The season was a slog like never before for Ryan Waldschmidt.
As a Minor League Baseball rookie, he played more often than he ever had in his baseball career.
He appeared in 134 games and accumulated 484 at-bats. In that time, he saw over a thousand pitches thrown by a dizzying array of talented arms.
But the 23-year-old outfielder from Bradenton still remembered the day he matched up against right-hander Trey Yesavage.
“He just had stuff that looked different,” Waldschmidt said. “Nobody throws through the same arm slot. Nobody really has the same pitches as him.”
The occasion was a High-A game May 31 between Waldschmidt’s Hillsboro Hops and the Vancouver Canadians. Waldschmidt drew a walk and grounded out in two at-bats.
Statistically forgettable, yet it was an unforgettable memory for Waldschmidt.
Yesavage later started for the Toronto Blue Jays in Games 1 and 5 of the World Series, setting the all-time rookie record for most strikeouts in a World Series game. Waldschmidt — a member of the same draft class — is closer than most to joining him.
The Braden River High graduate was named the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Minor League Player of the Year for the 2024-25 season on Oct. 3, culminating a triumphant first season in the pros. He’s the No. 1 prospect in the organization, per MLB Pipeline, and No. 66 in the entire league.
As the No. 31 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, Waldschmidt split time at the High-A and Double-A levels with the Hops and Amarillo Sod Poodles, respectively. He posted a .289 batting average, .419 on-base percentage, 140 hits, 78 RBIs and 18 home runs across those two stops.
“That was awesome to get the honor,” Waldschmidt said. “It just goes into everyone who’s been involved throughout college and throughout this first season in the minor leagues … just all the things that I learned and picked up on through these past couple of years. It’s a grind for your first season.”
Ryan Waldschmidt exits the dugout and takes the field during a Diamondbacks’ spring training game. In his rookie Minor League Baseball season, he played 134 games between the Hillsboro Hops of High-A and Amarillo Sod Poodles of Double-A.
Image courtesy of Arizona Diamondbacks / Anna Carrington
Much has changed since he was ranked the No. 443 overall prospect in the Class of 2021, per Perfect Game, upon high school graduation.
He entered the fall of his senior year without a single Division I offer. An elbow injury at the end of his freshman season hindered his recruitment process, and when scouts wanted to see results during his junior season, he couldn’t show them because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Braden River didn’t make the FHSAA Class 6A state tournament when Waldschmidt was a senior. The Pirates lost in the District 11 semifinals.
It was a launching pad for him regardless. Charleston Southern called, and he didn’t bother contemplating their offer. He committed on the spot.
That was the culmination of four years spent growing his game. Waldschmidt had actually made the Pirates varsity as a freshman catcher, not an outfielder.
“We knew, just watching him play, that he was going to be special. He was very mature for his age, very hard-working,” said Craig Page, the Braden River High baseball coach from 2014 to 2019. “It’s rare to see, these days, kids who are so talented at a young age to be that humble, to not say a lot, and really just put their nose down and work hard.”
Following a home run, Ryan Waldschmidt jogs the base path during a Diamondbacks’ spring training game. His best month of the 2025 minor league season came with the Sod Poodles during August, when he batted .371 with a .504 OBP and 1.143 OPS.
Image courtesy of Arizona Diamondbacks / Kelsey Grant
Waldschmidt transferred to Kentucky for his sophomore year of college baseball. As a junior there, he posted a .33 batting average with 46 RBIs and 14 home runs. The Wildcats reached the 2024 College World Series and went 46-16 with him in the lineup.
Competing in the Southeastern Conference was an important step forward. When he entered the transfer portal, he was looking for a program that would encourage his development as an outfielder and test his hitting against elite pitching.
He got both and succeeded in each regard.
“I came in hungry. You’ve got to make a name for yourself,” Waldschmidt said. “I didn’t have too many expectations going into it. I was coming in with an open mind, and was just excited to get out there and play with all these guys.”
Starting out with Hillsboro, he batted .268 with 63 hits, 43 RBIs and nine home runs. He remained with the team for the first 68 games of the season until his promotion on June 24.
August in Amarillo was special. There was no part of his rookie season quite like it.
Ryan Waldschmidt chats with his fellow outfielders during a Diamondbacks spring training game. The 23-year-old wrapped his first professional season with 140 hits, 78 RBIs and 18 home runs en route to a .289 batting average.
Image courtesy of Arizona Diamondbacks / Anna Carrington
During that month, he posted a .371 batting average as well as a .504 on base percentage for the Sod Poodles that included 28 runs, 24 walks, 17 RBIs, 13 extra-base hits and 12 stolen bases.
It solidified his standing as the top talent in the Diamondbacks’ farm system, as he led all Arizona minor leaguers with 229 total bases and 96 walks.
The perspective he gained was similarly significant.
“Not making the moment too big,” Waldschmidt said. “You’re in the position that you’re in for a reason. They called you up, and you’re in that position because they think you’re supposed to be there.”
He also hasn’t forgotten he was in the same draft class as Yesavage. The Diamondbacks selected him 11 spots after the Blue Jays chose the right-hander.
Facing the record-breaking 22-year-old reminds Waldschmidt of how the minors can feel so close, yet so far from the majors. He came face-to-face with a pitcher who, four months afterward, got the call.
Triple-A could be in his immediate future and, much like Yesavage, his path to the majors holds more promise than most.
Perhaps a pitcher will rave about him one day.