Christian Cerda Finishes Impressive Season in Double-A
The Amarillo Sod Poodles came up short this year, finishing out the season with a 58-70 record, 25.5 games out of playoff reach in Southern Division of the Texas League. Losing at home to the Roughriders, who held them to a three-hit shutout, Amarillo's season ended on a bad note.
But Christian Cerda, a catcher for the Sod Poodles, wrapped up his 2024 campaign with more optimism, reaching Double-A in just his second year of full-season ball at 21 years old.
Acquired by the Diamondbacks at the 2022 trade deadline from the Rays as a PTBNL for outfielder David Peralta, Cerda has steadily risen through the minor league ranks. The club's No. 29 prospect per MLB Pipeline, Cerda slashed a mild .237/.369/.322 this season, but his offensive outlook is more intriguing under the numbers.
Cerda struggled at the plate to kick off 2024, particularly hitting for extra bases. Through the first three-and-a-half months of the High-A season, Cerda hit to a minuscule .042 ISO (isolated power) in 62 games. However, that came despite putting up quality batted-ball numbers, as he hit to a 0.98 GB/FB (groundball-to-flyball ratio) and a 45.3% Pull rate - two key power indicators - with the Hops in 2024.
In his next and last 26 games with the Hillsboro Hops, Cerda's power numbers improved a great deal. His isolated power quintupled, going from .042 to .210, while his plate discipline got better as well.
During that mid-season stretch, Cerda drew a walk 20% of the time and only struck out 14% of the time. Those stats put his slash line at an impressive .296/.442/.506 for a 166 wRC+ (66% above average) to finish out his time with Hillsboro.
It's a small sample, but Cerda posted above-average results (106 wRC+) in 17 games in Double-A. His plate discipline stuck with him as he walked in over a fifth (21.3%) of his plate appearances. However, he struck out a third of the time (33%). Also, his .357 BABIP was well above his prior minor league averages, which likely factored into that success.
Cerda's profile stands out in many ways. For starters, Cerda is bilingual, an extremely valuable skill in today's game, especially for a catcher. As a hitter, he's maintained a patient approach at the plate that's helped him get on base a lot, posting a .369 OBP across his first two full seasons in the minors.
His selective approach stands out in fact across the Diamondbacks' organization, as his 18.4% walk rate since 2023 leads Arizona's farm system, per Fangraphs' MILB leaderboards.
Cerda's offensive output has come from his ability to minimize his swings, but he also makes good swing decisions. He elevates the ball a lot, hitting to sub-40 percent ground ball rates at every minor league level. His line-drive rate has even risen at every level of the minors, averaging 21% this season. He also pulls the ball a lot, posting pull rates around 45% with every team.
Despite the encouraging batted-ball stats, Cerda has a 45-grade power on the 20-80 scale per both MLB.com and Baseball America.
Gabriel Moreno, and potentially Adrian Del Castillo, have put the Arizona Diamondbacks in a strong position behind the plate, and there could be even more help on the way in Christian Cerda. He doesn't have the same hype as Moreno and Del Castillo, a former coveted prospect and a former top draft pick respectively. However, he's shown as much potential as most in Arizona's reputable system.