Manuel Pena dominated in a successful week for the Sod Poodles and the farm system as a whole. Also, there was a lot of player movement, and we look at the state of the farm system at catcher and first base
It was a whirlwind of a week that saw many transactions thanks to the trade deadline. After the recap of the week’s events, a look at where people are now, and then the beginnings of a look at the overall farm system.
The Week That Was
It was a successful week for the system overall, as Reno and Hillsboro split series, and Amarillo and Visalia took four of six. The Rawhide trail surprising Inland Empire by two games, while the Sod Poodles have a five game lead and a 20-13 record in the second half despite being outscored. In the DSL, the Black squad went 3-2 and the Red squad went 2-3, with both teams being 2-2 until they played each other. Overall, that’s a 19-15 week.
Batter of the Week
Manuel Pena, Amarillo (11-for-27, 4 HR, 11 RBI, .437 RC/PA)
To say Pena had a good week would be an understatement. He practically carried the offense through much of the week, driving in 11 runs, hitting four home runs and only striking out three times. A week with more home runs than strikeouts? Seems pretty good.
He did this despite also moving back to second base for much of the week. His offense and defense had both suffered when playing the middle infield previously, and he’d mostly split time with Ivan Melendez between DH and 1B while also spelling LuJames Groover at 3B so far this year. With Ben McLaughlin joining the Soddies and removing the option of a platoon at 1B, he’s likely to play more 2B if he can be serviceable there.
It’s important to note that while Pena has pretty significant home/road splits, he doesn’t have much in the way of platoon splits. His OPS against LHP is just 30 points behind his OPS against RHP.
Starting Pitchers of the Week
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Jose Cabrera, Amarillo (6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K)
Roman Angelo, Amarillo (5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 K)
Wilkin Paredes, Hillsboro (7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K)
Honoring both Cabrera and Angelo makes sense, because both started on Wednesday as the Soddies played a doubleheader and both kept the bullpen from overuse. They put the Soddies on track to win both halves of the doubleheader, although the second game required some late heroics from Pena to win it.
Paredes didn’t put up much in the way of strikeout numbers, but he worked more innings than any other starter and didn’t allow a run. More impressively, he needed only 75 pitches to work those seven innings.
Relief Pitchers of the Week
Landon Sims, Amarillo (2 G, 2 IP, 0 R, W, S, 1 K)
Daniel Nunez, Hillsboro (W, 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R 1 BB, 5 K)
Sims finished out the second game of the doubleheader on Thursday and followed that up with a save on Friday. It was the second time in two weeks that he worked consecutive days after never having done so in his professional or collegiate career.
Nunez is normally a starter, but piggybacked off of Daniel Eagen this week and was excellent after some initial struggles. He gave up a single, hit a batter and after a sacrifice bunt, issued an intentional walk. He struck out the next five batters he faced.
Movements Throughout the System
Releases
Players given their release this past week were Braden Quinn, Anthony Gose, Conor Grammes, and Jackson Feltner. With draft picks being activated this week, there will probably be a flurry of activity, and we might learn what draft picks might be seen this year.
New Faces
Ashton Izzi, acquired in the Josh Naylor trade, went to Hillsboro. Brandyn Garcia briefly went to Reno before being called up and then optioned back down. Kohl Drake and Juan Burgos (acquired for Merrill Kelly and Eugenio Suarez, respectively) went to Reno, while David Hagaman went to Hillsboro and Mitch Bratt and Hunter Cranton went to Amarillo. Andrew Hoffman also went to Reno.
Moving Up
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Kyle Nelson had his contract selected from Reno, marking his return to the big leagues after thoracic outlet surgery. Connor Kaiser made his Diamondbacks’ debut after his contract was selected. Jack Hurley made his return to Amarillo after a stint in the complex. Tommy Troy and Ivan Melendez both moved up to Reno (and both performed well after moving up.) Ben McLaughlin moved from Hillsboro to Amarillo, while Ruben Santana moved from Visalia to Hillsboro and Enyervert Perez moved from the complex to Visalia.
Moving Down
Yilber Diaz was sent from Reno to Amarillo to hopefully find some control. His first appearance went well. Tristin English was optioned to Reno.
Moving to Lists
Placed on injured lists were Jeff Brigham, Tim Tawa, and new acquisition Hunter Cranton. Moving to the development list were Taylor Rashi (who was then reactivated), Jeremiah Boyd, and Jake Rice. Still on the big league injured list is Jalen Beeks, who made a rehab appearance at Reno but given that he wasn’t traded, might be having more issues.
Farm System Recap: Catcher and First Base
Prospect rankings are, in general, incredibly misunderstood. People or publications will rate 20, 30, or more players. But there might well be a larger gap in expected future performance between the number one prospect and the number two prospect than there is between the number two prospect and the number ten prospect, or even seventeen. Because the lists are presented as linear rankings, that fact gets obscured despite consistent reminders.
I’ve generally not done prospect rankings. But with the draft and the trade deadline now past, it’s something that interests people. James has posted his updated top 30 list
But this is a different type of rating.
Rather than rank players 1-20, 1-30, or 1-53, I prefer to group players by position. Within positions, I identify players by tiers. I rate either everyone in the organization or as close to everyone as I can get. (It’s hard to rate players in the DSL and to a lesser extent in the ACL, as finding footage and data for them is pretty difficult, and there are catchers at lower levels who are basically coaches, so I’ve set a line of 50 plate appearances for those levels.) Here are the tiers:
Tier I: These are the potential star players, guys who could turn into perennial All Stars or franchise cornerstones. Potential ace pitchers also fit here. Teams aren’t going to have very many of these.
Tier II: These are players who show the potential to be regular starters. They likely won’t be stars, and you aren’t going to build a team around them, but you need a lot of them on a team. Mid-rotation starters and late-inning relievers fit here.
Tier III: These are the bench players, replacement players, fifth starters, long relievers, etc. Essentially guys who are necessary for every team to have, but if you’re asking them to start, you’re probably having a disappointing season. Ideally, you’d have a decent stable of these guys at AAA as injury replacements.
Tier IV: This is the organizational filler tier.
The tiers shouldn’t be taken as rankings. Kayson Cunningham is a Tier I player in this system, but that doesn’t mean that I think he is a better prospect or a more sure thing than Jordan Lawlar or Slade Caldwell. His floor is lower than Lawlar’s. Lawlar has shown the ability to hit AAA pitching. He’s injury prone and has struggled in his brief big league stints, but if you asked me who I’d rather have in the system, I’d still take Lawlar.
There are, by my ratings, nine positions, but the two corner outfield positions are combined and starting and relief pitching is separated. Rather than projecting what position someone might be at in the future, I put them in the position where the organization is using them in the present.
With that said, here are the first two positions: catcher and first base. Players are listed within tiers in alphabetical order, so do not read their positioning within tiers as any sort of ranking.
Catchers
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Adrian Del Castillo has exceeded rookie limits and thus graduated from prospect rankings, as far as I’m concerned.
Tier I: None
Tier II: Christian Cerda, Ivan Luciano, Carlos Virahonda
Cerda was the lottery ticket acquired for David Peralta in 2022. At the time, his ceiling was a catcher with average defense and above-average power. He’s not really shown much of the power and is a low-average hitter, leading to some people writing him off. But he draws his walks and doesn’t strike out much. He’s posting a 103 wRC+ in Amarillo despite a .242 BABIP, which is a career low. He walked more than he struck out in 2023. The defense needs a bit of work, but is better than Adrian Del Castillo’s or Daulton Varsho’s before he moved to the outfield permanently.
Luciano was a second-round pick last year and while I’d say he has higher upside than Cerda, it’s pretty close. He did well at the complex this year, posting a 111 wRC+ and throwing out 29% of would-be base stealers. There’s work to be done on his receiving, but that’s expected for a teenager new to the system.
Virahonda is probably the surprise here. He did briefly get some attention after a 2023 season where he posted a 133 wRC+ in the DSL, but he apparently had some defensive struggles. His bat cratered to a 45 wRC+ in 2024 which caused some to forget about him, but he still wasn’t striking out a ton and had a .183 BABIP. Plus, he cut his passed balls from seven in 232.2 innings to two in 277 innings, and threw out an astounding 47% of base stealers. He was brought stateside and has continued to show improvement. There’s still some work to be done defensively, but he’s still throwing well and receiving and blocking better than many at the level. Plus, he dominated the complex with the bat and earned a promotion to Visalia. Still 19, he’s continuing to show promise with the bat there.
Tier III: Kenny Castillo, Santiago Gil, Gavin Logan, Jose Urbina
Castillo has good size (6’2”, 170) and shows occasional flashes of better potential than his overall results indicate. He is inconsistent defensively and offensively, sometimes looking the part of a prospect and other times looking lost. He’ll have to become much more consistent to reach his potential.
Gil is a 17-year-old in his first season, and he just turned 17 at the end of May. He’s walked as much as he’s struck out, hasn’t allowed a passed ball, and has thrown out 23.8% of baserunners. His catching is going to need work, but doing this at 17 shows promise.
Logan is not a prospect, but he’s a guy who just might wind up getting a cup of coffee at some point. His defense is solid enough that the Diamondbacks trust him to handle the pitchers at AAA, and he’s a patient hitter, posting high walk rates but similarly high strikeout numbers.
Urbina is still in the DSL, and in the limited amount that I’ve been able to see him, appears to receive well for the level and was an above-average hitter in 2024. He’s struggled with the bat this year, and he’s basically the same age as Virahonda, but I sense some potential.
Tier IV: Alberto Barriga, Jeremiah Boyd, Adrian De Leon, J.J. D’Orazio, Johan Fernandez, Robert Lantigua, David Martin.
Barriga showed bat-to-ball skills and solid defense. But he’s quite small for a catcher and has dealt with a leg injury already in his career.
Boyd is organizational filler and being used as such. He’s a veteran who is an emergency catcher when needed for whichever team needs a catcher.
De Leon is also small (shorter than Barriga but stouter) and has struggled with the bat, posting strikeout rates over 25% at every level north of the DSL. He posts decent walk numbers, but lacks the potential pop to make that combination of skills work.
D’Orazio is one of the better defensive catchers in the system, but his bat has never developed. With a wRC+ of 53, he’s not going to find himself in AAA.
Fernandez is another decent catcher in the DSL who has performed well offensively, but as far as I’ve seen doesn’t have the upside of Gil.
Lantigua is 18 in the DSL, and hasn’t been good with the bat. He’s walked more than he’s struck out, so he has that going for him.
Martin is currently injured and is organizational filler.
First Base
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Tier I: None
Tier II: Feliz Genao, Tyler Locklear, Enyervert Perez
That the second tier consists of Locklear and two guys in rookie ball shows the issues the Diamondbacks have at this position. If Locklear does not work out, it’ll be back to the trade or free agent market to fill the position, or hope that one of the Tier III guys manages to find some success.
Genao is a 17-year-old who signed last winter for $400K. He’s a left-handed hitter who is 6’3”, 200 pounds. Since he’s 17, there might still be a little bit of growth remaining and there’s certainly the chance to add muscle. But he has yet to hit a home run despite projecting to have above-average power, because he’s hitting the ball on the ground too often. He is hitting it hard, enabling a high BABIP and therefore big numbers (163 wRC+) but is going to have to learn to elevate the ball.
Locklear is pretty well known and is the current starting first baseman in the desert, and will graduate from prospect lists soon, barring unforeseen circumstances.
Perez is a right-handed bat who led the DSL in extra base hits in 2024, including six home runs. He added five home runs in the complex this year. He hits the ball to all fields. There’s still a lot of swing-and-miss, though. The Diamondbacks have tried him at third base some, but more at first, and he certainly seems ill-suited to third defensively, committing six errors in just 165 innings there this season. He was just promoted to Visalia.
Tier III: Pedro Blanco, Tristin English, Ben McLaughlin, Ivan Melendez, Ramy Peralta, Manuel Pena, Ruben Santana
Blanco moved to the complex this year at 18 and posted below-average offense, but he has the size and a bit of speed, although he is defensively limited.
English has already reached the big leagues and therefore is entrenched in this tier. He didn’t have a great run, but doubling off Paul Skenes for your first career hit isn’t bad, at all.
McLaughlin is a patient left-handed hitter who was just promoted to Amarillo. He walks a lot, doesn’t strike out a ton, and has some pop. In order to make it, he’ll have to show he can be more than just a platoon bat.
Melendez is well-known, but less well-known is that he’s finally shown some progress this year, cutting his strikeouts while retaining power. He finally got promoted to AAA and celebrated with a grand slam. But he still strikes out too much to be relied upon as a big league option.
Peralta is still listed as a catcher but hasn’t played there this year. He’s athletic though, even making an appearance at shortstop, but has mostly played first base. He’s walked a lot but also struck out a lot.
Pena was a big-ticket international signing who disappointed, struggling offensively and defensively. But he started showing progress last year, and has continued that this year, finally being an above-average bat. He needs to be a bit more patient at the plate, but it’s still good to see the improved results.
Santana was expected to move through the system with Cristofer Torin and Jansel Luis, but after a disappointing season found himself stuck at Visalia. He’s got the potential for a good power-speed combo and has played a lot of third base as well, but there’s a lot of progress needed here. He did just get promoted to Hillsboro, so we will see how he does there.
Tier IV: Diosfran Cabeza, Modeifi Marte
Cabeza is 22 and promoted to Visalia this year, and he’s struggled mightily offensively. When he was still a switch-hitting catcher, he didn’t need to improve a lot offensively, but now that he’s entrenched at first base he’s on his way out the door.
Marte has improved offensively this year but is still below-average. The organization is at the point of trying him in the outfield to see if they can extract some value, but there seems little future here.
Up Next
All full-season affiliates are on the road this week, with Reno in Tacoma, Amarillo at arch-rival Midland, Hillsboro at Vancouver, and Visalia at San Jose.
Next week will be a look at the people manning the other three infield spots throughout the system.