SCOTTSDALE , Ariz. — One of the rites of spring training is the scout chorus.

Pretty much for any game, you will get 15 to 20 scouts and executives gathered behind home plate, and if you listen to the chatter, you will get views shared by something close to 100 percent of those gathered that, at best, is common wisdom and, at worst, is groupthink.

In the Cactus League chorus, two sentiments resound above all others — how great Cubs phenom Kris Bryant looks at the plate and how terrible Diamondbacks Cuban import Yasmany Tomas looks in the field.

Cubs officials have said Bryant, despite a powerhouse spring, likely will start in the minors to refine his defense. The demotion is supposed to be short and is generally seen as a way to limit service time and push back Bryant’s free agency a year.

Diamondbacks executives are now seriously considering sending Tomas to the minors, as well. But that is not to game the system. Arizona already has dealt with Tomas’ free agency, giving him a six-year, $68.5 million deal in the offseason. But, to date, his defense has been rough and his power has yet to show in games.

Tomas has heard the negativity enough that, through a team spokesman, he declined an interview if his defense would be one of the subjects. All of Arizona’s top baseball officials insisted the scouts are overstating the problem.

In this way, Tomas serves as a microcosm for the current Diamondbacks. Outside executives see one of the majors’ worst teams due to lack of high-end starting pitching, too many positional mismatched parts and the absence of a true starting catcher.

But — unprovoked — both Arizona chief baseball officer Tony La Russa and general manager Dave Stewart begin conversations by saying the D’backs will be better than critics are claiming, citing positional and starting depth and a credo to play hard and fundamentally well.

So is the chorus wrong, or are Arizona officials delusional about the roster in general and Tomas — who they still say can play third in the majors — in specific?

Stewart says because he is in his first year on the job, “I am looking at everything at arm’s length and not falling in love with the players just because they are our players.”

Nevertheless, Tomas represents the first huge outlay of the LaRussa/Stewart regime — the $68.5 million the second most given any Cuban import. The 24-year-old was mainly an outfielder in his homeland and there was strong sport-wide dubiety when Arizona said it would try to make him a third baseman. The doubt has only magnified with games, as scouts say Tomas lacks soft hands and he is too bulky to handle the position.

“Bobby Bonilla was the third baseman on a championship team and he was big,” Stewart said. “I already think [Tomas] is an average third baseman and he is such a hard worker that I think he can be better than average.”

For now, well-regarded third-base prospect Jake Lamb has outplayed Tomas in camp and could get the nod. Arizona could move Tomas to left, but with Mark Trumbo entrenched in right and A.J. Pollock in center, manager Chip Hale already needed to divvy at-bats in left among Ender Inciarte, David Peralta and Cody Ross.

And there is some concern the concentration on third base, along with inactivity in 2014, has messed with Tomas’ swing.

La Russa told me Tomas “does things at the plate that remind me of a young Miguel Cabrera.” When La Russa managed St. Louis, the Cardinals shared a spring home with Cabrera’s original team, the Marlins. But, in 42 spring at-bats, Tomas was at .214 with one homer, and Hale acknowledged the power has been absent from Tomas’ swing.

Thus, he could be sent to the minors to refine the swing and get further reps both at third and the outfield.

“I am not going to let people put a label on a player,” Stewart said. “I was released by the Phillies and won 20 games the next year. [Yasiel] Puig had to be sent to the minors, so if we do that with this kid, it doesn’t change that I think he is going to hit for power and be able to field in the majors.”

Is the chorus right, or the Diamondbacks?

Former Yank O’Brien shoots from ‘yip’

In order to obtain Martin Prado last July, the Yankees traded Peter O’Brien to the Diamondbacks, believing he had a chance to hit for power in the majors, but that he would not be able to stay a catcher.

The perception remains.

O’Brien was sent to the minors Sunday by Arizona. Diamondbacks officials claim he made gigantic strides behind the plate in this camp, specifically in game calling and pitch blocking. But his throwing was so erratic, some scouts were concerned he had the yips — that the problem was mental, not physical.

O’Brien told me because he played so many positions last year, he lost his arm slot and “this is not a mental thing.”

D’Backs chief baseball officer Tony La Russa said O’Brien’s “ability to be a major league catcher is alive and well.” Nevertheless, to take a break from catching, O’Brien might play first and/or right field. The idea is to give O’Brien plenty of at-bats because “we think he has a 40-homer bat,” said Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale.