Introduction
Last week we went over the bottom half of the Dbacks top hitting prospects, this week we look at the top five.
5) Demetrio Crisantes
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A native Arizonan from the borderown of Nogales, Demetrio Crisantes was drafted by the Diamondbacks in the 7th round of the 2022 draft with the 198th overall pick. Crisantes has done nothing but absolutely rake at every level. In 29 games in his professional debut in the Arizona Complex League, Crisantes hit .347/.417/.465 with a 126 wRC+. He’d return
to the ACL for another 29 games to begin his 2023 season and hit an even more robust .355/.431/.521 with a 141 wRC+. He made significant progress with his underlying statistics, raising his BB% by 2.2% and lowering his strikeout rate by 3%. He also was much better on the basepaths, getting caught stealing once as opposed to twice the previous season, on top of upping his stolen base total from two to ten. The biggest driver in his increase to his slugging percentage was the four extra triples he hit compared to the previous season, as his other extra base totals remained the same. That earned him a promotion to the A ball level Visalia Rawhide, where he put up even more robust stats. In 63 games he’d hit 333/.429/.478 with a 146 wRC+. Although his strikeout percentage ticked up slightly by a half a percentage, he increased his BB% by an additional percent. In addition he doubled his HR rate, hitting three times as many as he had combined in the Complex League. Crisantes would earn another promotion to the A+ Level Hillsboro Hops, where he would hit 252/.358/.415 with a 111 wRC+ in 34 games. Unfortunately, Crisantes had a posterior labral tear in his left shoulder, which prematurely ended his season in May. Crisantes has been assigned to the AA level Amarillo Sod Poodles, but is currently on the 7 day injured list. Once he is activated, the plan is for him to be the everyday second baseman.
Crisantes just might be one of the best pure hitters in the Dbacks Farm system, with great contact ability, plate discipline, on top of also having intriguing power and speed. The real issue is the injuries and that he appears to be somewhat injury prone so far in his professional career. Some scouts are skeptical that he’ll be able to keep up with the better fastball he’ll face as he climbs through the farm system, but I personally don’t have any reason to believe that is the case.
On the defensive side of things, Crisantes is a capable, above-average fielder who has the chops to stick at second base. If his bat further develops, he might be just be a good enough hitter to provide above average production from some of the more offensively minded position further down the defensive spectrum.
4) Tommy Troy 2B/OF
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Tommy Troy was drafted 12th overall in the 2023 draft out of Stanford University. Originally a shortstop, Troy has been moved to second base, where he looks like an above average fielder. In his debut season in 2023, Troy was assigned to the Arizona Complex League for four games before he was reassigned to the A+ Level Hillsboro Hops for 23 games to finish out the year. In the 27 games between the two levels, Troy hit .271/374/.469 with a 126 wRC+. A solid debut, which unfortunately didnt carry over into his 2024 season, though that was more likely a result of playing through an injury. In 65 games with the Hops, Troy hit .227/319/ .347 with a below average 91 wRC+, while also spending part of the season on the IL. He’d have much better results in his seven game rehab stint in the ACL, where he would hit .318/.308/.545, which only amounts to a 95 wRC+. 2025 would go much better for Tommy Troy. He’d get assigned to the AA level Amarillo Sod Poodles and hit .286/.382/.461 with a 121 wRC+ in 87 games. The Dbacks would promote him to the AAA Reno Aces, where he hit .295/.381/.429 with a 98 wRC+ in the 38 games he played.
Tommy Troy was assigned to AAA to start the 2026 season, where’s he gotten off to a hot start in his first week but cooled down in his second week to a triple slash line of .326/.388/.372 with a 97 wRC+
3) Jansel Luis SS/2B
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Much like Cristofer Torin, Jansel Luis signed as an international amateur free agent in January of 2022, while catching my eye with his spectacular debut as a teenage prospect in the Dominican Summer League. In 47 games split between the two DSL teams, .345/.399/.414 with a 123 wRC. That would be good enough to earn a promotion to the Compex League for the 2023 season. He’d appear in 25 games, hitting 297/.381/.495 with a 117 wRC+, which earnes him a another promotion, this time to the A ball level Visalia Rawhide He’d appear 36 games for the Rawhide and hit .257/.310/.417 which amounts to just a 96 wRC+ due to the offense boosting enviroment of the Cal league. bat In a combined 62 games, Luis would hit .269/.335/.441 with a 102 wRC+. (That includes one game with the other ACL Dbacks team, going 0-3 at the plate) While that doesn’t seem particularly impressive, it’s worth pointing out that he was just 18 years old in a league with his peers having an average age of 19.5 years old ( the ACL), and even younger than his peers in the Cal League who averaged 22.5 years old. Luis would return to Visalia to repeat the A ball level for 2024, where He’d spend the entire season. In the 109 games Luis played for the Rawhide in 2024, he hit .265/.337/.414 with a 102 wRC+. He nearly hit the impressive mark of double digits of each type of extra base hit: 29 doubles, 10 triples, seven homeruns, in addition to swiping 20 stolen bases (but was caught stealing 10 times). 2025 would see Jansel Luis promoted to the A+ Level Hillsboro Hops, where he’d appear in 102 games and hit. .304/.342/.422 with a 106 wRC+. He actually hit so well in the four games he played in the Complex League that it brings his offensive line up to .311/.347/.435 with a 110 wRC+, which is somewhat impressive.
Luis has been assigned to the Dbacks AA level MILB affiliate, the Amarillo Sod Poodles. They just started their season on April 3rd, so they’ve only played five games as of this article’s publication. He’s currently got a 54 wRC+ and is only 4 for 18 in his first 23 plate appearances.
2) Slade Caldwell
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Slade Caldwell might be almost as divisive as Cristofer Torin. Caldwell has been ranked as high as the #2 Dbacks prospect, or conversely ranked as low as #21. Caldwell fits the mold of the undersized outfielder a la Corbin Carroll and Jorge Barrosa that the Hazen FO has favored over nearly the last decade.
Caldwell blew past A ball level Visalia in his first full season, hitting .294/.460/.454 with a 161 wRC+ in 48 games. He’d hit the metaphorical wall after being promoted to A+ Level Hillsboro, hitting .238/.370/.311 with a 97 wRC+ in his 66 games in the Northwest League.
As I expected, Caldwell started his 2026 season back in A+ Hillsboro. He’ll need to put up above average numbers to earn a promotion to AA level Amarillo, but he’s already off to a good start with a 122 wRC+ in his first four games going 4 for 15 with a double, though he’s struck out eight times and has been caught at stealing in his lone stolen base attempt.
1) Ryan Waldschmidt – OF
Fangraphs|Baseball-Reference | MLB Pipeline
It should come as no surprise that Ryan Waldschmidt is the Arizona Diamondbacks top prospect, considering he is both the team’s top prospect according to literally every publication, and a consensus top 50 prospect overall as well. Drafted with the Diamondback’s first pick in the 2005 draft, 31st overall, Waldschmidt raked at every level of the minors in his professional debut. In 14 games in A ball level, Waldschmidt hit .273/.485/.318 which works out to a 143 wRC+ or 43% better than average. In his 68 games at A+ Level, he hit .268/.415/.447, which works out to a 141 wRC+, or 41% better than average. Finally, in 66 games for the AA level Amarillo Sod Poodles, he hit .309/.423/.498 with a 143 wRC+. Waldschmidt begins his 2026 playing for the AAA level Reno Aces. In his first 11 games, he’s hitting .238/.396/.381 and a 106 wRC+. Breaking that stat line down, he’s got 10 hits in 42 at bats, with four doubles, a triple, and 10 walks. The walks are doing the heavy lifting for his offensive stats, with Waldschmidt currently running a BB% 2.8% higher than last season. On the downside, he’s got 16 strikeouts which has pushed his SO% up from 17.6% to 30.2%, while he’s been caught stealing once in his two attempts.
Unlike the short king outfielders that team has favored under GM Mike Hazen like the aforementioned Slade Caldwell as well players currently on the roster like Corbin Carroll, Waldschmidt is 6’0 tall, with the kind of build you’re used to seeing in an MLB caliber outfielder. While he doesn’t have any standout, plus-plus tool, Waldschmidt has above average tools in every facet of his game. I wouldn’t go so far as to call his defensive tools below average, but I would say that Waldschmidt’s fielding and throwing arm strength are the weakest aspects of his game. That’s really only in comparison to his other tools, as they both grade out to a 45+ on the 80 grade scouting scale at worst.
Next week: We look at the hitters I forgot, and start looking at the pitchers in the Dbacks Farm system.
