Major League Baseball

MLB 26-and-under power rankings: No. 12 Arizona Diamondbacks

Published Mar. 9, 2023 7:00 a.m. ET

FOX Sports' 26-and-under power rankings are a new spin on the classic prospect rankings. Yes, prospects are important, but with all the game-changing young talent already in the bigs, farm systems alone can’t tell the whole story. So we’re diving deep into every single MLB club, ranking them all by the players in an organization entering their age-26 season or younger — from the bigs to the farm. Each weekday through March 24, we’ll count down from last to first.

No. 12 Arizona Diamondbacks
26-and-under total score: 18 (out of 30)

The Diamondbacks have an entire outfield’s worth of veritable young talent. Truthfully, they had more than an entire outfield’s worth, so they traded the most established of the bunch, Daulton Varsho, to Toronto and received an elite prospect, catcher Gabriel Moreno, in exchange.

That group is why Arizona rates so highly despite a below-average assortment of young pitchers. This is a hitting-heavy organization. Outfielders Jake McCarthy, 25, and Alek Thomas, 22, have already demonstrated they can hang in the major leagues — McCarthy a little more so. And top prospect Corbin Carroll, 22, batted only 115 times during his month-long debut, but he left very little doubt that he will star this year and beyond. All three outfielders can run at elite levels, and Carroll extracts a surprising amount of power out of his 165-pound frame.

Together, the three are fueling hope that the Diamondbacks can be a dark-horse contender as soon as this season. And if it’s not this year, there may be further position-player talent available to aid them. Center fielder Druw Jones, the 19-year-old son of Andruw, will make his professional debut this year. Shortstop Jordan Lawlar, 20, impressed during his first full season last year, spending time at five minor-league levels. The two were top-six picks during the last two drafts, and they may not need too long to become impact players.

Moreno, the return for Varsho, is on a similar timeline to Carroll. He just turned 23, but he acquitted himself well during his 25-game debut in 2022. He may not yet be Arizona’s primary catcher, with Carson Kelly still under club control for two more seasons. Another 23-year-old, shortstop Geraldo Perdomo, could break camp on the club’s bench. At this time last year, it wasn’t hard to find scouts who were intrigued about Perdomo’s potential. A rough 2022 slowed his ascent, but Perdomo remains young enough that he could reverse course quickly.

It is the current young big-league pitchers who rate as below average, not the prospects. Reliever Kyle Nelson, who meets the threshold by a week, logged a solid 2022. He was at times joined in the bullpen by Luis Frias, 24, who scuffled during his 15-game major-league stint.

Right-handers Drey Jameson and Ryne Nelson, both 25, are the bigger hopes here. The two aren’t exactly experienced; Jameson started four MLB games in 2022, and Nelson three. Those seven starts could not have gone much better: The two combined on a 1.48 ERA.

Neither pitcher had been an especially exciting prospect, and neither player succeeded in Triple-A Reno last season before earning a call-up. Jameson, in particular, lacks the prototypical size of a starting pitcher, better resembling a second baseman or an NBA point guard. But both young pitchers are athletic, with enough velocity and secondary pitches to start. Competency seems within reach; excellence might be out of it.

Few pitching prospects in the sport rate as promisingly as 24-year-old right-hander Brandon Pfaadt, a final-round selection in the abbreviated 2020 draft who has since shot up through the system. Pfaadt attended a small school in Kentucky, Bellarmine University, which at the time competed in Division II, and he made only 11 college starts. But in 51 professional starts, Pfaadt has consistently limited walks and racked up strikeouts, last year becoming the first minor-leaguer in 11 years to amass 200 or more strikeouts. He has again impressed in this spring’s early Cactus League action, and he should be ready to contribute to the Diamondbacks at some point this summer.

Fellow prospect Blake Walston, 21, has a chance to join him in a year or two, provided he can improve his command a bit. Before an up-and-down 2022 season, the left-hander was a consensus top-100 prospect. Landon Sims, 22, hasn’t pitched professionally yet owing to Tommy John surgery, but he rated as among the top collegiate pitchers before he succumbed to injury.

There is promise on the farm, but much of this ranking depends on Carroll fulfilling his potential. Granted, it is difficult to find many evaluators within the sport who would bet against that. He's as close to a sure thing as a 22-year-old with 174 professional games to his name could be, and his presence allows the Diamondbacks to dream of one day catching the Dodgers and Padres.

Score breakdown
Big-league position players: 7 (out of 10)
Big-league pitchers: 3 (out of 10)
Prospect position players: 4 (out of 5)
Prospect pitchers: 4 (out of 5)

Pedro Moura is the national baseball writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the Dodgers for The Athletic, the Angels and Dodgers for the Orange County Register and L.A. Times, and his alma mater, USC, for ESPN Los Angeles. He is the author of "How to Beat a Broken Game." Follow him on Twitter at @pedromoura.

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