The Arizona Fall League will start next month, with the Diamondbacks sending six players from their organization to play in the six-week continuation league. The Fall League is an opportunity to evaluate players who missed time during the season or may be close to their Rule 5 clock starting in the offseason.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!These four top prospects would be ideal players for the Diamondbacks to evaluate in the fall.
Tommy Troy
The only word that describes Troy’s 2024 season is disappointing. He got to a slow start, then missed more than two months with a hamstring injury. Following a return, he was moved off the shortstop position at the end of the season in favor of non-prospect Juan Corniel.
Even with the disappointing overall season, Troy did have a somewhat respectable finish. Since August 1, he slashed .276/.375/.447 with four home runs, nine stolen bases, and a 133 wRC+ with Hillsboro. The strikeout rate was a manageable 22% vs. a solid 11% walk rate.
Sending him to the Arizona Fall League and getting six more weeks of evaluation will be important in his development. While I don’t consider him a 2025 call-up candidate, he is an option for 2026 as a potential long-term replacement for Ketel Marte at second base or a possible super utility player.
Gino Groover
Groover has found the most success in 2024 of this group. Despite missing three months with a fractured left wrist, he’s salvaged a pretty solid season. While the injury only limited him to 40 games with High-A Hillsboro, it was a productive 40 games with a .272/.360/.457 slash line, seven home runs, and a 129 wRC+. That earned him a promotion to Double-A Amarillo, a league and home ballpark environment he’ll likely put up video game numbers.
Of all the prospects in the Diamondbacks system, Groover offers the best combination of both hit and power. He has a knack for getting the barrel on the ball and a good eye for the strike zone. He projects as a middle-of-the-order bat with 100+ RBI potential. I’m not as clear on what his home run power ceiling is, his exit velocities suggest the possibility of a 25-30 homer ceiling but he could easily develop into a 15-20 homer bat who will hit a lot of doubles.
There are some concerns about where he’ll end up defensively in the long term, but the worst case scenario is he projects to be an above-average defender at first base. If he plays in the Fall League, he needs to get the bulk of his defensive reps at third base to see if he’s a viable candidate to replace Eugenio Suárez, who’s all but certain to be in Arizona next season, in 2026.
Getting him in the Fall League will replace some of the lost reps due to the injury and should make the Diamondbacks more comfortable with Groover as a late 2025 call-up candidate.
Dylan Ray
Ray might have been on a short list of late-season call-ups had he not missed the first two months of the season with an elbow injury. He’s made 15 starts since coming off the injured list in June, pitching to a solid 4.32 ERA and a 23.3% strikeout rate. He’s a bit of a tweener arm, he profiles for a lot of potential roles as both a starter and reliever. Given the organization’s questionable rotation depth, it’s more likely he will develop as a starter.
His arsenal is fairly average across the board, with no plus-quality pitch. He has a 92-94 MPH four-seamer with some carry that he likes to throw up in the zone with a curveball, slider, and a splitter. He profiles more as an innings-eating No. 4 starter, although the elbow injury is a concern worth monitoring.
His Rule 5 clock doesn’t start until next offseason, but he is a name to keep an eye on in terms of potential 2025 rotation depth.
Yu-Min Lin
Lin missed two months of the season recovering from the facial fractures he suffered when he got struck by a foul ball with an exit velocity of 112 MPH. While it’s a tough injury to recover from, he that just fine with a 4.28 ERA with a 21.7% strikeout rate compared to an 8.0% walk rate.
He fits the mold of a crafty lefty, averaging 89-92 MPH with two different fastballs while mixing in a slurve and a changeup. The changeup is the best in the organization with Justin Martinez no longer a prospect. He throws more pitches, but those are the three main ones to focus on.
Lin isn’t required to be added to the 40-man roster until next offseason, but like Ray he’s a candidate to be evaluated as 2025 rotation depth. I still have concerns about his ability to be more than a five-and-dive starter, but there’s still value in a No. 5 starter who consistently gives you five solid innings each time out. There is some natural deception and he has a feel for changing speeds and locations at an advanced rate for his age.
The Arizona Fall League begins on October 7.
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks, Arizona Cardinals, and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
