To say that D-backs vice president of player development Mike Bell is excited about the crop of young talent currently assembled at Salt River Fields would be a bit of an understatement. The players, many of whom are from the 2018 Draft and recent international efforts, have reminded him of a group nearly a decade ago.
Instructional league rosters
"It's as exciting an instructional league group as we've had," Bell said. "It's like the instructs in 2009 when we had Goldy (Paul Goldschmidt) and it was the first time I saw Chris Owings and I thought, these guys were pretty good. We have the same kind of feel this year."
Goldschmidt had been an eighth-round pick in that previous year's Draft; Owings had gone No. 41 overall in the compensation round. A.J. Pollock, Matt Davidson, Mike Belfiore, Marc Krauss, Keon Broxton, Ryan Wheeler, Bradin Hagens, Chase Anderson and Charles Brewer were all players from that class who are currently in, or at least have touched, the big leagues, with Pollock, Owings and Goldschmidt all on the current D-backs roster. That's a pretty good group to measure up to.
Bell thinks the current mix of draftees and international signees could be looked upon in the same way down the road. And many of the early-drafted arms aren't even in camp currently. Jackson Goddard, Ryan Weiss, Matt Mercer and Ryan Miller, college pitchers taken in rounds 3-6, won't come in until later because there were no plans to get them serious mound time this fall.

"They'll all come in the last week and we'll check on them, make sure they still feel good and make sure they have a plan in place for the offseason," Bell said.
• D-backs instructs roster and schedule
Without the college draftees in the house, instructs has taken on an even younger feel. One similarity to that '09 group is the presence of some very interesting late-round picks. While it's way too early to predict a Goldschmidt-like career, Arizona is very happy with how good eighth-rounder Levi Kelly and 11th-rounder Blaze Alexander, who had a huge summer debut that included a promotion, have looked as D-backs.
They've mixed in nicely with the players who've been added to the organization via international markets who are in camp. Players like outfielders Kristian Robinson and Jorge Barrosa from the 2017 international class have already made their United States debuts, but other from their class, as well as some who were just signed this past summer, are getting their feet wet stateside for the first time.
"We did it with Jazz Chisholm," Bell said about bringing the most recent July 2 class over. "These are high-end guys talent-wise. I don't think it's something we'll always do, but when they can handle it from a physical and maturity wise standpoint, we'll do it."
Here for the first time is Dominican outfielder Alvin Guzman, who signed for $1.85 million on July 2 and Japanese right-hander Shumpei Yoshikawa, who got $650,000 in August. They're joined by 2017 signees just coming to the States like outfielder Wilderd Patino and infielder Roman Ruiz.
"Instructs is different than it used to be. We're only playing three or four games. It's about learning our system, programs, philosophies, acclimating to the States and meeting teammates. There are a lot of plusses to bring them here for a few weeks."
"It's a very athletic group," Bell said about the instructs roster as a whole. "They're excited to be here. The way they carry themselvs, the discipline, the way they listen, you can tell there's an edge about them. They want to get better, learn together and win together."
Araujo continues mound conversion
The D-backs signed Juan Araujo back in July 2015 as an outfielder and he showed some tools with the bat, most notably some serious right-handed raw power that he occasionally tapped into. He hit 21 homers in 698 at-bats through 2017, while continually showing perhaps the best throwing arm in the system. It was at some point during that 2017 season that the D-backs started discussing getting a look at what that arm might look like from the mound.
For his part, Araujo, who had never previously pitched, bought into the plan. So the switch was made this season and the 6-foot-2 right-hander made his professional debut in the rookie-level Arizona League. The numbers on the stat sheet can be thrown out the window since it was his first time trying to pitch competitively in his life, but it's noteworthy that he gave up no runs and just four hits over his final seven innings of relief work this summer.
"We felt this could give him the best chance," Bell said. "He looked OK on the mound early on. The key, as the summer wore on, was that he grew in confidence. He bumped 96-97 mph at the end, throwing strikes. There were encouraging signs. We're starting from scratch, so it might take some time."
That's why Araujo is at instructs continuing to learn what it means to be a pitcher. The big points of emphasis are on his secondary stuff and his command (He walked 16 in 13 2/3 IP this summer).
"Every now and then, he'll flash a good little slider," Bell said. "I have a good feeling it's got a chance, but it will take some time. His delivery looks OK. He's starting to look more like a pitcher. His command and secondary stuff, finding a good, repeatable delivery, we have to polish up. He's showing aptitude for it, he works really hard. Even though it was hard for him early on, there was no talk from him about hitting again. He's all in, and we are as well."