D-backs Prospects Rank Dead Last in This Pitching Metric

The Arizona Diamondbacks have had a difficult time seeing pitching prospects pan out at the major league level.

With the exception of obvious arms like Ryne Nelson or Justin Martinez not many of Arizona's home-grown hurlers have displayed consistent major league success, or blown opponents away with their stuff.

In terms of pitching depth, the D-backs don't have many prospects in their minor league system who are nearing major league readiness. The ones they do haven't displayed exceptional outlooks, yet.

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And, according to Baseball America, Arizona's farm system ranks dead last, 30th out of 30 farms, in the Stuff+ metric.

Arizona Diamondbacks Prospects Rank Last in Pitching Metric

Without getting too far into the weeds of its calculation, the Stuff+ metric essentially measures the "raw stuff" of a pitcher. It takes into account things such as velocity, arm angle, Induced Vertical Break and overall movement.

Baseball Americs has given Arizona's minor league arms an overall Stuff+ grade of only 96.3, with the highest Stuff+ rating going to the Los Angeles Dodgers with a score of 103.9.

Put into the simplest possible terms, the D-backs' minor league pitching prospects are the least "nasty" arms of any club.

And that's also taking into account the exceptional influx of pitching prospects that entered Arizona's minor league clubs this season — through the Draft and via trade at the Deadline.

What Poor Stuff+ Metric Means for Arizona Diamondbacks

With that said, the lack of raw stuff doesn't mean Arizona has no arms worth watching among their prospects.

Certainly, there are some prospects that have high ceilings. Arms like left-hander Kohl Drake (No. 6), right-hander Daniel Eagen (No. 13), and righty David Hagaman (No. 15) come to mind.

There's also more raw stuff waiting to be developed from this year's Draft.

Right-handers Patrick Forbes, Brian Curley and Dean Livingston profile closer to power arms than some of Arizona's previous prospects. It will likely take some time for these arms to begin their development path, however.

Pitching development is one of the trickier things in baseball. Organizations that do so at an extremely successful rate are generally those that find themselves playing October baseball year in and year out.

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The D-backs have not seen much in that regard to speak of in recent years, but their farm system has been replenished in terms of talent. If Arizona can get major league returns out of some these young arms, they'll be set up for future success.

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