Kristian Robinson Is Ready to Resume His Career

Yesterday, the Diamondbacks activated outfield prospect Kristian Robinson from the restricted list. He had been unable to participate in the past two minor league seasons due to legal issues stemming from an incident where he assaulted a law enforcement officer in April 2020.

D-backs farm director Josh Barfield clarified that Robinson was charged with not a misdemeanor or felony, but if he completed his 150 hours of community service and 18 months of probation without issue it would be downgraded to a misdemeanor. While serving out his sentence, he was working out at the team's Spring Training complex but unable to play for an affiliate without a work visa. Once the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor, Robinson applied for a work visa and received an email on Saturday that the visa was approved.

"This has been a really difficult process for him from start to finish," said Barfield. "I think he's grown a lot over the period. You forget how young he is, and going through the pandemic, and going through this and not being able to play the game of baseball. We know that he put himself in this situation, but at the same time I think he's very apologetic. He's learned a lot, to see where he is now from where he was from a year ago, he's come a long way."

As Robinson resumes his career, the team is ensuring that he has a strong support system behind him. He's been getting regular mental health treatments throughout this whole ordeal. Barfield believes that between the organization, Robinson's agent Kris Glazier, and his family a strong support system is in place to help him face some of the difficult challenges that lay ahead of him.

With Robinson activated from the restricted list yesterday, the team has up to 30 days to decide on a corresponding 40-man roster move. Right now, he's in Extended Spring Training to stay in game shape. He's been out the past couple weeks due to a hamstring injury suffered on April 1st. The team is working on getting him approved for a rehab assignment, but once officially activated Barfield said the team will option Robinson to Low-A Visalia. In terms of Robinson's development, Barfield acknowledges they're in a very unique situation.

"There is not a lot of situations where a guy with his talent and age has missed as much time as he has, so there's no blueprint on what it looks like. He'll show us when he's ready to be pushed. We can't make up for all the at-bats he's lost, but we will make sure to take full advantage of the time we have during the season once he's out. We think Visalia is a good landing spot for him, having not played, he's probably still at an age-appropriate level for him. If he shows he's ready for the next challenge, I don't think we'll have an issue of moving him quickly. If we need to keep him there for a while and let him adjust, I don't think that will be much of an issue either. I think we're very open to seeing how this thing goes, how it plays out, he'll be the one to show when he's ready to move."

With Robinson preparing to resume his career, the D-backs now have another high ceiling bat to bolster what is already a top farm system. He has the potential for a five-tool impact as a corner outfielder, with 70 raw power as the carrying tool, but will need to refine his approach at the plate in order to maximize that tool. Depending on how quickly he moves up the system, we're looking at the 2025 season as the likely estimated time of arrival for Robinson in the big leagues.

Listen to the full audio of Josh Barfield down below: