them. After a white-hot start, he fell off in a big way over the summer, only to make a few swing adjustments late and soar yet again. Meanwhile, Marte was imported along with Walker and adds another name to them middle infield mixture. His offensive struggles down the stretch, paired with Jerry Dipoto’s desire to make all the trades, resulted in a new lease on life in the desert where the thin air helps everybody hit. Both have positional question marks and their viability depends on their capacity to make meaningful contact with regularity.

Braden Shipley was the top prospect in this system just a year ago, though he’s taken a big hit as he was routinely punished by big-league hitters in his debut season. The fastball velocity was deliberately lacking, and while the changeup and curveball have their moments, Shipley’s inconsistent command brought the whole arsenal down and the results suffered. Jake Barrett was once considered the closer-in-waiting and that time came last season once Brad Ziegler and Tyler Clippard were traded, and Daniel Hudson tanked. The results were okay, but “okay” means he’ll now be superseded by Fernando Rodney’s broke-off ball cap, which provides some helpful context. He remains the team’s best young reliever, however, with a strong fastball/slider combination that’s tailored for a high-leverage role.

If this seems underwhelming, it’s because it is. Ray’s position is secure, but Walker and Bradley are wearing out the word “upside” like it’s going out of style. Both Drury and Marte have questions to answer about their long-term viability but have flashed an ability to make useful big-league contributions. Shipley’s a pitch-to-contact back-end starter and Barrett is, well, a reliever. If more than a few of these bets can pay off for Mike Hazen, things could start looking up. If they don’t, well, it’s never too soon to start tanking. —Jeff Wiser