D-backs’ 1st-round pick Bryce Jarvis is top-10 in prospect ranking

The updated list of the Arizona Diamondbacks’ top 30 prospects according to MLB Pipeline now shows where this year’s draft picks stand among their organizational peers.

First-rounder Bryce Jarvis, a right-handed pitcher from Duke, is ranked No. 8 on the list, just behind Corbin Martin, a right-handed pitcher the D-backs acquired in the Zack Greinke trade. In fact, prospects six through 11 are pitchers, the only lefty being sixth-ranked Blake Walston.

The top three consists of outfielder Kristian Robinson, outfielder Alek Thomas and catcher/outfielder Daulton Varsho, in that order.

Four of the D-backs’ five draft picks from 2020 — an abbreviated draft because of the coronavirus pandemic — are in the top 30. Jarvis, Slade Cecconi (13), Liam Norris (20) and A.J. Vukovich (29) are ranked.

Jarvis broke out as a junior after being selected in the 37th round by the New York Yankees in last year’s draft and electing to come back to school. He got off to a monster start in the shortened college baseball season in 2020, allowing two earned runs in four outings over 27 innings for a 0.67 ERA. He struck out 40 batters and walked only two. That included a perfect game against Cornell.

Jarvis added more than 20 pounds before this season and came back to Duke, as he put it, “a completely different animal.”

“His breaking ball used to be average at best, and now he flashes a plus curveball in the upper 70s that he can manipulate into a distinct and equally effective slider in the mid-80s,” the MLB Pipeline scouting report reads. “His fading changeup remains his best secondary offering, grading as well above average at its best.”

Jon Duplantier (15), Andy Young (17) and Kevin Ginkel (30) are among the players on the ranking who are familiar with the team’s big league roster.

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