Camden Duzenack Discusses Arizona Fall League Opportunity

The Diamondbacks infielder prospect describes his experience playing in the minor leagues and the fall league.

Camden Duzenack was originally drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the ninth round of the 2017 MLB Draft out of Dallas Baptist. In the six seasons since, it's been a slow climb through the system with about one level per year. He reached Triple-A in 2021 and has played 143 games at the level waiting for a big league opportunity. With Reno in 2022, he hit .261/.308/.465 with 13 home runs, 10 stolen bases, a 21.2% strikeout rate, and a 5.7% walk rate. 

Climbing up through the system, Duzenack has learned that "it's about showing up and being the same guy. Whether you're playing every day or playing once a week at whatever level I may be, you want to come out and be the best you can be for you, your teammates, the organization. It's not just you showing up to the ballpark every day and getting what's yours. I'm trying to be there for the team, no matter what role you're in, and just understand every day is a new day with baseball. There's 162 games, 140 at the minor league level, one day is not going to make or break your season. I just try to be consistent with everything I do".

While those numbers don't jump off the page for someone playing in the Pacific Coast League, it was enough to catch the organization's attention and give him more reps in the Arizona Fall League when a spot opened up. Duzenack was on vacation when he received a phone call from Rick Short, the D-backs Minor League Hitting Coordinator, about a spot that opened up in the fall league. He was able to get back to Arizona and ready to play the following Monday. It had nearly been a month between his last at-bat with Reno on October 2nd and his first at-bat in the Fall League on October 25th.

Defensive versatility is one way Duzenack is looking to crack the big league roster. He played mostly second base, shortstop, third base, and some outfield during most of the season in Triple-A. He played all nine defensive positions in a game on September 27th. "It's something that our manager, Gil Velazquez, just said 'Hey when we clinch playoffs, we're going to get you to play all the positions'. It was something I was able to do throughout the season, super utility guy, playing all the positions out there and so he was like 'Hey let's do it all in one game'. It was a pretty cool experience, and I'm very blessed to be able to do that". 

Duzenack takes pride in his defense, and believes having a guy who can handle multiple position helps free up the manager to be more creative with his lineups. He said his future big league opportunity is up for the front office to decide and that he just wants to be a baseball player where he plays. In the fall league, he has started at second, short, and third already. 

In his six years in the D-backs system, Duzenack has seen his fair share of both extreme pitcher-friendly and extreme hitter-friendly parks. When discussing the challenges in playing in one extreme environment versus the other, he considers hitting at a pitcher's park in some cases to be better because "you tone down your approach a little bit and focus on hitting the ball hard and whatever happens, happens. At some of these hitter's ballparks, it's really fun to hit homers. That can sometimes get you out of your approach a little bit, so it's kind of a give-and-take sometimes. At the end of the day if you can try to be consistent, it doesn't really matter what ballpark you're in".

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