2023 Arizona Fall League Thread

[Joseph Zarr]

1 hour ago, damuelle said:

 

Fantastic news and well deserved!

[Joseph Zarr]

The Surprise Saguaros keep on rolling beating the Salt River Rafters 5-2. They move to 17-10 overall and hold a healthy 3.0 G lead over second place Scottsdale. It would appear, with merely three 'regular season' AFL games remaining, either a single Surprise victory or a single Scottsdale loss ensures the Saguaros claim the number one seed in the brief AFL post season. I believe this would ensure they avoid the 'Play-In' game and would indeed earn their spot in the Championship game Saturday November 11th.

Back to tonight's game, three Brewers made their marks in the victory:

-  1B Wes Clarke was once again given clean-up duties finishing his evening with a 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K line. He is batting 0.299 with a 1.009 OPS.

- LHP Adam Seminaris was fantastic in his sole seventh inning of relief work hurling 1.0 IP with 0 H. 0 BB, 0 R, 2 K to show for it. He lowered his season ERA to 4.15 and picked up his 2nd Hold in the process.

- RHP Justin Yeager excelled in his eighth inning set-up duties tossing 1.0 IP with 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K, and 0 R allowed. He also picked up his 2nd Hold while continuing to lower his once unsightly ERA as he logs each successive outing. He is down to a 4.70 ERA - far removed from his debut 4 ER allowed in a single inning of work.

A quick reminder:

The Saguaros are off until Tuesday 11/7. Wes Clarke will be swinging the stick in tomorrow's Home Run Derby. Both Clarke and Eric Brown Jr. will be a part of Sunday's All Star Game.

[Ro Mueller]

Home Run Derby Live Stream starts shortly. Go Wes Clarke!!: 

[Joseph Zarr]

Seven off the leaders after Rd 1. He did beat out the Cubbie Bears' Kevin Alcantara so we've got that going for Clarkesy...which is nice.

[Joseph Zarr]

Thankfully, Clarke's power comes in games batting clean-up. He finished with a whimper BUT we all know what we're seeing happen since the second half of Biloxi's 2023 season began. It's only continued in the AFL.

 

[Jim Goulart]

 

[markedman5]

 

[Jim Goulart]

 

[Jim Goulart]

 

[Jim Goulart]

VIDEO; Nearly seven-minute interview with EBJ Jr.

[Ro Mueller]

In the AFL All-Star Game, the Brewers' major highlight (Eric Brown Jr.'s homer) was captured above. The NL side had more opportunities, but went 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position, stranding 8 baserunners and falling 6-3 to the AL side.

The AL team hit three home runs in the 4th/5th innings to stretch their lead from 2-1 to 6-2, with Brown's homer temporarily cutting the deficit to 5-2. Box score.

• SS Eric Brown Jr. - 1-for-2, HR, RBI - K'd the other time up; fielded 4 ground ball outs
• 1B Wes Clarke - 0-for-2 - K'd and flied out to right field

I hate to say it, but OF Victor Scott is looking like a heckuva find for the Cardinals - 94 stolen bases in 2023 in High-A/AA, then another 16 already in 22 AFL games. He doubled, walked twice and stole 3 bases for the NL side in this game. Scott's a 2022 fifth round pick - about 2 months younger than Brown Jr. and cost far less to sign. I love that Brown Jr. is shining and confident in his refined stroke, but also detest seeing the Cardinals have an exciting prospect.

[Joseph Zarr]

Surprise wins again, 8-5 over Glendale, fresh off the mini AFL All-Star break. They've improved to 18-10 - unfortunately, no Clarke and no EBJ in this one.

OF Hendry Mendez was back in the line-up batting ninth and scuffling to an 0-for-4 night with 2 K. RHP Justin Yeager saw ninth inning action and scuffled himself: 1 IP, 2 BB, 1 H, 1 K, 2 R. His ERA jumps back up to 6.23. Shake off the rust, gentlemen.

But, hey, Surprise is now guaranteed a spot in the Championship game this weekend. Looking forward to some Brewers tasting some of that success!

[Ro Mueller]

Surprise has already wrapped up a spot in the AFL Championship Saturday, with regular season games remaining on Wednesday and Thursday. Last night, four Brewers played in their 8-4 defeat to Mesa.

• RHP Joseph Hernandez got the start and was roughed up again: 4 IP, 4 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks (9.45 ERA)
• LHP Adam Seminaris was terrific (retired first six batters) until he wasn't: 2.1 IP, 4 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 Ks - took the Loss (5.87 ERA)
• 2B Eric Brown Jr. - 1-for-4, double, run (.287 AVG, .800 OPS)
• 1B Wes Clarke - 0-for-3, walk (.282 AVG, .976 OPS)

[Joseph Zarr]

MLB.com Callis piece on EBJ:

Full article HERE

Quote

“From an offensive standpoint, I’m working on really starting to use my legs a little more,” Brown said. “I think this season, I kind of veered away from that, which kind of hinted toward my lower power numbers. So getting here and being able to work on specific things and then getting to test them out in games was huge. And then on the defensive side, just the consistency of making the routine play 99 to 100 percent of the time.”

 

[Outlander]

I have not really been following the Fall season but nice to see Eric Brown performing well and interacting with the fans.

I doubt Wes Clarke will get a 40 man spot but still glad he was able to build upon his solid 2023 season in Biloxi. Could see him getting an opportunity in the bigs in 2024 at some point.

 

[markedman5]

 

[Jim Goulart]

AFL Brewers photos via Phrake Photography

[Jim Goulart]

Via MLB.com:

Brewers: Jackson Chourio, CF (No. 1/MLB No. 2), Aguilas del Zulia
The second-ranked prospect in baseball continues to rake in his native Venezuela, posting another two-hit performance Thursday with a walk and a run scored for Zulia. Chourio has compiled multihit games in his past four contests and hit safely in each of his last six. He's batting .359 through 10 games.

[Ro Mueller]

Solid win for Surprise in their final regular season game, leading 6-1 before giving up a few runs in the 9th inning to prevail 6-4 over Glendale. We should see our young men in action one more time in Saturday's AFL championship game against Peoria or Scottsdale.

• SS Eric Brown Jr. - 2-for-4, HR, double, RBI 
• DH Wes Clarke -2-for-3, double, RBI
• LHP Justin King - 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 Ks - retired all 3 batters 

[Joseph Zarr]

Scottsdale led 9-0 after the first inning.

Surprise will face Peoria in the Finals tomorrow. 

[Jim Goulart]

 

[markedman5]

 

[markedman5]

Got hairy in the 9th but Justin Yeager came in to get the last out for the ship.

[markedman5]

 

[Ro Mueller]

DH Wes Clarke was hit-by-pitch and scored in the Saguaros 4-run 5th inning, then doubled in a run in the 6th inning as his team opened up a 6-1 lead.

As @markedman5 indicated, things got rough in the 9th inning, with a Rangers pitcher conceding 3 walks, then LHP Justin King not faring much better (walk, ground out, 2-run single). RHP Justin Yeager needed only three pitches to earn the Save in their 6-5 championship victory over Peoria. Summary of top performers.

• DH Wes Clarke - 1-for-3, double, walk, HBP, RBI, run
• SS Eric Brown Jr. - 0-for-4, walk
• LHP Justin King - 0.1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 Ks
• RHP Justin Yeager (Save) - 0.1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K