J.J. D'Orazio Continues To Get Better Behind The Plate

Arizona's No. 22 prospect successfully reached Double-A in his Age-21 season.

This article is part of a series counting down the Diamondbacks Top 30 prospects entering the 2024 season. These rankings are determined by Michael McDermott, in conjunction with the Inside the Diamondbacks staff.

Summary: J.J. D'Orazio was signed out of Venezuela in July 2018 by the Toronto Blue Jays. Arizona acquired him at the 2021 deadline, along with left-hander Yaifer Perdomo, for Joakim Soria. After finishing the year at the complex, D'Orazio played with Class A Visalia for all of 2022 and hit just .221 with two home runs and a .635 OPS. He has the size and tools to be a potential backup catcher at the big league level, but still needs a lot of refinement to be a major league option. His debut is probably two years away, but the progress he showed last season was a big step.

Rank: 22

Age: 22

Height/Weight: 6'1" 170 lbs.

Bats/Throws: Right/Right

Tools: Hit 45, Power 45, Defense 45, Run 30, Arm 55, Overall 40

ETA: 2025

2023 Recap: Despite the less than impressive numbers in Class A the previous year, the D-backs moved D'Orazio up to Class A Advanced Hillsboro. After a slow month of April, he took off for the next three months. In his final 50 games with Hillsboro D'Orazio hit .337 with eight home runs and a .928 OPS, earning a promotion to Double-A Amarillo during the All-Star break. At the higher level, he was clearly overmatched as a 33:4 strikeout to walk ratio resulted in a .217/.236/.297 triple slash in 37 games. Despite the tough finish to the season, D'Orazio had a strong 2023 season and successfully climbed up two levels from the previous year.

2024 Expectations: The combination of youth and projectable frame at a premium defensive position has put D'Orazio on the prospect radar. 2024 will be a make or break year for him as a prospect, as the organization will try to shore up their catching depth. He'll open up the year repeating Amarillo, where he'll need to show clear improvements at the plate to continue moving up the ladder. If D'Orazio continues to show progress both at and behind the plate, he'll be added to Arizona's 40-man roster next November.

Projection: While he has the tools to be a big league catcher, he doesn't have the total package offensively or defensively for a primary starter behind the plate. The D-backs certainly don't need a starter out of him, with Gabriel Moreno under control through the 2028 season. Arizona has two other catchers with a similar profile in Adrian Del Castillo and Christian Cerda, players who are fringe 40-man roster candidates at the catcher position to sort through in the next 12 calendar months. Should D'Orazio make it to the major leagues, he profiles as Moreno's backup.

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