Time after time, the coaches at High-A Hillsboro watched outfielder Ryan Waldschmidt fall behind in the count, battle to work it full and ultimately find his way on base, either with a hit or walk.

It reminded Hillsboro manager Mark Reed of another homegrown player who worked his way through the Diamondbacks’ system.

“We would say, ‘This is a Goldy at-bat,’” Reed said, referring to slugger Paul Goldschmidt. “Waldy just manages his at-bats really well. He controls what he swings at and is able to foul off pitches and get to a count or get to a pitch that he could handle or do something with.”

Waldschmidt’s ability to put together consistent, high-quality at-bats led to him putting together the best offensive season in the D-backs’ system. He hit .289/.419/.473 with 18 home runs in 134 games split between Hillsboro and Double-A Amarillo and posted a nearly even number of walks (96) as strikeouts (106).

“He knows what he’s doing,” Amarillo manager Javier Colina said. “He has a plan when he walks to the plate.”

Waldschmidt, whom Arizona drafted 31st overall last year out of Kentucky with the PPI pick they gained from Corbin Carroll’s 2023 Rookie of the Year win, is reminiscent of Goldschmidt in another way: Both have repeatable, efficient righthanded swings with little wasted movement.

“He’s kind of spread out a little bit,” Colina said. “I would say his load is simple. Minimized movements. He’s a big kid. He’s strong. He can drive the ball. He doesn’t need to do that much to generate that power to drive the ball.”

And for as good as he was offensively this season, he might even have more in the tank.

“There’s still more power to come,” Reed said. “He’s going to learn how to get to the ball close to him and keep it fair down the left field line. There’s probably a little more power to the right-center gap. But being a hitter right now, controlling the zone and getting on base, I think we really will take where he’s at, for sure.”

Snake Bites

— Righthander Daniel Eagen had the best season of any D-backs pitching prospect, logging a 2.99 ERA with 153 strikeouts in 117.1 innings combined between High-A and Double-A. Scouts saw a future big league starter. After a strong showing in High-A, he was excellent in his first start for Amarillo before struggling over his final three.