What's happening around the D-backs' farm?

This story was excerpted from Steve Gilbert¡¯s D-backs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

With the Minor League season now in full swing it seemed like a good time take a look at some of the happenings down on the farm:

Del Castillo injury
Triple-A Reno catcher Adrian Del Castillo (No. 5 D-backs prospect per MLB Pipeline) opened the season on the injured list with a shoulder strain (teres major) and is likely going to have to miss the first month-plus of the regular season as he rehabs.

Del Castillo came up big for the Diamondbacks last year when he made his big league debut and helped fill in while Gabriel Moreno was on the injured list.

Catching depth impressive
Single-A Visalia catchers Albert Barriga and Adrian De Leon are both off to hot starts.

In the first three games, Barriga was 3-for-8 with two doubles and a 1.208 OPS, while De Leon was the Cal League Player of the Week going 4-for-10 with two doubles, a homer and 10 RBIs.

The pair, along with Del Castillo, Christian Cerda at Double-A Amarillo and Ivan Luciano, who was selected out of high school last year and will open up in the Arizona Complex League, gives the organization quite a group.

¡°We¡¯re pretty deep at catching right now in the organization,¡± Arizona farm director Chris Slivka said. ¡°And it¡¯s a pretty exciting group.¡±

Soler raking early
Third baseman Yassel Soler (No. 15) got some at-bats in big league camp this spring and he¡¯s off to a hot start for Visalia.

In three games, Soler is 7-for-14 with a double and a home run.

¡°He¡¯s been great,¡± Slivka said. ¡°He¡¯s been showing some slug and hitting the ball as hard and managed his at-bats. That first full season out is tough for young kids, but he¡¯s done a really good job of making adjustments and his at-bats have been really competitive.¡±

Carryover for Jones
Outfielder Druw Jones (No. 7) had a nice finish to the season in 2024 for Visalia and he¡¯s picked up where he left off this year after being promoted to High-A Hillsboro.

¡°He's been controlling the strike zone and his at-bats have been extremely competitive,¡± Slivka said. ¡°He's competing, and he looks really good right now. Happy with how he handled himself that first series. The last two weeks of Spring Training I think he started to catch some rhythm and he was locked in and he¡¯s carried that over to Hillsboro.¡±

First one for Waldschmidt
Hillsborough outfielder Ryan Waldschmidt, who was taken with the 31st overall pick in last year¡¯s Draft and is the No. 6 prospect in the organization, got his first professional homer during the opening weekend.

Waldschmidt appeared in 14 games for Visalia last year and had an .803 OPS but did not homer.

¡°It was a really cool moment,¡± Slivka said of the homer. ¡°He¡¯s been using the whole field, controlling the strike zone, showing the power that maybe didn¡¯t show up in his first stint last year.¡±

Veteran presence helps
Infielder Ildemaro Vargas was one of the team¡¯s final cuts of the spring when Arizona went with Garrett Hampson for the last spot on the bench.

Vargas, who has played in parts of eight seasons in the big leagues, agreed to go to Reno and he is joined there by veteran first baseman Trey Mancini.

They both provide depth in case of injury, but they also serve another role.

¡°I think it¡¯s a good thing to have guys like [Vargas] and Trey Mancini there so the young guys can see how they go about their business, learn from them and understand what it means to be a big leaguer,¡± Slivka said.

Lawlar moving around
After coming up through the system as a shortstop, the team¡¯s top-ranked prospect, Jordan Lawlar, saw time at third base as well during his time playing in the Dominican Winter League.

During Spring Training, Lawlar got time at short and third before being optioned to Reno. When second baseman Ketel Marte got injured, the team called up Tim Tawa from Reno. Tawa was hitting better at the time and had more experience at second.

¡°The original plan was always to bounce him around the infield so that he would add some versatility,¡± Slivka said of Lawlar. ¡°We¡¯re definitely going to make sure he gets his fair share of games at second base to broaden his versatility.¡±