2023 Arizona Fall League Thread

[Joseph Zarr]

Still no Mendez in the Saguaros line up. I believe he last played four games ago now. EBJ is the sole Brewer playing so far tonight.

[Ro Mueller]

Surprise won its second straight game, 7-1 over Salt River, nudging them up to 2nd place in the crowded standings. Box score.

2B Eric Brown Jr.’s impressive campaign continues: infield single, 2-RBI single to center field, 8th stolen base. 2-for-5 in this game.

LHP Justin King had a solid 8th inning: fly out, K, 9-pitch walk, infield single to himself, K.

[Joseph Zarr]

Surprise will face Peoria tonight. It's about 40 minutes til first pitch and it would appear Clarke, EBJ, and Mendez are all in the line-up. 

[Joseph Zarr]

Clarke has improved his K:BB ratio after 2 AB's tonight to 17:12. Love this trend for him.

[Ro Mueller]

Our Saguaros reps went a combined 1-for-8 in their 5-2 defeat to Peoria, but each reached base twice:

- DH Clarke - single, walk
- SS Brown Jr. - walk, HBP (caught stealing after HBP)
- LF Mendez - 2 walks

RHP Justin Yeager navigated a tricky spot, entering in the 7th inning with a runner on 2B and nobody out. Ground out, K, K - job well done. Box score.

[Ro Mueller]

 

[Ro Mueller]

A reminder of how young OF Hendry Mendez is (19, almost 20) and how hard he's trying to make his mark: 

 

[Joseph Zarr]

RHP Joseph Hernandez continues to struggle mightily in Arizona:

1 1/3 IP tonight

8 H
1 BB
2 K
4 ER

His AFL ERA currently sitting at a ripe 15.19. Yikes.

LHP Adam Seminaris started for Surprise and put forth 4 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 1 K, 3 ER (4.50 ERA overall).

EBJ was the lone Brewers field player to make an appearance for the Saguaros. He replaced SS Cameron Cauley (unknown reason) in the 5th frame hitting an RBI single to RF in the bottom half of the same frame. He finished 1-for-3 with 1 R, 1 RBI, and 1 K. That is his 12th RBI of his AFL season.

The Saguaros came back from an early 3-0 deficit to win 11-7. Seminaris picks up the 'W' moving to 2-0 overall while Surprise moves to 11-8 overall just 1/2 GB of first place Scottsdale.  

[Ro Mueller]

 

[Joseph Zarr]

RHP Justin Yeager pitched a scoreless 2/3 inning picking up his first AFL Save as he continues to excel after his rough first outing.

The Saguaros trailed 6-2 heading to the bottom of the 6th. They put three on the board but Salt River grabbed one back. Trailing 7-5 headed to the bottom of the 8th, Surprise put up a 7-spot. With a runner aboard at 3rd base with  one down, and the Rafters already having pulled within 12-9, Yeager was brought aboard. He conceded a sac fly to CF, he hit the next batter, and then he induced another fly out to CF to end it. Surprise moves to 12-8 pulling out the 12-10 victory even tho they were outhit 20-to-13 (whew).

1B Wes Clarke batted third in the batting order and finished with a strong 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 2B evening.

SS Eric Brown Jr. batted eighth and finished 1-for-4.

Surprise is now in first place - 1/2 G ahead of second place Scottsdale.

[LouisEly]

The AFL used to be a measuring stick of performance against better competition, but it seems like teams don't send their top pitching prospects anymore (unless they missed a significant chunk of the season, and even then, they usually prefer to work with them at their own facilities).  Relievers are sometimes the exception.

While EBJ and Clarke have had good offensive performances, it's hard to say if that's really against better competition or just average AA pitching.

[BrewersRice]

7 hours ago, LouisEly said:

The AFL used to be a measuring stick of performance against better competition, but it seems like teams don't send their top pitching prospects anymore (unless they missed a significant chunk of the season, and even then, they usually prefer to work with them at their own facilities).  Relievers are sometimes the exception.

While EBJ and Clarke have had good offensive performances, it's hard to say if that's really against better competition or just average AA pitching.

Was thinking the exact same thing today.

I am curious what their goal is with Clark. If this is for trade bait, seeing if they will use a 40 man slot? Consideration for MLB Roster?

[Joseph Zarr]

OF Hendry Mendez shined in the nine-hole tonight. Playing time has been sparse for the young man, but he has definitely been trending in the right direction in his limited appearances. He finished his evening 2-for-3 with 1 BB and 3 R. A fine performance and one hopefully gaining even more trust and opportunity. DH Wes Clarke was batting clean-up again tonight and put forth a 2-for-5 showing with 2 RBI and 2 K. Eric Brown Jr. was manning the shortstop position batting 7th in the line-up. He managed an 0-for-3, 1 BB, 1 K night of work at the dish. No Brewers players pitched, unfortunately, but the Saguaros squeaked out a close one, 6-5. They can thank their five run output across the 7th and 8th innings for their victory -  Clarke and Mendez played pivotal roles in these rallies. The Saguaros moved to 13-8 overall. They won their third straight contest while jumping back to sole possession of first place gaining a 1/2 game on Scottsdale (12-8) who were idle for the evening.

[Jim Goulart]

Mendez Video within:

 

[nate82]

On 10/25/2023 at 3:21 PM, LouisEly said:

The AFL used to be a measuring stick of performance against better competition, but it seems like teams don't send their top pitching prospects anymore (unless they missed a significant chunk of the season, and even then, they usually prefer to work with them at their own facilities).  Relievers are sometimes the exception.

While EBJ and Clarke have had good offensive performances, it's hard to say if that's really against better competition or just average AA pitching.

Probably just extended looks on EBJ and Clarke.  Didn't EBJ have an injury this year and missed some time?

[Joseph Zarr]

8 hours ago, nate82 said:

Probably just extended looks on EBJ and Clarke.  Didn't EBJ have an injury this year and missed some time?

Yes indeed. He actually suffered through two freak injuries - one on a hit pitch to the head and then one on a bang-bang late inning play at 2B where he was upended by a sliding base runner and was shelved for an extended period of time.

[Joseph Zarr]

It looks as though it is just EBJ in the line up tonight as far as Brewers prospects are concerned. He'll be back manning 2B. Batting 6th in the line up. Clarke and Mendez will be bench players as of the first pitch.

[Ro Mueller]

Surprise fell behind 8-2 by the 4th inning, ultimately losing 9-5 to Peoria. Box score.

The team gave up 12 walks, but Brewers' LHP Justin King and Justin Yeager didn't issue any. In all, the Brewers' reps performed well:

• 2B Eric Brown Jr. - 2-for-4
• LHP Justin King - 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 Ks (worked around a catcher interference)
• RHP Justin Yeager - 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 1 K

Surprise remains in first place by a half-game, but the standings are quite jumbled, with all 6 teams within 4 games of each other. From what I'm seeing, the team has 8 scheduled games remaining, plus an AL vs. NL All-Star game squeezed into the middle of it.

[Ro Mueller]

The Saguaros pushed their first place lead to 1.5 games with a 4-2 victory over Scottsdale in a 7-inning contest. Box score.

- 1B Wes Clarke - 0-for-2, walk
- 2B Eric Brown Jr. - 0-for-3

[Joseph Zarr]

Surprise keeps rolling with another 'W' - 5-3 Over Scottsdale.

- RHP Joseph Hernandez was given the opportunity to start and rewarded this show of faith with his best outing of this brief AFL season: 4 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 ER. He picked up the victory and now sports a flashy 1-0 overall mark despite the still unsightly 9.64 ERA on his season. THO, we give praise: we're back to single digits!

- LHP Adam Seminaris put forth two innings of relief through the 6th and 7th frames: 2 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 2 R (1 ER). We certainly haven't seen repeat dominant performances off that early 7 K effort, but Seminaris continues to maintain effectiveness with a respectable 4.50 ERA.

- EBJ manned shortstop and batted sixth in the line-up. He tallied an 0-for-1 line with 1 R and 2 BB. He also rung up his 4th error (throwing) of the season. 

- Wes Clarke batted clean up and finished with an 0-for-3 mark (1 R, 1 K, 1 BB). After the 0-for effort, he saw his OPS dip below 1.000 for the first time in quite some time. He sits at 0.999.

- Mendez is yet again in a prolonged bench-riding period but if we see results like his last time in the line-up we won't care. It would seem, given his vastly younger age, Mendez is spending the majority of his time working on his craft with spot PT.

Surprise moved to 15-9 overall and gained 1/2 G on idle Peoria - they are now 2.0 G ahead.

[Jim Goulart]

20 hours ago, Joseph Zarr said:

Surprise keeps rolling with another 'W' - 5-3 Over Scottsdale.

- RHP Joseph Hernandez was given the opportunity to start and rewarded this show of faith with his best outing of this brief AFL season: 4 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 ER. He picked up the victory and now sports a flashy 1-0 overall mark despite the still unsightly 9.64 ERA on his season. THO, we give praise: we're back to single digits!

VIDEO: Hernandez strikes out the side in the 4th inning

[Ro Mueller]

1B Wes Clarke in the AFL Home Run Derby on Saturday: 

 

[Joseph Zarr]

The Saguaros were smacked around a bit last night during an 11-2 loss to Glendale. Even with the loss, Surprise (15-10) maintained their 2.0 G lead atop the AFL standings. Amidst the thrashing, EBJ and Mendez (back in the line-up again) both fared well for themselves and the Brewers:

- EBJ: 1-for-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 HR (his 1st of the AFL), and 1 K. He did commit his 5th error (throwing) and his second throwing error in his past two games manning shortstop, though we would be remiss if we did not point out he was also a part of two double plays. These were Brown's 13th and 14th rbi of his AFL season:

 

- Mendez: 1-for-3, 1 K

Trailing 9-2 in the 9th frame, LHP Justin King was summoned to the hill. He began his work with a strikeout. He then walked his next batter. The following batter reached on catcher's interference. And, after grabbing his second out via a fly out to right field, King suffered a bases clearing double. He managed to end any further threat with his second punch out of his sole inning of work. All told, his final line looked a respectable: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 R (1 ER), 2 K.

---

I do believe Surprise's knock versus Mesa will be Live Streaming tonight. For those interested, check in HERE  as 9:30 EST approaches. This should be a solid match-up as both the Saguaros and the Solar Sox are 7-3 over their last 10 tilts. Mesa, in particular, is winners of two straight.

[Ro Mueller]

On Thursday evening, the Saguaros reversed Wednesday's mojo, this time coming back from an early 2-0 deficit to defeat the Mesa Solar Sox 5-2. Box score.

They now hold a 2.5-game first place lead, with just 4 scheduled games remaining (plus an All Star Game, Home Run Derby + hopefully Playoffs).

•  1B Wes Clarke - 1-for-4, HR, RBI - that's his 5th homer of the AFL season (.292 AVG, 1.017 OPS), adding an insurance run late in the game (video evidence)
•  2B Eric Brown Jr. - 0-for-4 (.289 AVG, .802 OPS)

[Ro Mueller]