The Week That Was
Two seasons ended yesterday, with Hillsboro finishing their season with a win in Pasco against Tri-City, and Visalia getting shut out in Stockton. The Sod Poodles lost their first four games of the week to extend their losing streak to eight games, but won the last two and got a bit of help from Midland to bring their magic number to 1. The Aces likewise lost their series in Tacoma, but sandwiched their four losses between a pair of wins, both started by Yu-Min Lin.
Batters of the
Week
Modeifi Marte, Hillsboro: (9-for-16, 4 2B, .474 RC/PA)
Cristofer Torin, Hillsboro: (8-for-20, 2 2B, 2 HR, .424 RC/PA)
Marte and Torin took part in some confusion on Sunday, as Marte was apparently in the lineup at DH but never came to the plate, being replaced by Cristofer Torin. Torin responded with the first multi-homer game of his professional career. Marte may be the only person to move from Visalia to Hillsboro and have their slugging percentage go up 40 points; he has 14 extra-base hits in Hillsboro compared to 13 in Visalia in 58 more plate appearances. At 23, he has no real prospect traction, but he’s been a solid contributor in Hillsboro over the past month.
Starting Pitcher of the Week
Alec Baker, Amarillo: (W, 7 IP, 3 R, 8 H, 2 BB, 3 K)
There were three quality starts over the past week, and Baker’s was the worst of the lot, with Ashton Izzi turning in a great performance and Avery Short doing really well the night before Baker. So why give it to Baker? Because the Soddies are pushing for a postseason berth, and they needed length. Baker had never given length, with 5.2 being his previous innings high. He pitched to contact and as a result had some numbers that weren’t the prettiest, but they were exactly what his team needed.
Relief Pitchers of the Week
Yilber Díaz, Amarillo (2 G, 4 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K)
Logan Mercado, Visalia (1 G, 4.1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 6 K)
Díaz gets honored because he worked two of those scoreless innings under the difficult circumstances of dealing with a zombie runner in extra innings, and doing so on the road in a tied game. It was encouraging to see him deal with a pressure situation that well.
Mercado had the single-best relief performance, allowing just the one baserunner in 4.1 innings and striking out six.
Relief Pitchers
Relievers are volatile. In the extreme. So this is arguably the most pointless ranking in history, but here’s an attempt to sort most of the relief pitchers in the domestic organization into tiers.
Likely to Make It (Or Already Made It), High Upside
Juan Burgos, Diamondbacks: Burgos has a big arm and the potential to be a back-end piece.
Yilber Díaz, Diamondbacks: Believe it or not, Díaz did appear for the parent club this year, before control issues reached such a point he spent time at the complex. He’s pitched well the last few times out for Amarillo, though, and while I do not think he’s likely to be a starter long-term, he’s still got top-level bullpen potential.
Hayden Durke, Reno: Durke has had some of the most helium in the system this year, storming his way from A-ball to AAA, and he might have found himself with a call-up if he hadn’t been injured. He throws hard and generally gets good results, but has the typical reliever volatility.
Alex Galvan, Visalia: Galvan was the 13th round pick this year, and has a few appearances at Visalia which haven’t gone great, but he’s one of a number of picks that are potential big league bullpen pieces in a few years, and he might wind up the best of them.
Brandyn Garcia, Diamondbacks: Fun fact: when I took my youngest son to his first-ever baseball game, Brandyn Garcia pitched two scoreless innings on a perfect day, and as we left the park after my son ran the bases following the game, we made plans to make this a normal Sunday afternoon occurrence. It was a great plan, except for the fact that it was March 8, 2020. Yeah, that didn’t work out. But Garcia did. And he looks like a useful bullpen piece going forward.
Sawyer Hawks, Visalia: Hawks is a prototypical pitcher who has performed well in his limited action this year, and should be a quick mover. Fun fact: he was a teammate of Paul Skenes at Air Force.
Christian Montes De Oca, Diamondbacks: Montes De Oca was possibly a victim of the weather in Cincinnati (as was Cristian Mena) but he looked good in his 2.2 innings and will still be a rookie when he returns sometime in 2026.
Landon Sims, Amarillo: Sims saw his development pace kick up this year, even working on consecutive days on multiple occasions. He generally got good results, although the organization will hope that he can cut the walks more.
High Upside, High Bust Potential
Jhosmer Alvarez, Amarillo: Alvarez has a big arm and back of the bullpen potential, but is a pending free agent and will likely be continuing his career elsewhere.
Jeffrey Amparo, ACL: He hasn’t appeared above rookie ball, but he’s posted massive strikeout (and walk) numbers. He’s also dealing with injury, and is another high-potential, high-bust potential guy.
Joe Ariola, 2025 Draftee: Ariola has some of the nastiest stuff in the system, but major control questions. He could be an impact reliever in the major leagues as soon as 2027, or he could never command his pitches.
Rio Britton, Visalia (2024): Britton hasn’t appeared in a game this year due to injury, but he’s a high-strikeout lefty option.
Ryan Bruno, Visalia: Bruno is a lefty who shows the potential to both strike out and walk anyone, on any day. He struck out 50 of 148 batters faced this year.
Jeison Calvo, ACL: Calvo has been being developed as a starter, but his best future is likely in the bullpen, where his high-strikeout numbers could turn the 19-year-old into a leverage arm.
Anderson Cardenas, ACL: Cardenas just turned 19 and finished his second season at the complex. He struck out 10.1 per nine in his first season, and followed that up by striking out 12 against two walks in 8.1 innings this year. Obviously he has a big arm, but has injury concerns as well.
Luke Craig, Hillsboro: The seventh-round pick in 2024 has huge strikeout numbers and is a potential big arm, but is out with injury right now.
Hunter Cranton, Everett AquaSox: The big-armed Cranton has yet to appear in the Diamondbacks’ system, but he brings closer potential.
Jeury Espinal, ACL: Espinal struck out 58 in 40.1 innings in the DSL as a 17-year-old. He struggled more in the ACL this year, but he won’t turn 19 until January.
Joangel Gonzalez, Hillsboro: Gonzalez is a big guy with a big arm and big command issues. He pitched well in Visalia this year, but struggled in Hillsboro.
Grayson Hitt, Hillsboro: Hitt was a starter at Alabama and started early in the year at Visalia, but he’s strictly bullpen at this point. He has the stuff to be an impact reliever, but has walked almost a batter per inning in his career thus far.
Edgar Isea, Hillsboro: Isea struck out 49 in 42 innings this season. He allowed just 29 hits. Unfortunately, he walked 47. As it was his age-22 season, he’s closer to washing out of the system than figuring it out, but there is still potential here.
Sam Knowlton, Hillsboro: Essentially the same as Isea, except Knowlton is 25.
Mason Marriott, Hillsboro: Marriott missed much of the year with injury, but he got off to a good start. He started in all four of his appearances in 2025 and it was the plan to develop him as a starter, but his stuff likely plays up better in the bullpen, and when he returns from injury, that’s where I expect him to be.
Tayler Montiel, Visalia: Montiel showed his big arm in his five appearances after being drafted, striking out eight in five innings. He had four really good appearances and one clunker. He has legitimate closer upside but also could flame out quickly.
Gregori Ramirez, Visalia: Ramirez is older than most pitchers at the level, but so was Christian Montes De Oca. He misses bats.
Rocco Reid, Hillsboro: Reid ran through Visalia with little difficulty, but his wildness is getting him into trouble in Hillsboro.
Sandro Santana, Visalia: Santana is a lefty who strikes out more than a batter per inning. He is still walking quite a few batters, but he’s just 20 and has time to learn control.
Joel Sarver, 2025 Draftee: Sarver split time as a pitcher and shortstop in high school, and apparently caught a game in summer league ball. He pitched just 25 innings at UNC Charlotte and threw an immaculate inning in an instructional game since being drafted.
Likely to Make It, Low Upside
Philip Abner, Reno: Abner is a lefty who has gotten results everywhere he’s been, but doesn’t light up the radar gun.
Kyle Amendt, Reno: Amendt likely would have seen the big leagues this year were it not for injury. He’s a reliever who provides a different look and gets more swing and miss than his velocity or movement would indicate. He’s solidly a potential future leverage option.
Casey Anderson, Reno: Anderson has primarily started, but made a move to the bullpen and pitched everywhere from Visalia to Reno this season. He’s mostly gotten good results, and looks like a solid future long-relief option.
Raul Garayzar, 2025 draftee: The 18th round pick out of the University of Arizona was the first ever selection who attended Rio Rico High School. He’ll probably be developed as a starter to begin with, but his best chance of reaching the big leagues is probably as a long-relief option or swingman.
Andrew Hoffman, Diamondbacks: Hoffman was acquired for Randal Grichuk and didn’t look great in his seven appearances with the parent club. He’s now injured. He has the potential to be a solid mid-inning leverage option, but he’ll need to get healthy first.
Alfred Morillo, Reno: Getting this close to the big leagues means that Morillo has a decent shot of making it, but whether or not his stuff will play up in the major leagues is an open question. He’s most likely a shuttle-riding mid-inning option, but there is a small chance of greater upside.
Austin Pope, Reno: Pope is consistently getting outs in AAA. His stuff doesn’t look like typical big league bullpen stuff, but neither does the stuff of others who are in the big league bullpen and pitching well. He will likely get a chance.
Taylor Rashi, Diamondbacks: exactly the same as what was just said about Pope.
Zane Russell, Amarillo: Russell cut his walks somewhat this year, although his strikeouts also dropped as he moved from Hillsboro to Amarillo. But he’s still pitching relatively well for the level, allowing fewer runs than he did in the Northwest League. That’s impressive, but his ceiling is likely an emergency option.
Unlikely to Make It
Luke Albright, Amarillo: Albright is exclusively an emergency option as a potential long reliever.
Kyle Ayers, Hillsboro: The 2024 draftee out of TCU made his debut this year and did fine when it came to run prevention, but saw his strikeouts drop and his walks increase. He’ll have to improve to be more than a future emergency option.
Alec Baker, Amarillo: He’s been starting for the Sod Poodles, but his future is as an emergency long-relief option.
Zach Barnes, Amarillo: After reaching Reno last year, he only appeared in Amarillo this year and struggled mightily with control before going on the IL. He’s another emergency option who might well find himself released.
Jonatan Bernal, Amarillo: Bernal is an emergency long relief option.
Dawson Brown, Hillsboro: Kevin Brown’s son has very different stuff and has been inconsistent, but appears to have the temperament to be a successful emergency relief option.
Jairon Digon, ACL (2024): Digon missed the entire season due to injury, but the 19-year-old Cuban has struck out 75 in 53.2 innings over his career.
Jimmy Endersby, Reno: Endersby is another pending free agent who is an emergency option and likely will be elsewhere next year.
Jake Fitzgibbons, Hillsboro: Fitzgibbons had an incredible scoreless outings streak in Visalia this year, but doesn’t really have the stuff that portends great future success. But there’s certainly a future for players who get the outs, even if they don’t look like Mason Miller doing it.
Travis Garnett, Visalia: The 8th round pick in 2024 has the arm, but has a lot of injury concerns.
Alvin Guzman, Visalia: Guzman had the best outfield arm in the system, and has experienced some success as a pitcher, but he’s still a long way from the big leagues, and time and roster constraints are not on his side.
Dan Kubiuk, Amarillo: Kubiuk finally reaching affiliated ball was a good story, but the results have not reached where he was in Mexico, and he’s on the IL. He’s probably not in the organization next year.
Denny Larrondo, Hillsboro: The former Yankee prospect had his best season thus far, but seems unlikely to have a future with the organization.
Alexis Liebano, Hillsboro: He looked like a prospect in 2024 after striking out 12.2 per nine at Visalia, but struck out just 7.3 per nine in 2025, and saw his walk rate tick up.
Will Mabrey, Amarillo (2024): Mabrey is perhaps a caution against expecting too much from college relievers when they are drafted. He struck out more than a batter an inning and didn’t walk many at Tennessee, but apart from a 27 inning stint at Hillsboro in 2023, he hasn’t looked anything like replicating it in professional baseball. He missed the entire 2025 season with injury.
Teofilo Mendez, Hillsboro: After missing almost the entire season with injury, Mendez got into three games late. He didn’t look good, and doesn’t figure to be with the organization next year.
Darlin Pinales, Visalia: Pinales has 229 professional strikeouts in 186.2 innings. He’s also appeared in the California League for four consecutive seasons (two while in the Dodgers’ organization) and has walked almost a batter an inning. The Dodgers pulled the plug on him after 2023, and the Diamondbacks might soon do the same.
Carlos Rey, Amarillo: Rey was a 17th round pick out of Nova Southeastern University. He’s moved steadily through the levels of the system, pitching in serviceable but unspectacular fashion.
Jake Rice, Reno: Rice may well get a call-up because he’s been in Reno, but whether or not he should get a call up is a different matter. He walks almost as many as he strikes out, and has a WHIP over 2 while also having hit six batters, giving him a truer WHIP of 2.148.
Eli Saul, Amarillo: The all-time leader in appearances for the Hillsboro Hops (by a large margin) finally got called to Amarillo. His ERA there of 4.97 looks respectable, but digging deeper shows the problems. His xFIP is 6.55, largely because he’s walked 33 batters in 29 innings. Amarillo may be the highest level he reaches.
Nate Savino, Amarillo: Savino was a third round pick in 2022, with a plan for him to be a starter. He missed 2023 with injury and made his debut in 2024, not looking great as a starter. Moving to the bullpen this year, he got good results in Visalia and decent results in Hillsboro, but has struggled in Amarillo. His stuff simply hasn’t come back. As a lefty, he’ll have a better chance of making it with less-than-ideal stuff, but it’s a long shot.
Caswell Smith, Visalia: Smith is still in the organization because of velocity, but probably won’t be much longer.
Ricardo Yan, Hillsboro: Yan might possibly return to the rotation, but he’s a reliever right now. The results have been as mixed as they were when he was a starter. His two-seamer and curveball move as much as ever, and he commands them as well as ever.
Up Next
Reno will finish up their home schedule this week against Las Vegas. Amarillo will have six chances to clinch a postseason spot at home against Midland, and even if they were to be swept, Frisco would need to sweep to overtake them. But they’d almost certainly rather take care of business on Tuesday (and then hopefully borrow pitching from Hillsboro the rest of the week to keep Midland batters from seeing the pitching, as they would be facing Midland yet again in the divisional series.)
![Current Diamondbacks 40-man roster [last change: 9/5]](https://glance-mob.glance-cdn.com/public/cardpress/binge-magazine-card-generation/spaces/US/en/sb-nation/images/ppid_2cf3d240-image-175711081801662411.webp)
