2 Electric D-backs' Prospects Earn Well-Deserved Awards

On Friday, the Arizona Diamondbacks announced two more awards for outstanding prospect performances.

Outfielder and newly-crowned No. 1 prospect Ryan Waldschmidt was named Arizona's Minor League Player of the year for an outstanding season.

Right-handed starting pitcher Daniel Eagen (No. 13) was named the D-backs' Minor League Pitcher of the Year for an unbelievable effort in his first professional season.

Diamondbacks' Ryan Waldschmidt Earns Award

Waldschmidt was taken just following the first round of the 2024 Draft. The 22-year-old out of Kentucky came with a uniquely mature approach and an exceptional eye for the zone.

He began the 2025 season with the High-A Hillsboro Hops, where he performed well. He posted an .862 OPS, but the most impressive stat was the massive gap between his batting average (.268) and on-base percentage (.415).

Waldschmidt took 51 walks against 53 strikeouts in his Hillsboro action, earning himself a promotion to Double-A Amarillo not long into the year.

His Sod Poodles career started slow. It looked as if the jump from High-A to Double-A was providing him with notable difficulty. On August 8, Waldschmidt was hitting just .221.

Then the hot streak began. From that point forward, he began to look like his previous self — better, in fact.

Waldschmidt strung together a truly incredible month-plus, slashing .371/.504/.639 with six homers (including two multi-homer games) in August. He owned a 25-game on-base streak from August 2-31.

When it was all said and done, he had raised his Amarillo batting average to .309, with an OPS of .921. Waldschmidt may very well be headed for Triple-A Reno to open 2026.

More: Meet Ryan Waldschmidt: Diamondbacks' Left Fielder of the Future

Arizona Diamondbacks' Daniel Eagen Earns Award

Eagen, meanwhile, was one of the most exciting rising prospects in 2025. Similar to Waldschmidt, he began his season with Hillsboro and ended in Amarillo.

Eagen was drafted in the third round of 2024. 2025 was his first professional year. He pitched to a 2.99 ERA across both levels.

Eagen allowed zero base hits in three separate outings with the Hops. He struck out an immense 132 batters over 97.2 innings.

He began his Amarillo career with his deepest start of the year, pitching 7.2 scoreless frames with eight strikeouts. Since he only made three starts with the Sod Poodles, his first truly rough outing (six runs in 5.1 innings) inflated his Double-A ERA to 5.49.

But Eagen figures to be an arm to watch in 2026. The offensive environment is a bit less pitcher-friendly in the Texas League, but with more time to settle in to his new squad, he'll likely contribute at a high level again.

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