A look at Baseball America’s projected Arizona Diamondbacks 2027 line-up and rotation

Infield

There are no major surprises about who is projected to be the Diamondbacks’ infield by the year 2027. Starting behind the plate, they have Gabriel Moreno penciled in. After his strong 2023 season, Moreno has the backstop on lockdown for years to come. As of right now, Moreno won’t even be arbitration-eligible until after the 2025 season, so needless to say, he’ll definitely be around by ‘27.

Gino Groover is listed as the D-Backs’ first baseman. Groover was drafted out of NC State in the second round of the 2023 draft. Groover struck out less often than he drew a walk in his final year in college while also hitting for decent power. Groover made his way to High-A Ball by the end of the 2023 minor league season. While Groover has only played third base when taking the field thus far in his pro career, many project him to slide over to first base long-term.

The currently listed designated hitter of 2027, Ivan Melendez, may also factor into first base. The D-Back’s second-round pick of 2022, Melendez, is coming off a season where he went yard 30 times with a 139 wRC+. Melendez does strike out at a high rate, which makes his hit tool a risk. He’s also sort of a positionless defender. He’s split his time at first and third base in 2023, though, like Groover, he projects as more of a 1B. Could see a situation where the two split time at DH, 1B, and 3B.

Speaking of third base, the team’s most recent first-round pick, Tommy Troy, is penciled into the hot corner. Troy nearly batted .400 at Stanford, clocking in at .394, while showing off both good speed and power with 17 homers and stolen bases each. Troy also made it to High-A Hillsboro and had a respectable .791 OPS but struck out 26 times in 99 plate appearances. Troy projects to have a plus-hit tool with about average power and is a great runner. While Troy has only played shortstop as a pro, he moved all around the field in college.

Baseball America currently projects the Diamondbacks’ middle infield to consist of Jordan Lawlar at shortstop and Ketel Marte at second base. Lawlar is the D-Backs’ first-round pick in ‘21 and one of the best prospects in baseball right now. The infield prospect spent most of his season at Double-A but made it to Triple-A and even the big leagues. Lawlar did great in the minors, posting a 126 wRC+; however, the most promising aspect of his game is that he cut his K% down from 25.1% in ‘22 to just 20.6% this past season. Lawlar struggled mightily in his brief MLB call-up, albeit in a small sample size of 34 plate appearances. But it wouldn’t be a surprise if Lawlar became an all-star within the next three seasons.

Rounding out the infield, we have Marte. The veteran is the longest-tenured Diamondback and has cemented himself as one of the greatest Diamondbacks ever. After a strong regular season where he had a 126 wRC+ and 25 home runs, along with respectable defense at second base, Marte then went off in the playoffs. In 45 plate appearances combined between the NLDS and CS, the switch-hitter had 17 hits, including seven extra-base hits and a walk-off in Game Three of the CS. Marte took home the NLCS MVP after his strong performance. Marte has team control through 2028, so he should still be around by then.