2025 Diamondbacks Player Reviews #37: Cristian Mena

Overview.

• Rating: 4.25 [distribution: poor (3-) 35%, excellent (8+) 2.5%]

• 2025 Stats

• 3 Games Relief, 6.2 IP, 1.35 ERA, 4.04 FIP, 8 SO, 3 BB

• Date of Birth: 12/21/2002

• 2025 Earnings: Pre-arbitration

• 2026 Status: On 40-man roster, Pre-arbitration eligible

He is destined for success.

Prior to being traded to the Diamondbacks, in the minors he showed great promise.  This AZ Snake Pit article presented four reasons for his promise.

• Consistency. In the minors, his measures of consistency compared to the top three pitchers in the Diamondbacks rotation.  The measures were quality starts, streaks of games with 4 ERs or less, seasons with 150 innings pitched, and game score consistency.

• Three pitch types.  His curve is his best pitch (it’s his calling card).  His slider is really good, and his changeup is decent.

• Whiffs.  In 2023, his swinging strike rate ranked third highest in the minors.

• Mindset.  He is in control of his emotions and he thrives on challenge.

“His slider and his curveball are both really good, and he’s got a decent changeup, too.  I think we’re still looking for, and we haven’t laid eyes on him yet, but some velocity gains that we think could be in there given his youth and with more maturity, and then refinement of everything. He’s certainly not a finished product. I’d very much anticipate him being in [Triple-A] Reno to start the season.” — Mike Hazen, February 2024

“I’d be shocked if he isn’t in the rotation by the end of the next season, assuming his player development goes as expected.” — Clayton Baier, 2024 Player Review November 2024

2025 Review:  The journey of a young pitcher destined for eventual success.

In 2024, at age 21, he was not ready for the Majors.  Nevertheless, he made an emergency start against the Dodgers, allowing 4 runs in three innings pitched.

In 2025, at age 22, he again faced the Dodgers.  This time, he allowed zero runs in 3.2 innings in relief.  That game confirmed his readiness to pitch in the Majors.

A second confirmation of his readiness to pitch in the Majors was his 1.35 ERA.  Unfortunately, he was injured in a rain-soaked game against the Reds and was out for the remainder of the season.

Outlook:

The Diamondbacks need starting pitchers. As of 1 November, looking forward to opening day, the Diamondbacks have a core of three starting pitchers (Nelson, Pfaadt, and Rodriguez). There will be competition for the other two spots. Looking beyond opening day, injuries will likely require two additional starters to step into the rotation. Corbin Burnes will likely return late in the season (or possibly the following season). Therefore, an additional two spots will open later in the season.

Beyond the named pitchers, who else will pitch for the Diamondbacks? Per this AZ Snake Pit article, the strongest internal candidates follow.

●      Christian Mena, Age 22.9.

●      Kohl Drake, Age 25.3.

●      Yilber Diaz. Age 25.2

Looking at their 2025 performances in AAA teams for the Diamondbacks and the Rangers, Diaz had the fastest average fastball velocity (95.3 MPH vs 94.1 and 93.3/92.7), Mena had the lowest wOBA (.337 vs .425 and .346/.395), and Drake had the lowest hard-hit percentage (30.0% for Rangers and 33.3% for Diamondbacks vs 43.1% and 44.7%). My view is that next season all three will be starters, whether in AAA or the Majors.

Kohl Drake and Cristian Mena will be returning from shoulder strain per this AZ Snake Pit article.  Mena went on the IL on 7 June, while Kohl’s strain showed up in late August.  My view is that Mena has had more time to heal and will be ready by spring training.

In general, Mena has very slightly elevated injury risk for two reasons: 1.07 ratio of supinated to pronated pitches, and an average fastball velocity greater than 95 MPH per this AZ Snake Pit article.  Nevertheless, he will add value to the rotation.