Injuries and Under-Performance Plague the Diamondbacks Prospect List

We take a look at how the top 15 prospects in the system are doing in June so far

Oct 26, 2023; Arlington, TX, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Jordan Lawlar (10) works out prior to the 2023 World Series against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Prospect rankings can be difficult to square with on-the-field results sometimes. Neither of the two most recent Diamondbacks to win Player of the Month awards, Joe Elbis and Adrian Del Castillo, are even ranked within the top 15 D-backs prospects.

Breakout prospect Deyvison De Los Santos is only ranked 14th by MLB Pipeline. Yilber Diaz has been arguably the best pitcher in the system this year despite his number 16 ranking. Meanwhile, it's been a tough year for the top-ranked Diamondbacks prospects. Four of the top five and six of the top 12 ranked prospects in the organization have missed significant time with serious injuries.

Underperformance from the top-ranked prospects that have been healthy has made it a disappointing year overall for the organization's player development system. Here is a rundown of how the top 15 ranked prospects are doing in June, and year to date.

No. 1 Jordan Lawlar SS, Age 21. Lawlar has been on a minor league rehab assignment in the ACL. He's missed all of 2024 so far due to thumb ligament surgery. He's played in seven rehab games and gone 8-25, .320 with three doubles and four walks. Expect him to return to Reno very soon, perhaps this week.

No. 2 Tommy Troy SS, Age 22. Troy has been out since April 21st with a Hamstring strain. Before the injury, he had gotten off to a slow start, batting .184 through his first 12 games with two doubles and a homer for the High-A Hillsboro Hops.

No. 3 Druw Jones, CF Age 20. Jones has cooled off slightly to begin June after a hot May. He's batting .250/.483/.300 for the month. He's drawn nine walks, however. For the season he's now batting .273/.399/.398 in 199 PA with 10 doubles, 2 triples, and 2 homers. He has 33 walks and 63 strikeouts.

Jones has not yet hit for power for the A-Class Visalia Rawhide, but the improved plate discipline is a welcome sign of improvement. Already a world-class defender with great speed, Jones will continue to work on his swing and hope to develop power in the coming months.

No. 4 Yu-Min Lin LHSP Age 20. Lin suffered a horrific injury getting hit by a foul ball in the dugout, requiring surgery to repair facial and sinus fractures. He made a rehab start on June 8th in the ACL and threw five innings, giving up one run and striking out nine.

Prior to the injury, Lin was struggling in the supercharged offensive environment of Amarillo in the Texas League. He had a 7.00 ERA in five starts and a .351 BA against.

No. 5 Gino Groover 3B/1B Age 22. Groover is yet another top Diamondback prospect who is injured. He suffered a broken wrist hit by a pitch in mid-April after getting off to a 6-16, .375 start to the season for High-A Hillsboro Hops.

No. 6 Jansel Luis SS/2B/3B Age 19. The 19-year-old switch hitter is just 2-20 with seven strikeouts in June. This is after a hot May in which he hit .299 with eight doubles, four triples, and a homer. For the year, he is hitting .259/.317/.383 for Visalia.

No. 7 Cristofer Torin SS/2B, Age 19. Sharing time with Luis on the middle infield for Visalia, Torin is also slumping in June, batting just 4-26, .154, but has drawn five walks. Torin got off to a hot start in April, batting .339 with a 1.010 OPS in 18 games. But he slumped to .205 with a .610 OPS in May. For the year his line is .244/.380/.358. Note the OBP, he has 36 walks and 36 strikeouts in 216 PA.

No. 8 Ivan Melendez 3B/1B Age 24. Melendez is just 2-16 in June with five strikeouts. He is batting .228/.298/.409 for the year, with a .707 OPS in 188 PA. He has nine homers, 13 walks, and 57 strikeouts. Those numbers are quite disappointing, especially playing for Amarillo. He will likely fall out of the top 10 ranking in the next update.

No. 9 Dylan Ray, RHP, Age 23. Ray has missed the entire season with an elbow injury but finally made a rehab start in the ACL this week. He faced 10 batters and struck out six while giving up a single, a double, and a walk. Ray is a hard thrower who racked up 138 strikeouts in 113 innings last year. A healthy second half could propel him into the top half of the team's top-10 prospect ranking.

No. 10 Ruben Santana, 3B, Age 19. Santana is another struggling young hitter on the Rawhide. He's batting just 4-32, .125 in June, dropping his season line to .220/.330.301. He has just one homer, 226 walks, and 60 strikeouts in 218 PA.

No. 11 Cristian Mena RHP, Age 21. Mena has hit a mid-season speed bump. He began the season with a 3.42 ERA through his first 10 starts. Since May 28th, however, he's made three starts and given up 16 runs in 16.2 innings, ballooning his ERA to 4.82. He's only walked four and struck out 16 during this rough stretch, but has allowed 25 hits including five homers. Such is life pitching for Reno in the PCL.

No. 12 Jorge Barrosa, CF, Age 23. The switch-hitting outfielder was on the injured list for six weeks with a hamstring injury. After four games rehabbing in the ACL he returned to Reno on May 31st. Since then he's 5-21, .238 with two doubles and two walks. For the Triple-A season, he's batting .283/.389/.417 in 72 PA. Barrosa had a brief call-up earlier in the year getting into three games with the Diamondbacks and going 2-10 in those opportunities.

No. 13 Jack Hurley, OF, Age 22. Hurley has been hot in June so far, going 7-23, .304 with two doubles and a homer. For the year he's batting .236/.305/.418 in 203 PA with 6 homers, 16 walks, and 53 strikeouts.

No. 14 Deyvison De Los Santos, 1B/3B, Age 21. De Los Santos has continued to rake since his promotion to Reno. He's batting .367 in June going 11-30 with two doubles and two homers. Including his time in Amarillo, he's hitting .358 overall with 17 homers.

It's notable the team has started to give him some reps at third base after playing mostly first base in Double-A. He is without a doubt the most encouraging and improved prospect story for the D-backs in 2024. He'll certainly be moving up these rankings in the next update.

No. 15 A.J. Vukovich LF, Age 22. Vukovich is 9-30, .300 with two doubles, a triple, and a homer in June. This could be a sign he is getting hot. The big right-hand batter's power output has been disappointing this year. After banging 24 homers for Amarillo in 2023, he was asked to repeat that level. So far he's hit just six long balls on the year while batting .264/.327/.432.