Electric D-backs Pitching Prospect Looks Poised for Massive Season

On Friday night, Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander and 2025's No. 13 prospect Daniel Eagen made his Cactus League debut. It instantly turned into one of the more dominant outings thus far by a D-backs hurler.

Eagen, who is a natural starting pitcher, delivered two innings of high-leverage relief, locking down eighth and ninth innings for the save in a tight 3-1 contest against the Seattle Mariners.

Though spring training saves do not exactly carry the same stakes as a regular season major- or minor-league game, Eagen's outing was certainly worthy of praise.

Arizona Diamondbacks' Daniel Eagen Looked Excellent in Spring Debut

The 23-year-old Northwest League Pitcher of the Year needed just 21 pitches to get through seven batters on Friday night.

He landed 17 of those pitches for strikes, and collected five whiffs. His four-seam fastball, which averaged just over 93 MPH in 2025, sat at 95 MPH on the night, climbing as high as 95.5 MPH. It also carried an average 18 inches of Induced Vertical Break — an impressive number in that category.

Eagen was able to stay in the zone, and looked confident on the mound. If not for a ball ricocheting off the glove of right fielder Gavin Conticello with two outs in the ninth inning (scored a double) he might have pitched a perfect two innings.

The righty was already on the rise, but looks to be in line for a strong 2026 season, as well. He had a truly brilliant stretch in High-A Hillsboro, throwing to a 2.49 ERA and striking out 132 batters over 19 starts (97.2 innings).

That earned him a deserved early call-up to Double-A Amarillo, where he pitched a 7.2-inning shutout in his debut. He struggled in his final start of the year, which ballooned his Double-A ERA to 5.49, but he also only made four starts at that level, in a hitter-friendly Texas League.

He won numerous weekly and monthly pitching awards during the 2025 season, and finished the year as both the Northwest League pitcher of the year and the D-backs' organizational minor league pitcher of the year. His 2.99 overall ERA certainly stood out among Arizona's system.

There may be a fast-track to Triple-A Reno, or even the major leagues in Eagen's future if he can maintain this trajectory. The velocity jump was encouraging, and the ability to live in the zone consistently will certainly appeal to those making decisions in the D-backs' organization.

It's important to not overreact too much to spring results; there's plenty of Cactus League action left. But Eagen has been on an extremely positive path for some time, and remains a name to keep an eye on this year. He's still just 23 years old.