D-backs Top 40 Prospects in 2024: No. 30 Caleb Roberts

Roberts is a left-hand hitting catcher who showed some improvement behind the plate while continuing to hit for power.

Amarillo Sod Poodles Caleb Roberts (7) swings at a pitch in a Texas League Championship game against the Arkansas Travelers, Tuesday night, September 26, 2023, at Hodgetown, in Amarillo, Texas. The Arkansas Travelers won 6-5. / Carter Pirtle for the Amarillo Globe-News / 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.

Caleb Roberts LHB, C/DH, DOB 2/9/2000, 6'1", 195

Acquired: 5th round of 2021 Amateur Draft out of University of North Carolina

Caleb Roberts was drafted as a bat-first, left-hand hitting catcher in 2021. He spent his first several professional seasons being used as a utility bat all around the diamond. In addition to catching, he also played both corner outfield spots and and plenty of first base too.

Roberts had a breakout 2023 with Double-A Amarillo. A strong second half at the plate propelled him to a final .278 batting average and .907 OPS. He showed both power and patience, with 17 homers and 58 walks in 437 PA. That added up to a 135 wRC+, or roughly 35% better than league average.

The above numbers came with two pretty big splits. His home OPS was 1.094, while he posted just a .710 OPS on the road in 2023. He also had a big platoon split, with a .930 OPS vs. right-hand pitchers and .751 vs. left-handers. Despite those splits, his overall numbers and positional versatility placed him at No.30 on our prospect list at the end 2023.

Roberts was sent to the Arizona Fall League at the end of last year, but did not hit well, batting just .203 with one homer in 19 games. That resulted in him being sent back to Double-A to start the 2024 season.

The big change for Roberts in 2024 came on the defensive side of things. He played all but six of his defensive innings at catcher, starting 62 games and logging 533 innings behind the dish. The rest of his plate appearances came in 50 starts as the DH.

The increased time at catcher allowed him to address one of his biggest weaknesses, throwing out runners. In 2022 and 2023 combined, Roberts threw out just 20% of base stealers (19-for-96). That ratio improved to 29.4% in 2024 (32-for-109).

Roberts took a bit of a step back at the plate in 2024, but not as much as the surface slash line numbers seemed to indicate. He hit .243/.339/.454 with a .793 OPS, smacking 20 homers in the process.

For whatever reason, Hodgetown Stadium in the Texas League did not play quite as hitter-friendly compared to the rest of the league in 2024.

In fact the entire Texas League saw a precipitous drop in run scoring, from 5.23 R/G in 2023 to 4.56 R/G in 2024. Likewise, the league OPS dropped from .751 to .701. Thanks to these factors, Roberts' wRC+ only dropped from 135 to 122. He was still solidly 22% better than the league average at the plate in 2024.

Roberts still enjoyed a large home-road split however, hitting 15 of his 20 homers at home. His OPS split was .995/.616 respectively.

Oddly, Roberts had a large reverse platoon split in 2024. He hit .276 with a .911 OPS and seven homers in just 111 PA against left-hand pitching in 2024. But in 374 PA against right-hand pitching he hit just .233 with a .757 OPS and 13 homers.

2025 Outlook

Robert will likely begin the year playing for the Triple-A Reno Aces. He is entering his age 25 season, and needs to progress further behind the plate to have an opportunity for any kind of meaningful playing time in MLB.

That is because while he's shown a decent amount of pop in AA, he doesn't really have the bat or defensive ability in the outfield to command a major league roster spot. But if his catching defense continues to improve, along with the versatility to play the corners in a pinch, he could still carve out a bench/platoon role in MLB.