While we are purportedly in the middle of a postseason race for the Cubs, let’s take a moment to check out the Arizona Fall League schedule for this year, announced by Major League Baseball Thursday.
(Since you’ll ask, no, I don’t know when the 2026 Spring Training and regular season schedules will be released. Soon, I’d think.)
Anyway, here are the AFL details. Rosters should be out by the end of the month. Cubs prospects will play for the Mesa Solar Sox, whose home games are played at the Cubs Spring
Training facility, Sloan Park.
Note: All times listed below are Arizona local time, which is two hours behind Chicago time through Saturday, Nov. 1 and one hour behind Chicago time after that.
The 2025 AFL season will begin under the lights at Scottsdale Stadium on Monday, Oct. 6, when the Peoria Javelinas visit the Scottsdale Scorpions at 6:30 p.m. On Tuesday, Oct. 7, the Glendale Desert Dogs will visit the Salt River Rafters and the Surprise Saguaros will visit the Mesa Solar Sox to open their respective campaigns.
The AFL will return to Tucson for a tripleheader on Saturday, Oct. 11, with all six teams playing at Kino Sports Complex. The following week, on Saturday, Oct. 18, the league will return to the West Valley area for a tripleheader at Goodyear Ballpark.
The AFL Home Run Derby will take place Saturday, Nov. 8, at 6:30 p.m. at Sloan Park in Mesa. The annual AFL Fall Stars Game will take place Sunday, Nov. 9, at 6:00 p.m., and will be carried live on MLB Network.
The 2025 AFL season will feature the implementation of a new playoff format, which will see all six teams reach the postseason, with the two clubs with the best records receiving a first-round bye. The quarterfinal round will take place Thursday, Nov. 13, at Scottsdale Stadium, and will see the team with the third-best record facing the team with the sixth-best record at 1:30 p.m. The teams with the fourth- and fifth-best records will square off at 6:30 p.m. with the winners advancing to the semifinals the following day.
On Friday, Nov. 14, at Salt River Fields, the team with the second-best record will play the winner of the #3/#6 game at 1:30 p.m., and the top seeded club will play the winner of the #4/#5 game at 6:30 p.m.
The 2025 AFL Championship Game will be held Saturday, Nov. 15 at 6:00 p.m. at Salt River Fields and will be carried live on MLB Network, MLB.com and the MLB App.
AFL games are fun to attend. There are generally a few hundred people at most games and seating is all general admission. Ticket information for AFL games is here. It’s inexpensive — tickets are $14, or $12 for folks over 60 or teens ages 11-17. Admission for kids 10 and under is free when attending with an adult. I usually try to go to some AFL games after the MLB season is over — which, hopefully for the Cubs, won’t be until late October, though they’d better start winning again to have a chance at that.
Here’s the full AFL schedule in calendar format. (For a larger version click here.)
