Infielder Demetrio Crisantes (Dbacks No. 1 Prospect) is taking full advantage of the Arizona Fall League invite after rocketing through the Diamondbacks’ system in 2026. The Tucson native was drafted in the seventh round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Nogales High School, and made it all the way up to Triple-A Reno after spending 2025 with the High-A Hillsboro Hops.
Crisantes began 2026 on a rehab assignment with the ACL Diamondbacks, but was quickly back in Hillsboro and was promoted after just four
games. He didn’t slow down in Double-A Amarillo – a level that is often ‘make or break’ for many prospects – slashing .319/.413/.548 with 19 extra-base hits through 35 games with the Sod Poodles. That was enough to earn the 22-year-old another promotion, where he played 50 games with the Aces and hit a cool .278/.343/.412 with 17 extra-base hits.
During that time, he also made two of his favorite plays of the season.
“I hit (for) the cycle this year,” he said.
“And then when we were in San Antonio, I made this Derek Jeter play at second base, which was pretty cool, too.”
While it was a lot of travel, all of the promotions proved to be the highlight for Crisantes.
“I learned a lot this year, which was a blessing, and I didn’t expect this year,” he said. “I just wanted to go out and stay healthy and play a lot of baseball, and I got lucky enough to go to Triple-A and pick the brains of guys that play in the big leagues.”
Crisantes was really able to lean on Pavin Smith, Tommy Troy, Santiago Espinal and LuJames “Gino” Groover – all of whom played part of the season in Phoenix. They offered him some lessons, but the biggest lesson he learned was to “just be consistent with my game.”
“Just keep it loose, try to have fun,” he said, “but also take it seriously and just learn from the big leaguers.”
One of the biggest benefits of the Arizona Fall League is getting to spend time with prospects from other organizations. And there’s another player on the Salt River Rafters who had a crazy season of promotions like Crisantes – Rockies C/1B prospect Jack O’Dowd.
O’Dowd – son of former Rockies GM Dan O’Dowd – was undrafted out of the University of Texas and played a year of independent ball before signing a minor league contract with the Rockies last offseason. O’Dowd started in Single-A Fresno and ended in Double-A Hartford.
“Yeah, we’ve talked about it a little bit,” Crisantes said. “We both said it’s a grind, but it’s a good grind to have and it just gets us closer to the big leagues.”
But beyond O’Dowd, there are a bunch of other players from the New York Yankees, Minnesota Twins and Washington Nationals that Crisantes gets to talk baseball with.
“I mean, it’s awesome,” he said. “You get to see organizations that we don’t play against during the seasons since they’re on the East Coast, and you start picking brains from other organizations, as well, and you learn a lot more things than what you would if you weren’t part of the AFL.”
And his own personal goals for the Fall League?
“Just to stay healthy, get more at-bats, get more reps at second, try to stay consistent with my defense – get that better and better each day – and just end this AFL on a healthy note.”
So far, Crisantes has been playing well. In 14 games for the Salt River Rafters through Wednesday, he is hitting .281/.349/.421 with six doubles, a triple and six stolen bases in as many attempts.
But in addition to getting more baseball reps, the Fall League is also a unique opportunity for Crisantes to play in front of his hometown crowd.
“It’s awesome, just so that my family can be here and hopefully one day when I’m in the big leagues here with the D-backs, they can come to every game at Chase Field,” Crisantes said.
“Just growing up and going to Chase Field and hopefully one day playing there is just going to mean so much to me,” he continued. “So thank God the D-backs drafted me, and (I’m) just excited to see what the future (holds).”
He has one memory of Chase Field in particular that stands out to him.
“I got a bat one time,” he said. “I think it was from Will Venable. We were on the field and I was asking about his bat. He knew I wanted it. He told me to take it, and I was like, ‘Wow. That’s definitely a lifetime memory.’”
As Crisantes continues his push towards the majors, he wants fans to know one thing about him:
“That I’m here to win, I’m here to compete, and come say hi to me. I’ll say hi back. I’m a chill dude, don’t be shy. And hopefully one day I’ll help the D-backs win.”
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