Here are the D-backs' 2019 Top 30 Prospects
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After reaching the postseason in 2017, the D-backs put together another winning season last year, remaining in the playoff hunt before an 8-19 month of September effectively dropped the club out of contention. They still finished above .500, with an 82-80 overall record good for third place in the National League West.
The real story, however, was the progress made by many of the organization’s top prospects.
Shortstop Jazz Chisholm, the club’s new top prospect, opened eyes by swatting 25 home runs across two levels at age 20, then boosted his stock even more as a younger player in the Arizona Fall League, playing alongside fellow system standouts Jon Duplantier and catcher Daulton Varsho.
Below full-season ball, international signees Kristian Robinson and Geraldo Perdomo both showed tremendous upside, finishing the season together in the Pioneer League. Together they give the D-backs a dynamic up-the-middle core that could be ready to make an impact by 2022, perhaps even sooner.
The club’s inability to sign 2018 No. 25 overall pick Matt McClain, a prep shortstop who ultimately honored his commitment to UCLA, was a blow to the organization, but it did provide them with enough flexibility to sign second-rounder Alek Thomas and 11th-round pick Blaze Alexander, giving the D-backs two more up-the-middle teenagers to add to their aforementioned crop of rising international talent.
And perhaps no team is in a better position to make a splash in the 2019 Draft than Arizona, the owners of eight of the first 94 picks.
As of now, the D-backs have the following picks: No. 16; No. 26 (compensation for McClain), No. 33 (compensation for free agent Patrick Corbin); No. 34 (compensation for A.J. Pollock); No. 57; No. 75 and No. 78 (acquired from Cardinals).
Suffice it to say that the organization is poised to add considerable talent to a system that already features all but three homegrown players on its Top 30.
Here's a look at the D-backs’ top prospects:
1) Jazz Chisholm, SS
2) Jon Duplantier, RHP
3) Taylor Widener, RHP
4) Daulton Varsho, C
5) Kristian Robinson, OF
Biggest jump/fall
Here are the players whose ranks changed the most from the 2018 preseason list to the 2019 preseason list:
Jump: Geraldo Perdomo, SS (2018: NR | 2019: 6) -- A plus defensive shortstop who will stay there, he broke out at the plate across three levels last season.
Fall: Jimmy Sherfy, RHP (2018: 15 | 2019: NR) -- The reliever reached the Majors for a second straight year, but regressed with his control.
Best tools
Players are graded on a 20-80 scouting scale for future tools -- 20-30 is well below average, 40 is below average, 50 is average, 60 is above average and 70-80 is well above average. Players in parentheses have the same grade.
Hit: 55 – Varsho (Geraldo Perdomo, Alek Thomas, Pavin Smith, Buddy Kennedy
Power: 60 - Robinson
Run: 60 – Thomas (Jake McCarthy, Jorge Barrosa, Eduardo Diaz)
Arm: 70 – Blaze Alexander
Defense: 60 – Perdomo (Thomas, Barrosa)
Fastball: 70 – Yoan Lopez
Curveball: 55 – Duplantier (Matt Mercer)
Slider: 60 - Lopez
Changeup: 55 – Matt Tabor (Widener, Harrison Francis, Mercer, Jackson Goddard)
Control: 55 – Taylor Clarke (Kevin Ginkel)
How they were built
Draft: 18 | International: 9 | Trade: 3 | Free agent: 0 | Rule 5: 0
Breakdown by ETA
2019: 8 | 2020: 6 | 2021: 8 | 2022: 6 | 2023: 2
Breakdown by position
C: 3 | 1B: 1 | 2B: 2 | 3B: 2 | SS: 3 | OF: 8 | RHP: 11 | LHP: 0