If
you’ve been following this space for a while you know that my favorite time of
year in Arizona, my home for 25 years now, is October and November. The weather
is warm but, usually, not hot, the skies are deep blue and the snowbirds have
yet to arrive in force and clog the roads. Best, it’s when the Arizona Fall
League, baseball’s minor-league finishing school, convenes.
It’s
baseball at its purest, without most of the commercial clutter that attends the
rest of the professional game. Six teams with 35 players each, mostly between
ages 20 and 24 who’ve just completed Class A or AA seasons, are playing a six
week, 36-game schedule ending November 12 in six of the wonderful
spring-training ballparks in the Phoenix area. Admission is cheap, parking is
free and easy and the local news media ignore it so crowds are small and you
can sit where you want.
The
Majors use the league in part to test or preview rules changes. In the preview category this year have been
the bigger bases (18-inches square versus the previous 15 inches) that will be
used beginning in 2023, enforced pitch clocks (15 seconds with the bases empty,
20 seconds with runners on) and—most notably—a requirement that each pitch
begins with two infielders on each side of second base, eliminating the radical
shifts that have helped throttle offenses in recent annums. S’all good, I think.
A
wrinkle that’s being tested is a ball-strike challenge, giving each team three
TV-replay looks a game at home-plate umpires’ calls if a pitcher, catcher or
batter requests them. Glad to report, it’s been sparingly used here, and when
it has the umps’ calls mostly have been upheld. I’d like to see all electronic
second-guessing of umps’ decisions junked, but I know that ain’t gonna happen,
and one day robots or somesuch will take over all officiating. I’m glad that
isn’t here yet.
The best
thing about the Fall League is that it gives fans like me a license to pretend
to be scouts, a role I embrace. Through my blogs I’ve tipped off my readers to
the likes of Nolan Arenado, Kris Bryant, Francisco Lindor and Vladimir
Guerrero Jr., flaming talents who as youngsters lit up the AZ circuit.
Nobody this year has stood out like those guys did, but as usual some
good-looking kids have strutted their stuff.
The two
best I’ve seen are Jordan Lawlar, a shortstop in the Arizona
Diamondbacks’ chain, and Zac Veen, an outfielder property of the
Colorado Rockies. Both are 20 years old, meaning they probably won’t see the
Bigs in earnest for a couple of years, but it might be hard for their hard-up
teams to keep them down that long.
Lawlar,
from Texas, was the D’backs’ top pick in the 2021 draft, the sixth player
chosen. He’s got a live bat and arm and good speed afoot. In one game I saw he had
a single, home run, two walks and two stolen bases. In another he went 3-for-4
with a triple, and had another steal. The D’backs drafted another shortstop,
Dansby Swanson, first in 2015, but in a typical dumb move traded him (to
Atlanta, where he’s starred) before he reached the Majors. Let’s hope they hang
on to this kid.
Veen,
from Florida, was the ninth player picked in the 2020 draft. He’s skinny-strong
at 6-foot-4 and a listed 190 pounds. He takes his at-bats seriously, swinging
lustily from a coiled stance, and once on base itches to steal. He’s batted
around .400 for most of the season here and through four weeks led the league
with 13 stolen bases in as many games. He’ll probably fill out as he ages, and
slow down, but should do well with the bat in the light air of the Mile High
City.
The
biggest celebrities among the players here are catcher Henry Davis and right-handed
pitcher Kumar Rocker, and while both will see the Majors as a result of
their lofty draft status they’ll need more seasoning before they ascend. Davis, the first pick overall in the 2021
draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates out of the U. of Louisville, has a solid build
and latent power at age 23, but hasn’t impressed in the minors, batting .207 at
AA last season. He hasn’t distinguished himself here.
The 6-foot-5, 245-pound Rocker, 22, wowed ‘em at
Vanderbilt U., leading the Commodores to an NCAA title, but has been
injury-plagued since and missed all but a few games of the just-concluded regular
season following shoulder surgery. The third pick overall in the ’22 draft by
the Texas Rangers, and awarded a reported $5.2 million signing bonus, he’s been
on a strict innings diet here, logging just 10 2/3 in five outings. He went three
innings on Monday , showing an effective variety of pitches while giving up no
runs and one hit and striking out five, and while patience will be required to
allow him to show at his best it’s apparent that his upside is high.
Good catchers always are at a premium
and one who can hit is Drew Millas, a seventh-round draftee (2019) from
the Washington Nats. Switch-hitting from a widespread stance, he regularly makes
strong contact, and has been employed as a DH when he’s not behind the plate.
He went 3-for-4 in each of two games I watched, with a homer and 9 runs batted
in, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t clue you into him.
Jordan Walker, 20, a St. Louis
Cardinals outfield prospect, looks like a young Jason Heyward at 6-foot-5 and
220 pounds, but would be advised to run out ground balls. Middle-infielder Ronny
Simon , 22, with the Tampa Bay Rays via the Dominican Republic, is a
genuine “pocket rocket” at a listed 5-9
and 150. He hit 22 home runs at A and AA last season, but also strikes out a
lot.
Pitchers appear only a few innings every
four or five games, and therefore are tough to scout, but even in a few innings
it’s been clear that Alek Jacob is my kind of hurler. His fastball tops
out in the mid-80s but he mixes it with effective slow stuff and a variety of
deliveries that keep batters off balance. At age 24 he’s a bit elderly for the
AFL, but his sub-3.00 minor league ERAs, with 17 walks to 106 strikeouts last
season, marks him as a keeper for the San Diego Padres despite his 16th
round draft slot.
My team, the Chicago Cubs, sent two
touted position players. One is Brennen Davis, a rangy outfielder who
missed most of the 2022 regular season with a back injury. He was injured again
here and bowed out after five games, not a good sign. First-baseman Matt
Mervis is a sleeper, an undrafted player who was a pitcher for much of his
college career at Duke U. At a husky 6-4 and 230, he smoked minor-league
pitching in rising from Class A to AAA in the regular season, hitting a total
of 36 home runs in 137 games. He’s kept it up here, tying for the league lead
with five homers in 11 games through week four.
Minor-league power doesn’t always transfer to the
Bigs but, fingers crossed, it could with him. The Cubs could use help at first
base, among other places.
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