Scouting Report

Scouting grades: Fastball: 65 | Curveball: 40 | Slider: 50 | Cutter: 55 | Changeup: 40 | Control: 40 | Overall: 40

Aracena was a long play for the Mets when they signed him out of the Dominican Republic for $70,000 as part of their 2022 international class. He was super raw, even for a young pitcher, walking 20.2 percent of his batters as recently as 2024. But Aracena took a big step forward as a 20-year-old in the Florida State League in 2025 and was pitching very well when the Orioles acquired him as part of the return for Gregory Soto near the Trade Deadline. He pitched to a 1.95 ERA over his first 27 2/3 innings in his new organization, finishing the year at High-A Aberdeen, but was traded again in the offseason to the D-backs as part of the return for Blaze Alexander.

Aracena’s stuff makes it clear why he was a project worth waiting for. The 6-foot-3 right-hander brings serious heat to the mound, sitting 96-99 mph with his four-seam fastball and topping out at 101. He also throws a razor-sharp cutter at 92-94 mph with significant gloveside run, as well as two breaking balls: an upper-80s slider with depth and a developing curve. He’s had a two-seamer and a changeup, but throws neither pitch often enough to be a factor.

The control of those offerings was so erratic that Aracena’s 13.6 percent walk rate in ‘25 indicated marked improvement. He’s still able to blow his stuff past batters for now, but upper-level hitters won’t provide that luxury. As it stands, it’s a high-risk/high-reward package -- when Aracena commands his stuff, he dominates; when he doesn’t, the walks make him vulnerable to implosion. How well he learns to locate will ultimately dictate his true ceiling, though he looks like a high-leverage reliever in the making if he can learn to harness even a fraction of his tantalizing stuff consistently.

Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Curveball: 50 | Slider: 55 | Cutter: 60 | Changeup: 40 | Control: 40 | Overall: 40

A native of the Dominican Republic, Aracena signed for only $70,000 as part of the Mets’ 2022 international class that also brought in infielder Jesus Baez. He’s been a project on the bump ever since, even walking 20.2 percent of his batters faced in 2024 -- his first stateside campaign. But that project was rounding into terrific form in the Florida State League this summer as Aracena flipped between starting and relieving. He headed to Baltimore at the 2025 Trade Deadline in the Gregory Soto deal and was moved to the D-backs six months later as part of the return for Blaze Alexander.

Standing at 6-foot-3, the right-hander has built up velocity as he’s physically matured, and he now brings serious heat to the mound, sitting 96-99 mph with his four-seam fastball and topping out at 101 in ’25. The movement profile doesn’t quite pop, but while the heater has been more touchable than the velo would indicate, it’s still generally weak contact. The star of the show is arguably Aracena’s razor-sharp 92-94 mph cutter. It comes with plenty of heat itself but moves six more inches to the gloveside than the four-seamer and comes with some drop, often leading batters befuddled. He has the makings of an upper-80s slider with good depth too, giving him another whiff-heavy option, and a mid-80s curveball that isn’t at the same level. Aracena has barely thrown his 92-95 mph changeup in ’25 because it doesn’t offer much of a change of speeds.

Entering late July, Aracena had cut his walk rate down to 13.2 percent with Single-A St. Lucie, but he still has the makings of a pitcher trying to blow his stuff past batters. Even if he has to stick in relief, the fastball/cutter combination could be stellar in the back of an MLB bullpen.

Awards

FSL Post-Season All-Star

Year	Team
2025

FSL Pitcher of the Month

Month	Team
06/2025

FSL Pitcher of the Week

Week	Team
06/22/2025
06/01/2025

DSL Mid-Season All-Star

Year	Team
2023

Transactions

Team	Date	Transaction
	03/05/2026	RHP Wellington Aracena assigned to Arizona D-backs Prospects.
	02/05/2026	Arizona Diamondbacks traded SS Blaze Alexander to Baltimore Orioles for RHP Kade Strowd, RHP Wellington Aracena and 2B José Mejía.
	02/05/2026	RHP Wellington Aracena assigned to Hillsboro Hops.
	12/15/2025	Frederick Keys activated RHP Wellington Aracena.
	08/02/2025	RHP Wellington Aracena assigned to Aberdeen IronBirds from Delmarva Shorebirds.
	08/02/2025	Aberdeen IronBirds activated RHP Wellington Aracena.
	07/26/2025	Delmarva Shorebirds activated RHP Wellington Aracena.
	07/25/2025	Baltimore Orioles traded LHP Gregory Soto to New York Mets for RHP Wellington Aracena and RHP Cameron Foster.
	07/25/2025	RHP Wellington Aracena assigned to Delmarva Shorebirds.
	08/01/2024	RHP Wellington Aracena assigned to St. Lucie Mets from FCL Mets.
	04/02/2024	RHP Wellington Aracena assigned to FCL Mets from DSL Mets Blue.
	07/29/2023	DSL NL All-Stars activated RHP Wellington Aracena.
	06/04/2023	RHP Wellington Aracena assigned to DSL Mets Blue.
	07/28/2022	RHP Wellington Aracena assigned to DSL Mets 2 from DSL Mets 1.
	06/04/2022	RHP Wellington Aracena assigned to DSL Mets 1.
	01/15/2022	New York Mets signed free agent RHP Wellington Aracena to a minor league contract.