AZ Fall League - Rosters, Schedule, Streaming, etc.

[harrydalton]

If he's willing I'd give Contreras some looks at 3B in early spring training. See if he has potential there for the future. The C to 3B transition has been successfully done before. Quero will hopefully come back from shoulder surgery but probably won't be ready for full time MLB catching until 2026. If healthy he's too good not to be a full-time catcher for the Brewers. This could extend Contreras' career in the long run.

 

[Joseph Zarr]

RHP Coleman Crow got the starting nod tonight vs the Mesa Solar Sox. He did not disappoint.

2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K, 0 R, 1 Balk - 34 total pitches. 23 strikes.

Peoria leads 5-1 in the bottom of the 4th frame. The only field player taking the diamond tonight is 2B Juan Baez. He is currently 0-for-1 with 1 BB and 1 SB.

[Joseph Zarr]

Merkel on for his first full inning after getting the last out of a five-run 5th for the Solar Sox. He nearly gives up an absolutely rocked long ball down the RF line on a hanging off-speed pitch. He proceeds to throw two more off-speed and the second is rocked over the RF wall for the tying run via homer. Absolute hanger. 7-7 game. This was Merkel's first run. 

[Joseph Zarr]

AND, he just gave up his second long ball. An oppo jack over the LF wall to a lefty on a high upper zone heater. Another rocket. Javelinas trail for the first time tonight 8-7. 

[Joseph Zarr]

Going back to look at Crow's 2.0 innings of work. Will report back.

[Joseph Zarr]

Crow: Impressive curve ball early. Baez makes a really nifty charging scoop and fling play to 1B for the bang-bang first out. Has some movement on the heater - not a level flat pitch. Definitely has some ride and rise and the ability to give the heat some late tailing movement. He's hitting 90-93 mph - where he was sitting before TJ. This is HUGE for him. The curve is nasty. Slider appears to be a sneaky get it by you pitch. Gave up a single to LF. Got a weak pop up to Baez at 2B and a gift from the infield ump on a blown dropped DP ball by the Javelinas' SS. Both K's came in the second frame. He was using the change-up, slider, curve, and heater (which appeared to have a couple different shapes depending upon what he was looking to do). Very impressive second outing for the 23-year-old. We have to be pleased with this!

 

[Joseph Zarr]

Having taken the 7-1 lead in the top of the sixth, a Baez throwing error (his first of the young AFL season) was key in getting the mini rally going for the Sox. Bases were juiced with one down. Could have been an inning ending DP - classic routine weak grounder right to him. Plenty of time with a slow runner. He sailed the throw to 2B low and into the left field grass. Rough play. That's likely an inning ending play right there. Instead? Five runs proceeded to cross from this point. 

AND, the Javelinas ultimately lost 8-7.

[Jim Goulart]

We learn the nature and the how of Juan Baez’ injury absence during part of 2024 in this Sam Dykstra article. Yet another right shoulder pickoff attempt episode. 

But was Dykstra fully accurate in that description? Wait, let’s go back to the Wednesday May 29th game which saw Baez exit in the 3rd inning, the last time he saw the field until July 10th.

https://www.milb.com/gameday/shorebirds-vs-mudcats/2024/05/29/754317/final/summary/all

Baez leaves while on defense at third base after a double steal was executed by Delmarva, men safe at 3rd and 2nd. And because this was a Wednesday game with @Joseph Zarr on Link Report duty, we get details on the play in the Carolina portion of the Link Report:

Trust our archives for news such as this, be sure to read Joseph’s report.

[markedman5]

 

[markedman5]

 

[Ro Mueller]

I think our 2025 AA lineup may be overmatched - young (Lara, Pratt, O’Rae, Adams, Areinamo) or struggling (Wilken, EBJ, Miller, Warren, Murray, Martin, A. Hall, E. Garcia, Wood).

But the High-A roster looks very promising: Burke, Yophery, Baez, Guilarte, Hedbert, Y. Garcia, T. Hall, D. Garcia (if re-signed), Vargas, Castillo, Nicasia, Briceno, Fernandez, Diaz.

Of course this assumes Boeve goes to AAA.

[Joseph Zarr]

Javelinas fall to 2-7 losing 11-6 to Scottsdale.

The 2B Juan Baez breakout party continues - 3-for-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 HR, 1 K. Hello small sample alert BUT  Baez leads the entire AFL in BA with 20 AB or more through 9 games - 0.524 BA - while also sitting 2nd in OPS at 1.440. 

The 'What happened to 3B Brock Wilken?' Woe Fest continues: 0-for-5, 1 K. How bad is it for Wilken? It's bad. In the midst of a mini comeback rally in the 9th frame - 11-6 with runners on the corners and nobody out - Wilken weakly popped out to 1B foul territory on the very first pitch. <Very Sad Face>. The struggle has been mighty for essentially two straight complete months.

CF Luis Lara batted ninth yet again and put forth a 0-for-3, 1 R, 1 HBP, 1 K line while tallying an OF assist at 3B.

RHP Will Childers pitched a scoreless 1/3 IP while grabbing the last out of the Scottsdale ninth inducing a very weak grounder to the mound.

[Joseph Zarr]

The Javelinas fell again. The early season has been quite unkind - 14-4 to the Salt River Rafters. The Javelinas sit at 2-8.

The lone Brewer to make any appearance was RF Luis Lara. Batting 8th, he put forth a 1-for-4 line. The Javelinas will look to bounce back and end their current losing streak tomorrow evening vs Mesa.

[Joseph Zarr]

RHP Ryan Birchard. Walk Artist. He gets the starting nod for Peoria - who actually managed to end their losing streak (woot! woot!) - and he walks 5 men in 2 1/3 IP. His perplexing 2024 carries onward. It wasn't all bad. 2 1/3 IP, 2 H, 5 BB, 5 K, 1 WP, and 2 ER. 63 pitches in 2 1/3 IP is...ummm...yeah. 34 strikes. The struggle is real in his first full professional season. He managed to minimize damage. That's what we'll take away. 

As mentioned, the Javelinas won! 5-4 over Mesa. They improve to 3-8 on their young AFL season.

Many a Brewer played a part in this one:

• 3B Brock Wilken: After a two game absence he returned to the third spot in the batting order. He went hitless yet again in an 0-for-3, 1 BB, and 1 K evening. What's more? He was picked off first base after the walk. We can highlight the 'Brockets' all we want. The truth is: Wilken has not played quality baseball of any kind since the anomalous month of July. The struggle is very very real. Sure, it's a small sample size currently in the AFL but Wilken is batting 0.121 with a 0.519 OPS, regardless. This after batting 0.123 with a 0.441 OPS in 81 August AB and then following up with a 0.100 BA and 0.550 OPS in 40 September Shuckers AB's in a post-season push. Have I mentioned: the struggle is extremely palpably real?
• 2B Juan Baez was back in the line-up after a single game's rest and he went 1-for-3 with 1 R and 1 K batting sixth. The young man continues to make an early name for himself by showing up in nearly every box score and every bit of game action. 
• RF Luis Lara brought his power stroke hitting his first long ball of the AFL season in the bottom of the fourth frame. A 98 mph poke that went 388 feet over the left CF wall. Noice! 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 HR. 
• RHP Will Childers came aboard after Birchard's final walk in the third frame. He inherited a runner. He walked one of his own. K'd the next batter. Then ended the inning via a force out. Solid work overall in his 1 2/3 IP of hitless, scoreless, 2 BB, and 3 K work. 
• Kudos to LHP Mark Manfredi who inherited RHP Travis Kuhn's bases loaded mess. Kuhn came aboard protecting a 4-2 lead in the seventh and final inning and proceeded to struggle through all sorts of control issues - 2 HBP and 3 BB scored two tying runs around his 2 K performance. Manfredi came in after the game had tied with the bases still dripping. He K'd his only batter on five pitches. He picked up the 'W' - his first of the AFL - while lowering his ERA to a ripe 19.29. Hey, he had a blow out in his most recent outing. Take it easy.

Peoria will not play again until Tuesday October 22nd. They will face the (7-4) Glendale Desert Dogs who have already taken three early contests versus the Javelinas. Can Peoria turn the tide?

[wiguy94]

10/19 AFL update (apologize in advance for the wall of text)

Brock Wilken went 0-3 with a BB, SO and was picked off

90 EV, -12 LA reached on an error
103 EV, 32 LA flyout

Juan Baez went 1-3 with a R and SO

75.5 EV, 15 LA single
96 EV, -3 LA groundout

Luis Lara went 1-3 HR, RBI, R and SO

98 EV, 24 LA home run
88 EV, 8 LA groundout

Ryan Birchard went 2.1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 5 SO with a wild pitch. 63 pitches, 34 strikes, 48% whiff rate, 32% CSW, 51% zone rate.

26 FB - 93.9mph, 2215rpm, 20 IVB, 7 HM, 5 whiffs, 3 called strikes, 38% whiff rate, 31% CSW
19 SL - 82.5mph, 2587rpm, 1.7 IVB, 16.7 HM, 3 whiffs, 2 called strikes, 50% whiff rate, 26% CSW
11 Cutter - 87.8mph, 2404rpm, 6.6 IVB, 4.5 HM, 3 whiffs, 2 called strikes, 50% whiff rate, 45% CSW
7 Curveball - 78.8mph, 2602rpm, -15.9 IVB, 7.3 HM, 2 whiffs, 0 CS, 100% whiff rate, 32% CSW

Will Childers went 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO. 30 pitches, 16 strikes, 67% whiff rate, 40% CSW, 37% zone rate.

16 FB - 95.0mph, 2391rpm, 17.8 IVB, 4.9 HM, 5 whiffs, 3 called strikes, 100% whiff rate, 50% CSW
8 Cutter - 87.1mph, 2477rpm, 0.9 IVB, 3.5 HM, 3 whiffs, 0 called strikes, 38% whiff rate, 38% CSW
6 SL - 84.1mph, 2512rpm, -7.5 IVB, 3.8 HM, 0 whiffs, 1 called strike, 0 whiff rate, 17% CSW

Mark Manfredi went 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO. 5 pitches, 3 strikes, 60% CSW, 80% zone rate

4 Sinker - 92.9mph, 2422rpm, 16.5 IVB, 10.5 HM, 0 whiffs, 3 called strikes, 75% CSW
1 SL - 85.8mph, 2350rpm, 4 IVB, 1 HM, 0 whiffs, 0 called strikes, 0 CSW

[Jim Goulart]

 

[nate82]

The one thing I worry about with Luis Lara is that he is so small. 

[Matt Breen]

Keith Law comment from the Athletic:

"I got a Wilken homer in the first at-bat I saw, but after that, he struggled to hit anything, good fastballs and any sort of offspeed stuff. I liked Wilken when I saw him at Wake Forest, taking him as a low- to medium-average slugger with legit power, but this wasn’t a good look, with one hard-hit ball on a slider and a lot of trouble squaring anything else up."

He notes that Wilken was hitting .121/.216/.303 through the first two weeks.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5860771/2024/10/21/arizona-fall-league-scouting-ethan-salas-termarr-johnson/ (subscription required)

[sveumrules]

12 hours ago, nate82 said:

The one thing I worry about with Luis Lara is that he is so small. 

Think right now the hope would be he becomes something like Frelick at the plate with Perkins defense? That’d be a fine 3rd starting OF or a high end 4th OF kind of outcome.

Problem is Frelick needs really good plate discipline (his 0.58 BB/K ranks 37th of 271 players min. 500 PA the last two years) and base running (+4.4 BsR | 42nd) to overcome his complete lack of power (.084 ISO | 268th).

Lara hasn’t quite displayed either of those traits to the same levels Sal did in the minors…

Lara MiLB
9.5 BB% | 14.9 K%
0.64 BB/K
82 SB / 31 CS

Frelick MiLB
10.3 BB% | 11.8 K%
0.88 BB/K
44 SB / 14 CS 

Obviously the big difference is Sal was an older player farther up the ladder and Luis is still a teenager for another month so he has time on his side, but for now it looks like his offense will come down to how his hit tool shakes out which is a lot riskier without the plate discipline buttressing things. 

[wiguy94]

51 minutes ago, sveumrules said:

Think right now the hope would be he becomes something like Frelick at the plate with Perkins defense? That’d be a fine 3rd starting OF or a high end 4th OF kind of outcome.

Problem is Frelick needs really good plate discipline (his 0.58 BB/K ranks 37th of 271 players min. 500 PA the last two years) and base running (+4.4 BsR | 42nd) to overcome his complete lack of power (.084 ISO | 268th).

Lara hasn’t quite displayed either of those traits to the same levels Sal did in the minors…

Lara MiLB
9.5 BB% | 14.9 K%
0.64 BB/K
82 SB / 31 CS

Frelick MiLB
10.3 BB% | 11.8 K%
0.88 BB/K
44 SB / 14 CS 

Obviously the big difference is Sal was an older player farther up the ladder and Luis is still a teenager for another month so he has time on his side, but for now it looks like his offense will come down to how his hit tool shakes out which is a lot riskier without the plate discipline buttressing things. 

Typically plate discipline improves with age so in that sense Lara should be alright. I mean Frelick hadn't even played a professional game at Lara's age and Lara just spent an entire season at A+

[Joseph Zarr]

56 minutes ago, Matt Breen said:

Keith Law comment from the Athletic:

"I got a Wilken homer in the first at-bat I saw, but after that, he struggled to hit anything, good fastballs and any sort of offspeed stuff. I liked Wilken when I saw him at Wake Forest, taking him as a low- to medium-average slugger with legit power, but this wasn’t a good look, with one hard-hit ball on a slider and a lot of trouble squaring anything else up."

He notes that Wilken was hitting .121/.216/.303 through the first two weeks.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5860771/2024/10/21/arizona-fall-league-scouting-ethan-salas-termarr-johnson/ (subscription required)

He's not wrong. His 2024 season, as a general whole (outside of a single month), has been a general disaster at the dish. It truly is hard to put into words how much of a struggle Wilken and EBJ had in Biloxi in 2024. EBJ's swing changed three times from what I saw - finishing his season still struggling mightily but reducing his pre-swing set up and motion to a very traditional stance (thank the baseball gods). With Wilken, I continue to go back to the hit to the face. Recent interview comments very clearly indicated it is still very much a mental block for him in the batter's box. Regardless, a consistent Wilken theme I experienced watching the vast majority of the Shuckers tilts: over aggressive and poor swing choices, not seeing the ball well and not doing enough damage on the hittable pitches.

[Joseph Zarr]

Not so shocking news:

Glendale beat Peoria last night, yet again, 8-1. I do believe, off the top of my noggin that's four straight losses to Glendale? The Javelinas fall to 3-9.

3B Brock Wilken was the sole field player in the lineup. He batted clean-up going 1-for-4 with 1 RBI and 3 K.

RHP Coleman Crow got roughed up some in just his third outing going 2 1/3 IP allowing 6 H, 4 ER while striking out three. He did manage to throw 33 of 43 total pitches for strikes.

[Joseph Zarr]

Wilken is out of the line-up but El Juan Baez and Luis Lara are showcasing just fine for the Crew. Baez hit a 2-run jack to get the Javelinas on the board in the 4th - his second long ball in the AFL - and he then git the go-ahead single poke in a five-run 8th. A 3-RBI afternoon so far. Lara, playing RF again, is 1-for-3 with 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K and 2 SB. The Javelinas cling to a 9-5 lead in the bottom of the 8th as their roller coaster pitching staff tries to escape a two out bases loaded jam. 

[Joseph Zarr]

Baez just took his 2nd free pass of his day while tallying his fourth RBI in the process. What a phenomenal game and what a phenomenal early season performance for the young man! 10-5 Javelinas

[Joseph Zarr]

Javelinas hung on 11-10. Always an adventure with their pitching staff. They move to 4-9 on their season.

Speaking of pitching, RHP Nick Merkel saw action early hurling 2 1/3 IP of 3 H, 1 BB, 2 K, 2 ER, 1 HR ball. 38 pitches thrown with 24 strikes. Merkel has now given up three long balls in his past two outings. It goes without saying this is a trend he is going to want to reverse very soon.