Arizona Diamondbacks Breakout MLB Prospects For 2025

Entering 2025, we’re projecting a number of Diamondbacks prospects to have the potential for a breakout season.

To qualify, a player must rank outside the organization’s Top 10 prospects entering the year. All scouting reports are from Baseball America’s 2025 Prospect handbook, which you can purchase here.

You can find Top 10 prospect rankings for all teams here and all breakout candidates here.

Pedro Catuy, OF

Preseason Rank: 25
BA Grade/Risk: 50/Extreme

Track Record: A late-blooming prospect, Catuy was physically immature when the Diamondbacks first began scouting him but continued to grow and improve with each subsequent look. The club was drawn to his loose, easy actions and elite athleticism, signing him for $200,000 in January 2023. He hit .288/.361/.441 in 48 Dominican Summer League games that year, but a left knee injury wiped out his 2024 season outside of some work in a summer continuation camp at the end of the year.

Scouting Report: Catuy has a compact, quick swing with few moving parts that allows him to generate a high rate of line drives. He is aggressive early in counts but keeps his strikeout rate in check thanks to an ability to make contact with two strikes. Catuy can get pull-happy and needs to learn to use the whole field more often. He is a plus runner who should be able to stick in center field, where his reads and routes are advanced for his age. He added muscle to his frame during his downtime from injury, but remains thin with more room for strength projection. He is a confident, charismatic player to whom players and staff gravitate for his personality and work ethic.

The Future: Catuy still projects as a potential everyday outfielder, but he’ll need to stay on the field and keep developing.

Scouting Grades: HIT: 55. POW: 45. RUN: 60. FLD: 60. ARM: 50.

Grayson Hitt, LHP

Preseason Rank: 26
BA Grade/Risk: 50/Extreme

Track Record: Hitt was an intriguing pitching prospect and a standout wide receiver in high school in Tennessee, and his draft stock was rising before the pandemic shut down the 2020 season. Instead, Hitt made it to Alabama, where he looked primed for a breakout entering his junior year after an impressive fall ball campaign. Tommy John surgery ended his season after eight starts, but the Diamondbacks still took a chance on his upside, signing him for more than double slot at $1.2 million in the fourth round of the 2023 draft. Hitt returned to the mound in 2024, walking 11 batters over six innings in the complex.

Scouting Report: Despite looking understandably rusty in his pro debut, Hitt still displayed intriguing raw ingredients. The 6-foot-3 lefthander averaged 94.3 mph and topped at 96.8 mph with his fastball, a pitch that occasionally had both cut action and carry. He exhibited shaky command and was pitching only in short bursts, so it would not be surprising if he settles in closer to the low 90s. He spins his secondaries well, with an above-average upper-80s slider and an average low-80s curveball, and he flashed an average upper-80s changeup. His plus athleticism should help him throw more and better strikes.

The Future: If the command develops, Hitt could fit the Robbie Ray mold, with good stuff and just enough strikes to succeed.

Scouting Grades: FB: 60. CB: 50. SL: 55. CH: 45. CTL: 45.

John West, RHP

Preseason Rank: 30
BA Grade/Risk: 50/Extreme

Track Record: A baseball and basketball standout at Shrewsbury (Mass.) High, West landed at Boston College, where he struggled his first two seasons before solidifying himself as a weekend starter his final two years. He did not miss many bats as a senior and posted just a 5.42 ERA. He lasted until the 12th round in 2024, where the Diamondbacks took him and signed him for $150,000.

Scouting Report: After previously sitting in the low 90s in college, West looked like a different pitcher when he showed up at Arizona’s post-draft continuation camp. He sat in the mid 90s and pumped strikes, creating excitement that he could be a draft steal. West filled up the strike zone with a running four-seamer and a heavy two-seamer. He has a short, hard slider in the upper 80s and a sweepier breaking ball in the mid 80s. He also throws a changeup that flashes plus. He has surprising athleticism for his huge frame. He lowered his slot during his time at Boston College and seemed to have a better feel for his delivery after signing.

The Future: West worked in short stints in backfield games, but he opened eyes nonetheless. He will be sent out as a starter when he debuts in 2025 and has back-of-the-rotation potential.

Scouting Grades: FB: 50. SWP: 50. SL: 55. CH: 55. CTL: 50.