Diamondbacks outfield prospect Kristian Robinson was granted a work visa over the weekend, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. The development sets the stage for him to play in minor league games for the first time in nearly four years, though Piecoro writes that he’ll first need to recover from a minor hamstring injury.
Robinson, a native of the Bahamas, was a high-profile amateur signee over the 2017-18 international signing period. He appeared among Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects entering both the 2020 and ’21 seasons after impressing scouts with his power and athleticism in the low minors. At one point, Robinson looked like a potential organizational building block.
However, he’s been in limbo for the past few years for legal reasons. Robinson pled guilty to what was initially a felony assault charge stemming from an April 2020 incident with a law enforcement officer. (Zach Buchanan of the Athletic wrote in 2021 that Robinson said he’d been amidst a mental health crisis at the time.) As part of the plea agreement, Robinson’s charge was to be reduced to a misdemeanor if he successfully completed 18 months of probation without incident. In the interim, having a felony on his record prevented him from renewing a work visa that would allow him to continue to participate in minor league games. Robinson had been permitted to partake in extended Spring Training workouts but could not play in official games.
Robinson fulfilled his probation requirements this spring. With the charge reduced to a misdemeanor, he was able to reapply for and receive the work visa that permits him to get back to game action. While the layoff raises questions about Robinson’s ability to readjust to consistently facing professional pitching, he’s still just 22 years old and could reestablish himself as a legitimate prospect. Piecoro writes that he’s likely to be assigned to Low-A Visalia once he’s recovered from the hamstring issue.
“I think the talent is still there,” D-Backs farm director Josh Barfield told Piecoro. “The same explosive tools he had when he was one of our top prospects three of four years ago, that’s all still there. He’s still young. That’s the amazing part; he’s gone through all this and he’s still young. … I wouldn’t be shocked if he got off to a slower start as he gets his legs underneath him, but I think sometime by midyear we should start to see the guy that we saw before that we were so excited about.”
Over the 2021-22 offseason, the Diamondbacks added Robinson to their 40-man roster to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. They immediately placed him on the restricted list (thus reallocating the spot) because his work situation had been frozen. Now that Robinson is cleared to return to game action, the D-Backs will soon have to decide whether to count him as part of the roster or to make him available to other clubs via waivers. Piecoro writes they’ll have 30 days before they formally have to reinstate him onto the 40-man.
Nice to hear from Josh Barfield again
I can’t believe he’s still only 22 years old. An added bonus that he bats right-handed.
I know there’s one Diamondbacks fan in particular who’s gonna be excited about this development. 🙂
If you’re talking about Scott, then there’s two (at least) 😉
Yeah, that would be me!
Can’t wait to see how his swing looks in-game; in my opinion, Robinson is a perfect barometer for the developmental improvements that the organization made in 2020.
Yes, Carroll and Lawlar both hit the ground running after their shoulder injuries (and the jury is still out on Jones), but they also all didn’t have to spend years on the shelf.
In MiLB, the team is looking at peripherals/mechanics rather than results, and Robinson has had years to focus strictly on peripherals (or mechanics, or fundamentals).
Fingers crossed, because he was the future when the DBacks future wasn’t as bright; that talent didn’t go anywhere.
Still has MASSIVE power and the swing is there. Seen it first hand on the back fields at SRF. Light tower power.
So Bauer was hammered by mlb for participating in consensual rough sex even after all charges were dropped but Robinson is free to resume his career after being convicted of assaulting a police officer. Interesting.
I don’t agree with the handling of Bauer’s situation, but Robinson’s situation is very different.
His family was back in the Bahamas and international travel was restricted during the Pandemic, plus he wasn’t even able to do thing he was in the States to do. The police had already established that this was a mental health episode, which is pretty clear from the fact that he was walking on the side of the highway when encountered.
He volunteered to be taken in (he wasn’t under arrest initially), but when the officer went to close the door he panicked and hit the officer to get out. All of the circumstances around the incident were extreme, and I’m glad that the officer didn’t react emotionally, because that whole incident could have ended very poorly.
Robinson also had to sit out three years, and he did all of his mandated community service well in advance of the timeline he was allotted. The kid doesn’t need to be piled on because he had a poor reaction in a time of weakness, not after he took full accountability for his role in everything.
But why are we even talking about Bauer? This is about Kristian Robinson and his separate journey to the majors and hopefully a successful part of the Diamondbacks. It has nothing to do with Bauer. Get outta here with your politics, we’re tryna talk some ball.
In November 2020, Kristian Robinson was the MLB Top 100, #39 Prospect. He was the Dback’s #1 Top 30 Prospect, followed by:
#2 Alex Thomas
#3 Geraldo Perdomo
#4 Corbin Carroll
#5 Blake Walston
He’s still only 22 years old, has reportedly continued to develop his immense skills in the allowed training and camp game settings, especially showcasing a huge power stroke. So, when the Dbacks Top 30 Prospect rankings are revised in mid-season, I expect Robinson to be ranked in the Top 5. Where would you rank him?