Diamondbacks prospects taking advantage of spring training opportunities

SCOTTSDALE — Spring training presents opportunities for prospects at Arizona Diamondbacks camp for exposure and big league instruction, which has been particularly prevalent in the past week.

Split-squad games in Las Vegas and the Valley last weekend kicked off a busy period for the group capped by Friday’s Spring Breakout game. Spring Breakout is a showcase for the top prospects in each organization to play against another club, in this case the Kansas City Royals.

Starting pitcher Dylan Ray set the tone with two scoreless innings, infielder LuJames Groover rocketed a double and a triple and outfielder Druw Jones finished 2-for-3 with a pair of singles in a 5-2 win at Salt River Fields.

106.7 mph off the bat and 416 feet … and not a homer!?@Dbacks No. 10 prospect LuJames Groover smokes a ball off the center-field fence for an RBI triple. pic.twitter.com/NWfqMWdPcz

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) March 15, 2025

The highlight of the game involved Arizona’s middle infielders Demetrio Crisantes and Cristofer Torin fooling Royals baserunner Asbel Gonzalez into getting doubled off first base. He took off from first on the pitch, a fly ball was hit, the infielders acted like the ball was in play and the runner kept going past second.

“Heads up baseball, it just goes to show what we do in the backfields,” D-backs player development assistant and manager for the Spring Breakout Orlando Hudson said postgame.

Farm director Chris Slivka told Arizona Sports before the game he wanted the night to showcase the D-backs’ brand of baseball, and while it was not a perfect performance, they did a lot right.

“Good situational hitting and execution on the offensive side,” Slivka said. “So, all things we appreciate, and all things that were done very well by our young kids today.”

Both Slivka and manager Torey Lovullo have stressed the connectivity between Arizona’s player development and major league club.

There is an emphasis on keeping messaging consistent at all levels, as Hudson colorfully put it.

“We demand baseball attitudes, aptitude, the way we approach the game, the way we play the game, we’re gonna play hard,” he said.

Groover has spent much of spring training in his first big league camp. The 2023 second-round pick missed time with a broken wrist last year, but in 61 minor league games he worked an .841 OPS with 10 home runs and 12 doubles. He then went onto the Arizona Fall League and hit .339, leading into his inclusion on the spring roster.

The D-backs reassigned him to the minor league side of the hallway earlier this week, but he’s taking much from the experience into his season.

“Just seeing how they work, the consistency that comes with it, I think that’s the biggest separator, they do it correctly all the time,” the infielder said.

“Just finding out what worked for me, seeing other guys move and how their thought process is, asking questions, learning from everybody. I can learn whether from (Eugenio) Suarez at third base, maybe talking with Ketel (Marte) about hitting or I remember there was a day I was backing up and I talked with (Josh) Naylor for the whole five innings before I went in, some was about baseball, some just about life.”

Groover lined a cutter down the third-base line in the first inning to set up Ryan Waldschmidt for a two-run single the other way. In the fifth inning, Groover hit a ball 416 feet off the fence in the deepest part of the outfield for an RBI triple.

“Watching him come from big league camp over here, man, having a chance to be around Suarez and take ground balls with him every day, with that type of work ethic, I think you can look in his eyes, and he’s saying to himself, ‘I definitely can play here,'” Hudson said.

Groover and catcher Christian Cerda were the two players on the Spring Breakout roster who started in big league camp, as more advanced prospects such as Jordan Lawlar and Adrian Del Castillo are still fighting to make the roster.

At the same time, there have been bridges extended for those further away from the big leagues to mix in, and the Las Vegas trip with Lovullo and several regulars was a wide one.

Crisantes was Arizona’s breakout minor league standout of 2024 to the extent he has jumped to No. 2 on their prospect rankings by MLB Pipeline, just behind Lawlar.

The 20-year-old Nogales native last played in Low-A Visalia last year, so there is a ways to go. He went to Las Vegas and got a big league treatment in many ways for the first time. He took advantage, as he banged a double and received advice from players he’s looked up to in Geraldo Perdomo and Marte.

“It’s awesome, got to pick the brains from Ketel and Perdomo, learn from their experiences and what they went through in the minors and what they are doing now in the majors,” Crisantes said. “Just makes me want to get there even more.”

Crisantes hit .333 in 61 games with Visalia last year and entered the top 100 prospects list for Baseball America. He’s shown the organization an advanced approach offensively with potential to ascend quickly if he can keep it up.

“He is an advanced hitter, he does have a very mature approach where he could move quickly, but we’re not going to put any pressure on that,” Slivka said.

Crisantes worked two walks that resulted in runs on Friday in front of family that traveled from his hometown.

Waldschmidt has had a notable stretch, not only driving in the first runs of Friday’s game but hitting a home run against the Athletics during Arizona’s Vegas expedition. He nearly hit two, having one robbed at the fence, as well.

“He does a really good job controlling the strike zone, maximizing his strengths, minimizing his weaknesses like any good hitter does,” Slivka said. “He’s going to be sent down to (High-A) Hillsboro to start the year, we’re gonna let him settle in, adjust to the league, let the league make some adjustments to him, see how he handles that.”

Back in Arizona, more prospects had to fill in bench roles with the team pulled in different directions, Jones among them.

The Diamondbacks pegged Jones as their leadoff hitter for Friday’s event, and he put the ball in play three times to reach base twice. Coming off his first healthy professional season, Jones said he does not put goals or expectations on himself, just focus on improvement.

“Same baseball game, just different guys,” Jones said of playing spring training games. “So getting to talk to them about many different things is special, is a good opportunity.”

Outfielder Slade Caldwell, Arizona’s 2024 first-round pick, is learning how to slow the game down and approach each day as a pro. He is only 18 years old and did not play affiliate ball after getting drafted last year, but he will start in Visalia this spring.

He’s had the chance to pick up reps in big league games, even joining Marte and Perdomo in hitting against left-hander Jordan Montgomery in a backfields simulated game on Thursday.

“I’ve picked brains with Jake McCarthy and Alek Thomas and they’ve just been great role models for me,” Caldwell said.

“Just really having to slow the game down, because Major League Baseball has sped up so much with the pitch clock and everything. I like to be everywhere at once, so just grounding myself.”

Caldwell is Arizona’s No. 3 prospect as a shorter, left-handed hitting outfielder, a profile Arizona has had success developing in recent years. He only had one plate appearance on Friday, striking out on nine pitches.

The regular season is less than two weeks away, which means spring training is in a new phase.

Arizona’s starters are closer to building up, making it tougher to find innings for minor league arms. Lineups have started to look a bit closer to a regular season, as well, and players on the roster bubble will continue to play and compete.

“We got to get everybody ready for baseball season,” Lovullo said after a number of roster cuts on Friday. “We have to get pitcher A, B, C and D ready for a major league season. But what I really want to make sure you understand is how important it is that you get ready for your season.”

That does not mean there won’t be at-bats for some in player development, but as the D-backs narrow focus on the big league club, Friday’s Spring Breakout provided an opening to perform on a big league field before adjourning for the season.

Related

How Diamondbacks’ 2025 trade deadline played out 1 year laterDiamondbacks have more options to handle closer-by-committee than in the recent pastDiamondbacks president: ‘I would be surprised’ if we don’t make tradesDiamondbacks will not make a trade that leads to luxury tax penaltiesDiamondbacks going back to closer-by-matchupsDiamondbacks lean on brilliant Eduardo Rodriguez effort to win key series over Pirates