The D’Backs are truly blessed when it comes to the players they have manning second and shortstop. You have two MVP candidate in Geraldo Perdomo and Ketel Marte, and a top ten (now former) prospect waiting in the wings in Jordan Lawlar. On top of that, there’s a litany of other middle infield prospects, from Tommy Troy to Kayson Cunningham, its a little hard to keep track of them all, and probably just as hard to pick who’s the best of the bunch. So I thought I’d break down a few of those players and let you all be the judge of whom you think is the best of the bunch.
MLB Pipeline #3, Baseball America #2, Fangraphs #2
There’s really not a whole lot I can say about a guy who has only 11 pro games in A Ball under his belt. I just have to trust the experts that tell me he was one of the best prep hitters in the 2025 draft class, and go from there. Considering how far away Cunningham is compared to the rest of the players in this article, it’s probably best just to consider him a player to keep an eye on,
(MLB Pipeline #5, Baseball America #7, Fangraphs #9)
I would think that most serious fans of the Diamondbacks would be familiar with Tommy Troy, who was taken out of Stanford with the twelfth pick of the 2023 Draft. After signing for the slot bonus of 4.4M, Troy appeared in 27 games split between the Complex League and the High A level Hillsboro Hops and was solid in his pro debut, hitting .271/.374/.469 with a 126 wRC+. 2024 was basically a disaster for Tommy Troy, marred by ineffectiveness and injury. Across 72 games in the Complex League and High A, Troy hit .234/.318/.363 which amounts to only a 92 wRC+. In 2025 he’s put most of those struggles in the rear window. In 87 games for the AA level Amarillo Sod Poodles, Troy has hit .286/382/.461 with 12HRs, 20 doubles, a pair of triple, along with 21 stolen bases (and only four caught stealing). After being promoted to the AAA level Reno Aces Troy struggled to some extent in his 38 games there, hitting .295/381/.429, which works out to a 98 wRC+, or 2% below league average.
Tommy Tory has by the far the best chance of cracking the MLB roster in 2026, but considering the presence of Geraldo Perdomo, Ketel Marte, and Jordan Lawlar on the roster, it will still be a challenge. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Troy packaged in a trade over the offseason.
(MLB Pipeline #12, Baseball America #8, Fangraphs #3)
A switch hitter signed for $525,000 out of the Dominican Republic in January of 2022, Jansel Luis has stood out to me since his first season as a 17 year old in the Dominican Summer League. That season in 47 games, Luis hit .345/.399/.414 which works out to a 123 wRC+. In 2023 he’d make his stateside debut for the Complex League and hit .297/381/.495 and a 117 wRC+. In 25 games he matched his stolen base total from the year prior, while hitting three homers. Luis finished his season playing 36 games for the A Level Visalia Rawhide, hitting .257/.310/.417 and 95 wRC+. In 62 games across the two levels, Luis hit .269/.335/.441 with 7hrs and 16 stolen bases, which works out to a 102 wRC+. In 2024, Luis would be assigned to Visalia the whole year, playing 109 games and hitting .265/.337/.414 with a 101 wRC+. If I had to sum up his 2024 season, id say he basically just treated water, or maybe even back slid somewhat. In 2025, Jansel Luis was promoted to the A+ Level Hillsboro Hops. In 102 games he hit .304/.342/.422 with 106 wRC+. Combined with the four games he played in the Complex League, he hit .311/.347/.435 with a 110 wRC+.
Defensively, while he’s primarily been a shortstop, the presence of Cristofer Torin has lead to the Luis getting the majority of his starts at second base in 2025.
Michael McDermott recently did a feature and Interviewed Jansel Luis for Dbacks Under Review, which is worth checking out.
(MLB Pipeline #19, Baseball America, Fangraphs #35)
Cristofer Torin first got on my radar in 2022 after he hit 333/.465/.434 with a 156 wRC+ in the DSL as a 17 year old, and three months younger than Jansel Luis at that. The following season he started out the year by absolutely destroying the Complex League over 26 games by hitting .320/.437/427 with a 130 wRC+. He struggled after being promoted to Visalia, where he hit just 236/.314/.300 with a 74 wRC+ in 39 games. He’d return to Visalia for the 2024 season and put his struggles behind him as he hit 255/.381/.344 with a 105 wRC+ in 108 games. In 2025, Torin played in 122 games for A+ level Hillsboro Hops and hit .287/.381/.385 with a 116 wRC+. The most notable aspect of his season was reaching a career high 6 homers, which matches the rest of his career combined. He then spent the final 5 games of his season in AA level Amarillo, where he went 8 for 21 with four doubles.
Torin has an impressive batting eye, with the lowest walk % of his career was 9% in the 39 games he played in A ball in 2023. The rest of his career? He’s maintained at minimum a 12% walk rate, with as high as a 15.8% in A ball in 2024. Torin has a serious lack of power, but if he can make start making harder, better contact,l and develop more power as he ages, he has a chance to an allstar or at least a competent every day player.
Honorable mentions that I’m not including because the two very long sections I wrote on them didn’t save: JD Dix and Demetrio Crisantes. Both of these guys have had some seriously impressive seasons in their pro debuts. JD Dix was coming off an injury so didn’t make his prodebut until 2025, but he’s raked in 2025. Crisantes has destroyed the Complex League and A ball, but had a Posterial Labral Tear end his 2025 season in early may.