Jack Hurley Eyes Fresh Start in Arizona Fall League
With only 68 Double-A games under his belt, the Diamondbacks sent Hurley to the Arizona Fall League.
SCOTTSDALE – The 2025 season didn't go as planned for outfielder Jack Hurley. The former third-rounder experienced a lot of failure in his second season. He hit just .207 in Double-A Amarillo and struck out in 41% of his trips to the plate.
That led to a stint on the Development List, returning to the Spring Training Complex between May 31st and July 7th. There, he worked on swing changes. He replaced a big leg kick with a smaller one to be more consistent and on time with the pitch as it comes into the hitting zone.
Talked to #Dbacks OF Jack Hurley about the mechanical adjustments he made this year. Here’s a look at his new swing. pic.twitter.com/LRlPnTwNM1
— Michael McDermott (@MichaelMcD8393) October 8, 2025
"What I'm going in with right now is just a low kind of hover and not necessarily a toe tap and not a big leg kick," said Hurley. "So it should be able to get me on time pretty consistently."
Swing changes, especially the type Hurley had in 2025, take time for the results to catch up. Since returning to Amarillo, he slashed .214/.282/.341 with four home runs in his final 38 games. The strikeout issues persisted, as he punched out 60 times in 142 plate appearances (42.3%).
With only 68 Double-A games under his belt, the Diamondbacks sent Hurley to the Arizona Fall League. That should give him another 20-25 games to work through the swing changes.
"I think for everybody, more at-bats can always help. I missed a pretty good amount of the season. Being out here, familiar with everything is obviously nice, but being able to get more at-bats. Hopefully 20 games, I don't know how many we play, 30 games. Just more experience with good competition too."
The key to Hurley's development as a hitter will be controlling the strikeouts. For a player with average gap-to-gap power and plus speed, strikeouts are opportunities missed to impact the game. He's the type of player who would greatly benefit from the deep gaps at Chase Field, going 413 feet deep. It's just a matter of making more consistent contact.
In 2024, he struck out 26.9% of the time with High-A Hillsboro. That was still a high rate, especially for a college hitter with his pedigree. Nothing could have predicted it would balloon in 2025. With a chance to reset after the end of the minor league season, he's hoping to reverse that trend out here in Arizona.
Hurley faces a numbers game in the organization. Between Druw Jones, Ryan Waldschmidt, and Slade Caldwell, the D-backs have quality outfield talent between High-A and Double-A. A strong fall league will prevent him from getting buried on the depth chart.
His best path to the major leagues will likely be as a fourth outfielder. He played mostly left (21 starts) and center field (34 starts) in 2025. It's unclear where he fits in the puzzle in the fall league, but it seems like a safe bet he'll get looks there. Hurley didn't reveal much about where they plan to play him.
Further Reading
Michael McDermott
Michael McDermott
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