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These rookies could win a Gold Glove in '25

@SamDykstraMiLB
November 6, 2024

Defense is increasingly becoming a young man’s game. From 1957, the year they were first handed out, to 2012, only nine rookies won Rawlings Gold Glove Awards. The same amount have captured the game’s top defensive prize since 2013, including six in the past three seasons alone. Red Sox right

Painter, Phillies prospects take center stage in AFL doubleheader

November 6, 2024

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Andrew Painter is just 13 innings into his “official” return to the competitive mound, but the Phillies right-hander has set the bar so high that another three no-hit innings don’t jump off the page. And an argument could be made that he didn't have the most impressive

Kurtz, Lopez, Stephan earn AFL Week 4 honors

@JoeTrezz
November 5, 2024

Week 4 in the Arizona Fall League was all about big flies and flirting with history. These players separated themselves during what was another excellent week of AFL action. Mesa first baseman Nick Kurtz (ATH No. 2/MLB No. 45) slugged his way to AFL Hitter of the Week honors and

Here are the 2024 AFL Home Run Derby participants

@JoeTrezz
November 5, 2024

Once again, the AFL’s top sluggers will convene at Sloan Park in Mesa to swing for the fences. Now in its third year, the AFL Home Run Derby pits the top power hitters from the elite prospect circuit against one another in an All-Star weekend style event set for Friday

Vote NOW for the Fall Stars Game Final 2

November 5, 2024

Fans, the Arizona Fall League wants your help. The 18th annual Fall Stars Game is set for 8 p.m. ET on Saturday at Mesa's Sloan Park, and fans have the last word on the rosters. MLB.com's Fall Stars Final 2 Vote is open now, with one spot on the American

Trekking parallel paths, Caglianone & Kurtz heating up in desert

November 1, 2024

PEORIA, Ariz. -- The similarities between Nick Kurtz and Jac Caglianone are almost too numerous to recount. Both are left-handed-hitting first basemen with a ton of power. Both played for a big-time Division I program: Kurtz at Wake Forest, Caglianone at Florida. Both made it to the 2023 College World

Padres' De Vries youngest to homer in Fall League since Harper

@JesseABorek
October 31, 2024

Leodalis De Vries hasn't completed a full year as a professional yet, but he has already amassed an astounding list of firsts and the “youngest-to” designations in 2024. During Peoria’s 12-5 loss to Surprise on Thursday afternoon at the Peoria Sports Complex, he added another: Youngest player to homer in

Mets' Williams, Gilbert strengthen bond in the desert

Pair of New York's top prospects are enjoying their time in AFL
@JesseABorek
October 31, 2024

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – No tricks here, just a sweet treat for Mets fans. The organization's top-ranked position players, Jett Williams and Drew Gilbert, hammered solo home runs during Arizona Fall League action Thursday afternoon, leading the Scorpions to a 10-1 victory over the Desert Dogs at Scottsdale Stadium. While the

A's Kurtz ending long and eventful year on a high note in the desert

@JesseABorek
October 31, 2024

MESA, Ariz. – Nick Kurtz's first official home run of the 2024 season came on Feb. 17. More than eight months later, much has changed, but one thing has remained consistent: the 21-year-old can still hammer the baseball. Kurtz teed off on Arizona Fall League homer No. 1 on Wednesday

Painter dominates with all four of his pitches in latest sparkling AFL start

October 30, 2024

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- The Andrew Painter comeback tour continued on Wednesday afternoon. The fourth Arizona Fall League start for the No. 32 prospect in baseball delivered similar results to the Phillies phenom’s previous outing: three scoreless innings, three strikeouts, no walks and one step closer to being ready for a

Here are the Arizona Fall League's top Statcast performers

@JoeTrezz
October 30, 2024

This fall, for the first time, the majority of Arizona Fall League stadiums are outfitted with Statcast technology. That enables us to peek under the hood and get a better sense of how some of the game’s best prospects are performing on the annual elite prospect circuit. With that in

Padres' prospect Salas providing exciting spring preview in Fall League

@JesseABorek
October 29, 2024

PEORIA, Ariz. -- When the Padres break spring camp at the Peoria Sports Complex in February, Ethan Salas will be among the Major League group for the second time, an astounding feat considering he’ll be just 18 years old. While it would be a significant development if Salas were to

Ballesteros hopes consistent power in AFL leads to winter ball, spring camp

October 28, 2024

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- The rapid ascent of Moises Ballesteros continues. The Cubs landed the catcher for $1.2 million out of Venezuela in January 2021, and all he’s done ever since is hit. He reached Double-A Tennessee in 2023 as a 19-year-old, so expectations were high for the organization’s No. 4

White Sox prospect Montgomery ends AFL stint in a groove and with a bang

@SamDykstraMiLB
October 25, 2024

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Colson Montgomery put the final word on his second turn in the Arizona Fall League, and that word was boom. The White Sox No. 3 prospect homered on Friday in Glendale’s 7-6 loss to Salt River at Camelback Ranch in what he confirmed would be his final

Phillies' Painter gets a grip on AFL competition with his new slider

@SamDykstraMiLB
October 24, 2024

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- In many ways, Glendale’s starter Thursday was the old Andrew Painter, the one who posted a zero in 11 of his 22 appearances and finished with a 1.56 ERA across three levels during a legendary 2022 run. In other ways, it was a new Painter. Sure, he’s

D-backs' top prospect Lawlar getting much-needed ABs in DR

October 23, 2024

This story was excerpted from Steve Gilbert’s D-backs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Dodgers-Yankees: Who would win an all-prospect World Series?

@JoeTrezz
October 23, 2024

Who would win a Dodgers-Yankees World Series ... all-prospect version? This week on the MLB Pipeline Podcast, prospect gurus Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo (along with host Jason Ratliff) chewed on that hypothetical courtesy of longtime listener and mailbag contributor "Blah Blah."

Caglianone, Jensen offering glimpse of Royals' bright future this fall

@SamDykstraMiLB
October 23, 2024

SURPRISE, Ariz. – Jac Caglianone and Carter Jensen just missed each other during the summer. Jensen was promoted from High-A Quad Cities to Double-A Northwest Arkansas on July 18, four days after the Royals selected Caglianone sixth overall in the Draft. The former Florida star joined the River Bandits on

Reds' Arroyo looking healthy post-surgery in Arizona Fall League

@SamDykstraMiLB
October 22, 2024

PEORIA, Ariz. -- The last time Edwin Arroyo had a four-hit game in a professional setting was with Single-A Modesto on June 3, 2022. That feels like a lifetime, or maybe even two, ago in the career of the 21-year-old shortstop. Arroyo was traded from the Mariners to the Reds

Road to The Show™: D-backs’ Druw Jones

No. 82 overall prospect gets on track after some injury-plagued seasons
@Gerard_Gilberto
October 22, 2024

Each week, MiLB.com profiles an elite prospect by chronicling the steps he's taken toward achieving his Major League dream. Here's a look at second-ranked D-backs’ prospect Druw Jones. For more stories about players on The Road to The Show, click here. Druw Jones’ professional career was defined by injuries until

Phils' prospect Painter showing he can still light up the radar gun in Fall League

@JesseABorek
October 18, 2024

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- If double plays are a pitcher’s best friend, then 98-plus mph fastballs are life’s thrill ride. Just 15 months removed from Tommy John surgery that cost Andrew Painter the entirety of his 2024 regular season, the velocity has bountifully returned in spades for MLB’s No. 32 prospect.

Giants' Eldridge flexes for 4th club in 6 months, displays nifty glove to boot

@JesseABorek
October 17, 2024

PEORIA, Ariz. – While the summer of Bryce Eldridge is in the rearview mirror, that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the Giants’ top prospect continuing to slug home runs during the fall. At just 19 years old, San Francisco’s 2023 first-round pick mashed his first Arizona Fall League home run

Padres teen prospects Salas and De Vries coming of age this fall

@JesseABorek
October 17, 2024

MESA, Ariz. – Ethan Salas and Leodalis De Vries have been inextricably linked to begin their pro careers, having been the respective No. 1 overall international prospects in 2023 and ‘24, both choosing to sign with the Padres. Top prospects of rebuilding clubs who come with extreme promise and impact

DeLauter working hard this fall to be 'next guy up' for Guardians

@JesseABorek
October 16, 2024

GLENDALE, Ariz. – On March 18, Chase DeLauter strode into the batter’s box at a sun-splashed Camelback Ranch for his first at-bat of the game in the top of the first inning. He promptly demolished a home run to right-center field off then-Top 100 prospect Drew Thorpe, who went on

Arizona Fall League Week 1 top performers

@JoeTrezz
October 15, 2024

The 32nd season of the Arizona Fall League is a week old, and already, there are top prospects standing out amid the field of, well, top prospects. Here are the top performers from the first week of AFL action: