Diamondbacks Prospects Review: Second Baseman

The Diamondbacks came off one of their worst seasons in recent memory last season. After a lengthy lockout comes a lot of reflection. What is the state of the franchise? How do the next few years look? Let's take a look at the best second base options for the Diamondbacks going forward.

The main resource I look at when evaluating prospects is Fangraphs. I'll be looking at both scouting reports and minor league stats if available, although, for some players, the minor league stats won't paint a great picture.

I also want to give a quick primer on Fangraphs' scouting grades for hitters. Every scouting grade is on a 20-80 scale, where 50 is considered Major League average for a given tool. Hitters are evaluated on five tools The first is the hit tool, which is the general ability to hit the baseball along with all the mechanics that come with that, Next is raw power, which is just the sheer distance a player can hit the ball. After that is game power, which is an estimate of how many homers they can be expected in the majors. Next is speed. Speed is one grade that can clearly be derived from an actual test rather than the eye test. Baseball America grades theirs by 60-yard dash times and home to first times, both very good estimates. Finally, we have fielding, which is another eye-test heavy grade. All of these have
present and future grades, but we'll just focus on future grades here.

With all those numbers in mind, they'll all get an overall grade, which Fangraphs lists as "FV" or future value. FV corresponds to roles and WAR estimates. Sometimes FV can get accompanied by a +, which can indicate a higher ceiling that might not warrant an incremental upgrade (i.e. from 40 to 45.) If you want more info on FV, definitely check out the excellent FanGraphs Scouting Primer.

Before we get into the players, I want to note that these guys aren't all primary second basemen. More often, they'll often get listed as shortstops or another infield position, but the roles and positions they'll play will get influenced by their timelines, who's already up in the bigs, and the needs of the organization at higher levels. That being said, let's take a look at the players!

Jeison Guzmán

Scouting Report: Hit: 50, Game Power: 40, Raw Power: 45, Speed: 55, Fielding: 60, FV: 40+
ETA: 2022
Fangraphs Ranking: Diamondbacks 18th best prospect.
MLB Pipeline Ranking: Diamondbacks 27th best prospect.

Originally part of the Royals organization, Jeison Guzmán was able to elect free agency at the end of last season, when he got picked up by the Diamondbacks. Going into 2021, he was ranked ninth by Fangraphs in the Royals organization. The highest level he's played at was AA this past season, where he slashed .216 / .263 / .328 for a suboptimal wRC+ of 57. However, in High-A last season, he held a slash line of .289 / .352 / .465. Much better. At the tail end of last year he was assigned to AAA Reno, so look forward to seeing him at his highest level yet right out of the gate.

Blaze Alexander

Scouting Report: Hit: 30, Game Power: 40, Raw Power: 55, Speed: 40, Fielding: 50, FV: 35+
ETA: 2023
Fangraphs Ranking: Diamondbacks 46th best prospect.
MLB Pipeline Ranking: Diamondbacks 28th best prospect.

Blaze's stock has slipped a bit recently. Going into the 2021 season, he was ranked 36th in the Diamondbacks farm system by Fangraphs. Now, he's dropped 10 spots on the back of a slightly below-average 2021 season. He spent the year in High-A Hillsboro where he slashed .218 / .316 / .372, good for a wRC+ of 88. At the same time, his strikeout rate soared from his pre-pandemic mark at Visalia of 21.9% to a whopping 32.4% in 2021. Definitely not the worst season imaginable, but a step back for sure. Here's hoping Blaze takes a huge step forward in 2022!

Buddy Kennedy

Scouting Report: Hit: 45, Game Power: 45, Raw Power: 50, Speed: 50, Field: 40, FV: 35+, ETA: 2022
Fangraphs Ranking: Diamondbacks 45th best prospect.
MLB Pipeline Ranking: Diamondbacks 24th best prospect.

Based on appearances this spring training, it looks like Buddy is getting set up to be a third baseman, a much more pressing need for the organization, but he's spent time at second in High-A and AA last season. His 2021 season was downright ridiculous. At High-A, he slashed .315 / .386 / .495, pretty obviously warranting a promotion. In AA, more of the same: .278 / .384 / .536. Buddy has been my favorite player to watch in Spring Training so far and I'm excited to see more from him this season. It wouldn't shock me if he's seeing regular playing time fairly quickly this season.

Ryan Bliss

Scouting Report: Hit: 50, Game Power: 40, Raw Power: 45, Speed: 55, Field: 50, FV: 40, ETA: 2025
Fangraphs Ranking: Diamondbacks 21st best prospect.
MLB Pipeline Ranking: Diamondbacks 16th best prospect.

For a look a bit further out than the next couple of years, check out Ryan Bliss. Bliss was the Diamondbacks' second-round pick out of Auburn. His highest level of play was Low-A last season, where he slashed .259 / .322 / .443 over 37 games. He appears slated to start at that same level this coming season. All that being said, he's exclusively played shortstop in college and at Visalia.