2025 Arizona Diamondbacks Player Reviews: #41 Jordan Lawlar

• Rating: 4.18

• 2025 MLB Stats: .182/.257/.288, .244 wOBA 52 wRC+ in 28 games & 74 plate appearances

• 2025 AAA Stats: .313/.403/.564, .420 wOBA 129 wRC+ in 63 games & 300 plate appearances

• Date of Birth: July 17, 2002 (Age 22 season)

• 2025 Salary: $740,000

• 2026 Status: Pre-Arbitration

When Jordan Lawlar was called up the first time in September of 2023, I think most D’Backs fans and most prospect evaluators expected the young shortstop to be up in the Major Leagues and well on his way to being an established fixture in the Diamondbacks lineup going into the 2026 . I’d also think most people would assume he’d have played in a lot more than a 108 games total in the time since then. Lawlar didn’t appear at all in the major leagues in 2024 and struggled with injuries that limited him to just 23 games. Across three levels (9 in the Complex League, 2 in AA, and 12 in AAA), Lawlar hit .318/.417/.482 with a .409 wOBA and 126 wRC. The tiny sample size limits the usefulness of his statistics in 2024, but are still worth mentioning.

Jordan Lawlar started off the 2025 season in Reno, getting reassigned to Minor League Camp well before the end of spring training on March 19th. Lawlar was recalled to the big leagues on May 12th but thanks to thr fact he was hitless in the seven games he played inhe would get sent back down on the May 29th.

On June 26th, Lawlar would find himself placed on the injury list yet again, and wouldn’t be reactivated until August 14th. Lawlar would get a call back up to the big leagues two weeks later on August 29th. After going hitless in his first three games since being called back up, it looked like it might be more of the same. Instead Lawlar would finally show at least a tiny sign of life at the plate in his fourth game on September 2nd against the Texas Rangers, in which he went 2 for 3 with a double. From that game onwards to the end of the season, Lawlar hit .333/.390/.528 with a 151 wRC+ (12 for 36 with seven doubles, two stolen bases, three walks, and a hit by pitch in 41 PAs). It’s a tiny, microscopic sample obviously that go along with some other big red flags like a .444 BABIP, It’s at least something considering the D’Backs former number one prospect had essentially zero success at the major league level up until that point, and sometimes a tiny little confidence boost is all it takes to get a hitter going. Lawlar’s 2025 season in Reno is par for the course in terms of what we’ve seen from Lawlar in AAA. Considering Lawlar hit as well as he did (.367/.439/.592 with 11 home runs, five triples, 22 doubles, and 20 stolen bases in only 63 games), while maintaining his strong 12% walk percentage, further lower his strikeout percentage by six percent all while learning a new position at the hot corner, I don’t think there’s much of anything left for him to prove in the Minor Leagues, especially playing in the high altitude ballparks of the PCL. Lawlar’s achilles heel has been facing the changeup, it’s imperative he figure out how to hit it and other breaking pitches if he’s ever going to have long term success in the major leagues. The real problem is that for the last three years Lawlar has primarily played in the high altitude confines of Greater Nevada Field in Reno, in addition to other higher elevation cities like Albuquerque and Salt Lake City, where the ball will break significantly less than it would at a lower elevation. The end result is that Lawlar just isn’t going to see the pitches he needs to work on in the PCL often enough in the first place.

It remains to be seen what exactly the Diamondbacks will be doing with Lawlar in the offseason. I’ve heard much speculation about him being shipped off in a trade package but the General Manager Mike Hazen would be trading him while his value is a record low. I’ve heard Lawlar described as prospect bust, but I vehemently disagree with calling any player a bust based on a 108 game sample spread out over 2¼ seasons , especially a player with Jordan Lawlar’s prospect pedigree and strong track record in the Minor Leagues. I think the best way for Hazen to get maximum value out of Lawlar is giving him a starting job and regular playing time in 2026. Even if he sucks for the first couple months of next season, they’ll have to stay the course long enough for him to either fully sink or swim. If they aren’t willing to do that, then packaging Lawlar in a trade is the next best move, at least in this author’s opinion.