The off-season is a time for catching up, researching, and diving into prospects. With so many prospects across baseball, it is easy for some to fly under the radar. That is exactly the case with Demetrio Crisantes. Crisantes, a second baseman in Arizona’s system, is coming off an excellent 2024 season. Since being drafted, Crisantes has done nothing but hit and is turning into a must-own prospect in dynasty leagues.
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Demetrio Crisantes: A Hidden Gem for Dynasty Managers
Who is Demetrio Crisantes?
2024 Stats (CPX/A): 439 PA | .341 AVG | .429 OBP | .492 SLG | 7 HR | 30 SB | 15.7 K% | 12.5 BB%
The Diamondbacks got a front-row view to see Demetrio Crisantes as a high schooler just a few hours north of Phoenix. The team clearly liked what they saw as they signed Crisantes above-slot value at $425,000 after taking him in the seventh round in 2022. With a seventh-round draft pedigree, nobody in the dynasty community was paying much attention to Crisantes last year. He played well in just 29 games at the Complex League slashing .347/.417/.465 but was not on any radars entering 2024. Crisantes is not the biggest, he is not the fastest, and he does not have the most athletic frame. Without the raw skills visible to the naked eye, and without draft pedigree, he did not feel like a fantasy-relevant prospect.
All of that changed in 2024. Crisantes continued his domination at the Complex League batting .355 in 29 more games there this season. Arizona had seen enough to send Crisantes to full-season ball. In 63 games in Low-A, Crisantes excelled offensively. He slashed .333/.429/.478 with a 145 wRC+. His power started to come to life as he hit six home runs there and stole another 20 bases. Amongst players 20 years of age or younger with 250 PA in 2024, Crisantes’ wRC+ ranked 13/250. Only two other prospects ahead of him also had 30+ stolen bases. Crisantes’ excellent 2024 season has forced dynasty managers to take notice. In the final Prospect List of 2024, Crisantes ranked 60th overall. Dynasty managers should expect his name to start popping up more frequently on top prospect lists and would be wise to get in now before it is too late.
Demetrio Crisantes’ Hit Tool
The expectations were not high for Demetrio Crisantes after Arizona took him in the seventh round. However, Crisantes has quickly turned himself into one of the steals of the draft. In 29 games at the Complex League last season, Crisantes hit .347. His incredible batting averages have not slowed down since advancing to tougher competition. In his second round at the Complex League, Crisantes hit .355 and then proceeded to hit a lowly .333 in Low-A. Despite being over two years younger than the average player in Low-A, Crisantes thrived. Do not be surprised if he starts the 2025 season in High-A.
What makes Crisantes such an intriguing prospect is his batted ball distribution. Crisantes is a master of hitting line drives. His hands are quick enough to catch up to the high fastball and deposit it into the outfield. He can also take the low-breaking ball and drive it into the gaps. BABIPs can be deceiving. If a number is too high above .300 it is easy to say that number is completely unsustainable. However, when you post a line drive rate of over 25%, a .397 BABIP is a little bit more realistic. Sure, Crisantes is going to see some regression, but even with a .50-point regression to his BABIP, he is still a .291 hitter. Another reason why his BABIP is more sustainable is his ability to use the whole field. Crisantes has no problem taking what the pitcher gives him, helping his BABIP and batting average.
The other part of Crisantes’ game that sticks out is his plate discipline. Most young batters struggle with expanding the zone too frequently. The other commonality is hitters who struggle to make contact consistently. Neither of these are an issue for Crisantes who struck out just 15.7% of the time last season with a walk rate north of 12%. Crisantes can confidently work counts in his favor knowing he has no problem making contact if he gets to two strikes. His swinging strike rate last season sat right around eight percent which is much better than the league average. Plate discipline and contact skills provide a stable floor for Crisantes moving forward. Dynasty managers should have confidence in his ability to handle facing more advanced competition in future seasons.
Demetrio Crisantes Power
How Crisantes’ power develops is the biggest question in his profile. Through his first 554 plate appearances, Crisantes has hit just eight home runs. Despite this underwhelming power output, there is more here than meets the eye. Following his promotion to Low-A, Crisantes saw his power output tick up considerably. Crisantes hit six home runs in his final 63 games of the season. While this 600-plate appearance pace is only 12, it marks a considerable improvement from the first half of his professional career.
Standing at 6’0″, 178 pounds, Crisantes is not the biggest or most physical prospect in the league. However, Crisantes uses every part of his frame to generate pop. A small and controlled leg kick prefaces Crisantes’ hands flying through the zone. He uses this leg kick to generate additional power and can drive the ball out of the park. Currently, his approach is to use the entire field. While this is part of what makes his hit tool so good, this also creates an opportunity for Crisantes to take his game to the next level. Pulling the ball, specifically pulling fly balls, would be a huge boost to Crisantes’ game. This would certainly increase his home run rate and could lead to 20 home run pop in his bat.
The power is there, Crisantes just needs to fully unlock it. During his draft year, Perfect Game clocked Crisantes’ exit velocity at 94 mph. The class average that season was just 81 mph. Still only 20 years old, there is plenty of time for his power to continue developing. His HR/FB% jumping from 2.3% in the Complex League to 9.4% in Low-A is incredibly notable. Look for this number to jump even higher in 2024. Currently, Crisantes projects as a 10-12 homer bat, but has the potential to hit 20 if everything clicks. One thing to monitor in 2024 is if his home run rate drops back down in a less hitter-friendly environment at High-A Hillsboro.
Demetrio Crisantes Dynasty Baseball Outlook
This article hit on Crisantes’ already elite hit tool and his budding power. The part that was excluded was Crisantes’ base stealing abilities. Speed and stolen bases are a crucial part of fantasy baseball. Crisantes is fresh off a season that saw him go an impressive 30/33 on the basepaths. Of the 133 batters to seal 30+ bases, Crisantes is one of only 13 to be caught less than four times.
Crisantes’ speed is not game-changing like some other prospects. Justin Crawford and Enrique Bradfield are two names that instantly come to mind when talking about 70+ grade speed. What Crisantes lacks in raw speed, he makes up for in Baseball IQ. Crisantes has a fundamental understanding of the game. In the same way, he utilizes his plus plate discipline to work walks and get into counts where he can do damage, he understands the best times to steal and never wastes an opportunity. Stealing bases is not always just about pure speed and that is why Crisantes still projects as a 20+ base stealer at the Major League level.
Crisantes still has plenty of development left, but he is already profiling as one of the safer prospects in all of Minor League baseball. Plate discipline, contact skills, and an advanced understanding of the game are rare for a player of Crisantes’ age. The key to Crisantes reaching his dynasty ceiling is going to be the development of his game power. However, even without that, dynasty managers are looking at a player who is likely to hit at least .270 with double-digit walk rates. Add in 20+ stolen bases and you are looking at a floor similar to the numbers Josh Rojas posted in 2022. That year, Rojas hit nine homers, stole 23 bases, and slashed .269/.349/.391. That year, Rojas finished as the tenth-best third baseman in fantasy according to FanGraphs Auction Calculator.
Josh Rojas is never a sexy comparison. However, that is just the comp for Crisantes’ floor. If everything clicks, dynasty managers are looking at a 20/20 player with elite OBP numbers. That could look something like Randy Arozarena’s 2021 season where he went 20/20 with a .274/.356/.459 slash line.
Will Demetrio Crisantes ever finish as the 1.01? That seems unlikely. While Crisantes is not the flashiest or the toolsiest prospect, there is plenty to fall in love with once you dive into his profile. Plus plate discipline, plus speed, plus contact skills, and excellent batted ball distributions, plus I believe that the power is coming. Crisantes is unlikely to make it to the Major Leagues until at least 2026, but dynasty managers should not hesitate to pick him up. His value in dynasty leagues is only going to continue rising as 2025 approaches.