A third-round draft pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2016 out of Rice, Duplantier led all of Minor Leauge Baseball (MiLB) with a 1.39 ERA between Class A Kane County and Class A-Advanced Visalia. His ERA was the second-best mark in MiLB in the last 25 years, behind only Justin Verlander’s 1.29 ERA posted in the 2005 season. Duplantier was also third in MiLB with a .192 batting average against and 12^th with a 0.98 WHIP. Overall, Duplantier finished with a 12-3 record in 24 starts.

Duplantier was named to the Sirius/XM All-Star Future’s Game in Miami, Florida this July, was MiLB.com’s Midwest League Player of the Month in May, and was a Mid-Season All-Star for the Midwest League while with Kane County.

Duplantier pitched only one inning in his pro debut in 2016 and began 2017 by racking up 20 2/3 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run. He gave up his first earned run on May 2 and went on to allow an earned run in just one of his first ten starts in the Midwest League.

Duplantier was promoted to the Rawhide from Kane County on June 22 following the California League All-Star break and made an immediate impact with a 1.56 ERA in 12 Visalia starts and 87 strikeouts in 63 1/3 innings. Over his final three starts, Duplantier registered 14 consecutive scoreless innings. He struck out 44 hitters over 25 innings in his last five starts.

After missing the entirety of his 2015 season at Rice due to shoulder injury, Duplantier returned in 2016, finished second in NCAA Division 1 with 148 strikeouts, and was named the Conference USA Pitcher of the Year.

Duplantier was Arizona’s eighth-ranked prospect entering 2017 by MLB Pipeline and was elevated to their second-ranked prospect in MLB Pipeline’s mid-season update. Baseball America ranked Duplantier as Arizona’s number nine prospect at the beginning of the season.

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The Visalia Rawhide, in conjunction with the Arizona Diamondbacks, announced that RHP Jon Duplantier (Diamondbacks #2 prospect, MLB Pipeline) has been named the Arizona Diamondbacks Minor League Pitcher of the Month for July.

Duplanter, who was promoted to Visalia from Class-A Kane County on June 22, went 4-0 with a 1.82 ERA (5 ER in 24.2 IP) with 28 strikeouts and 6 walks in 4 starts for Visalia in July. He ranked among California League leaders last month in ERA (2^nd), wins (T-2^nd), opponent average (6^th, .250), and WHIP (7^th, 1.14). Duplantier was also named the organization’s Minor League Pitcher of the Month in April (1-0, 0.00) and May (4-0, 0.79) while with Kane County. He was selected by the Diamondbacks in the third round of the 2016 First-Year Player draft from Rice University.

Duplantier becomes the second player in Diamondbacks franchise history who has been named Minor League Pitcher of the Month three times in one season. Duplantier joins current Arizona RHP Archie Bradley, who was given the distinction three times during the 2013 season, five games of which he spent in Visalia.

Duplantier put up a career start in his final appearance of July, tossing seven shutout innings against Lake Elsinore while striking out a career-best nine hitters and scattering seven hits while walking none. He has allowed more than one earned run only once this season while in a Rawhide uniform. He is scheduled to start on Saturday for Visalia at Recreation Park against the Stockton Ports.

Every month during the season, the D-backs Player Development staff chooses the player and pitcher most deserving of the honors based on nominations from coaches at each affiliate along with input from the Minor League coordinators. INF/OF Yoel Yanqui (DSL D-Backs 1) was named the Diamondbacks Minor League Player of the Month for July.

The Visalia Rawhide kick off a four-game series tonight where they will re-brand as the Visalia Toros to pay homage to the Hispanic culture of Tulare County. For tckets and more information visit Rawhidebaseball.com or call 559-732-4433. You can follow the Rawhide on Twitter (@VisaliaRawhide), Facebook (TheRawhide), Instagram (@visaliarawhide) and Snap Chat (visaliarawhide).

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