D-backs Top 40 Prospects in 2024: No. 29 Christian Cerda

The talented young catcher overcame a slow start and showed the incredible potential he has.

Visalia Rawhide's Christian Cerda goes after Fresno Grizzlies' Luis Mendez who missed the plate on Tuesday, May 9, 2023. / Ron Holman / Visalia Times-Delta / USA TODAY NETWORK

This article is part of a series reviewing the seasons of the top 40 prospects still in the Arizona Diamondbacks system as of the end of 2024.

Christian Cerda, RHB, C, Age: 21, 6'1", 190

Acquired: Traded from Rays in exchange for OF David Peralta in 2022

Christian Cerda is a 21 year old Catcher out of New York who has shown some significant promise as a young prospect.

The Arizona Diamondbacks acquired him from the Tampa Bay Rays in 2022 in exchange for longtime D-back David Peralta. This move was significant for Arizona, moving on from one of their biggest franchise icons, and what they got in exchange seems to be an exciting young catcher.

It was a tale of two seasons for Cerda in 2024. Things started disastrously for the young righty, only hitting .136 in April with the High A Hillsboro Hops. May didn't go much better with a .212 batting average and an OPS of .540. Cerda simply looked lost at the plate, and something had to give.

June came, and Cerda broke out in a big way. He hit to a .907 OPS with an incredible .382 batting average, 2nd among all High A Catchers in that span. He also ranked 1st in OBP, as his on-base jumped from .297 in May to .471 in June.

For this he was awarded Diamondbacks MiLB Offensive Player of the Month in June, but things didn't slow down too much for the backstop. Cerda hit to an .814 OPS from July 1st till August 22nd when he was promoted to AA Amarillo. He ended his time with Hillsboro with a .243/.364/.332 slash line, good for a 104 wRC+.

The promotion was well deserved, as Cerda clearly proved his ability to hit High A pitching, but AA comes with its own challenges as pitching takes another step up. In 17 games he hit just .200, but posted a .394 OBP thanks to a whopping 24.2% walk rate. His wRC+ was 106.

Cerda threw out 25% of would be base stealers, and his overall defense was deemed to have made significant strides by the D-backs player development staff.

2025 Outlook

Cerda has shown his ability to take a walk and get on base at both High-A and Double-A. He took a step back in the power department however, managing just 14 doubles and five homers in 2024, for an overall .322 slugging percentage.

If his bat is going to play in the major leagues he's going to need to find a way to do more damage on contact. If he can do that without sacrificing his plate discipline and ability to take a walk, he'll have a good chance to make it to the show in a couple of years, at least as a back up.

The majority of Cerda's 2025 year will likely be spent with Amarillo in AA in just his age 22 season. That's a full two years younger than the age of the average player in that league. Catchers often take a little longer to develop, but Cerda is well on his way towards a late 2026 ETA in the major leagues.