FALL BALL '21

 

               Of all the things whose loss depressed me during the pre-vax pandemic days of last year, the Arizona Fall League was near the top of the list. This annual baseball exercise for young minor leaguers was scratched, leaving a giant hole in my fall schedule. I rejoiced when it returned this year, back at its October-November calendar place after starting in too-hot September in 2019. By me, autumn is the best time of year in the desert, warm but not hot and with the bluest skies on the planet. If you’re planning a trip it’s the best time to come.

               The league ends its six-week, six-team, 36-game run on Saturday with its championship game, but team results are secondary to the league’s real purpose, which is to serve as a finishing school for some of the game’s top prospects in the 21-to-25-year-old age range. Each team sends seven to compete against their peers under the eyes of scouts, real and self-appointed. I’m one of the latter.

               MLB, which picks up the tab for the thing, also uses it to test proposed game changes. The big one this year was requiring two infielders on each side of second base when a ball is pitched, eliminating the radical shifts teams use to squelch pull hitters. The league batting average after four weeks was .267, against the Majors’ 2021 regular-season .244, so it seems to have worked in hyping offense. I hope they keep it.

               The size of the bases was increased to 18 inches square from 15, to prevent some first-base collisions and give base stealers a bit of a boost. Another good move, says I. A “robo ump” home-plate camera system to relay ball-strike calls to a live ump was installed at one of the league’s six ballparks, Salt River Fields in Scottsdale. It operated seamlessly; I judged that most fans didn’t know it was working until they were told. Its game-wide adoption is inevitable.

               Pitch clocks of 15 seconds with bases empty and 17 seconds with runners on were used, and enforced often enough to be noticed. I’ve seen no figures on game times but noticed no speedup. Lots of walks (22 in one game, 17 in another) was one reason, lots of strikeouts (to be expected these days) was another. Those usually are underestimated in discussions of baseball’s time problems.

               Talentwise, no player jumped out in the way Vlad Guerrero Jr., Kris Bryant or Nolan Arenado did in previous AFL go-rounds, but there were B-plus prospects aplenty. This year’s crop was headed by SPENCER TORKELSON, who was the No. 1 pick in the 2020 amateur draft, by the Detroit Tigers, after breaking Barry Bonds’ and Bob Horner’s home run records at Arizona State U. Just about all No. 1s appear in the bigs soonish and he’ll be no exception. The big first-baseball’s early-minors stats didn’t dazzle but he hit well here, going 9 for 20 with 8 walks and 4 strikeouts in seven games. Then he sprained an ankle, never to return, but it was apparent he got what he came for.

               The best prospect I saw was outfielder LARS NOOTBAR, 24, of the St. Louis Cardinals, but he was a ringer, having played 58 games with the Cards last season. The left-handed hitter is a finished product in the field and at the plate, where he showed power that belied his trim physique. One home run he hit at Camelback Park in Glendale cleared the fence and berm behind it and rattled around on the pavement in front of the Chicago White Sox’s spring headquarters building. He also has his own cheer—when he came to bat Cards’ fans on hand shouted “Noot! Noot!”

               The best all-around player I saw was outfielder ELIJAH DUNHAM, a New York Yankees’ chattel. Just 22 years old, he’s among league leaders in hitting (at .348) and had walked 13 times with just 8 Ks. He’s a perpetual-motion machine on field; in one game I saw he had three hits, walked, was hit by a pitch, stole a base and threw out a runner at second from left field. He also tore his pants and, probably, leads the league in dirty uniforms.

               The biggest surprise has been NELSON VELASQUEZ, a 22-year-old outfielder from Puerto Rico and property of my Chicago Cubs. Ranked as the Cubs’ 29^th best prospect coming in, and a 2017 5^th round draft choice, he’s hitting .366 with a league-leading 9 home runs and 1.194 OPS, which stands for on-base plus slugging. He has a sturdy build and quick, compact right-handed swing. Having stripped their roster to its skivvies the Cubs have plenty of holes to fill and can’t afford to ignore him.

               JETER DOWNS, 23, named to play baseball, is a middle infielder in the Boston Red Sox chain who hits stronger than his slim build. The mellifluously named J.J. BLEDAY, 23, the 4^th player picked in the 2019 draft by the Miami Marlins out of Vanderbilt U., oozes power and potential. Outfielder MATT WALNER, 23, from the Minnesota Twins’ chain, is a big guy (6-foot-5) who hits big and strikes out a lot, which makes him a typical major leaguer. First baseman JUAN YEPEZ, 23, from Venezuela, signed at age 16 by the Atlanta Braves and traded to the St. Louis Cardinals, and with five minor-league seasons under his belt, is near the top of every AFL hitting category.

 There are three catcher spots on just about every 26-man MLB roster, so WILLIE MACIVER’s prospects look good. He’s 25, a bit elderly for the AFL, but catchers take time to develop. The Colorado Rockies’ possession is speedy for the position, having stolen 20 bases at the AA level last season.

Pitchers are hard to track in the AFL because they appear only every fourth or fifth game, and then usually for short stints, but I saw a few standouts. More good news for the Cubs came from CALEB KILLIAN, 24, a tall righthander they obtained from the San Francisco Giants in the Kris Bryant trade. He got bashed for 8 earned runs in his 2-inning debut here but then pitched 12 scoreless innings. His minor-league card shows 112 strikeouts and just 13 walks with three Class A and AA teams last season. He has outshone RYAN JENSEN, a higher-touted Cubs’ pitching prospect and the team’s No. 1 2019 draft choice. Jensen struck out the first two batters he faced in a game last Monday, then gave up 10 hits and a walk to the next 17. Online speculation the next day concluded he must have been tipping his pitches.

R.J. DABOVICH, 22, from the Giants’ chain, throws in the high 90s, strikes out many and walks many, too. He was fun to watch. SETH CORRY, 23, also with the Giants, had the best curve ball I saw and wasn’t afraid to use it. JOHAN DOMINGUEZ, 25, from the Dominican Republic and the Chicago White Sox, has strikeout stuff.

There’s a week left in the season so catch a game if you’re in the neighborhood. You, too, can be a scout.