The Arizona Fall League is already in its fifth week, and the White Sox have nine prospects in action, headlined by OF Braden Montgomery (White Sox No. 1/MLB No. 35) and LHP Hagen Smith (No. 5/No. 88). Rounding out the crew: IF Sam Antonacci (No. 11), RHP Tyler Davis, IF Ryan Galanie, RHP Carson Jacobs, OF Caden Connor, RHP Connor McCullough, and RHP Jarold Rosado.
The White Sox hopefuls are playing for the Glendale Desert Dogs, sharing the dugout with players from the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles
Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, and Toronto Blue Jays.
With just three games left on the schedule before the AFL playoffs, the Dogs finally found their groove. They went 4-0 this week with a lot of help from Chicago’s prospects.
Tuesday, November 4, 2025: Desert Dogs 7, Peoria Javelinas 0
Chicago’s bats produced six of the 11 hits and were responsible for five of the team’s seven tallies. Montgomery (2-for-5, 2 2B, 2 RBIs), Antonacci (3-for-4, BB, RBI), Connor (1-for-4, RBI, BB), and Galanie (0-for-5, RBI) all contributed to the win. Montgomery has been hitting the cover off the ball, and his 1.124 OPS is screaming for a ticket to Chicago in 2026.
I feel like each week I’m on repeat here when talking about Smith. The southpaw shoved again on the mound with two perfect innings and four Ks. He threw 23 pitches, 16 for strikes. His outstanding performance over the past month is noteworthy because the AFL is widely recognized as a hitter’s playground. Granted, he’s only thrown three innings at the most per outing, but the outcome is encouraging to say the least.
Rosado, Jacobs, and Davis kept the zeros coming, stringing together four more scoreless innings. Rosado pitched himself out of a jam after he walked the bases loaded with nobody out in the third. He induced a force out followed by a double play. Only Davis gave up a hit.
Wednesday, November 5, 2025: Desert Dogs 15, Solar Sox 9
This one was a slugfest, with only Antonacci (0-for-2, RBI, BB) in on the fun. Despite putting up a goose egg, he literally took one for the team after getting drilled with the bases loaded.
Thursday, November 6, 2025: Desert Dogs 11, Peoria Javelinas 0 (7 innings)
Connor sprayed three singles (3-for-4, RBI) and swiped his eighth bag of the fall. Montgomery, meanwhile, couldn’t get anything going at the plate (0-for-3, 3 Ks), but he did manage to score a run on a walk.
Friday, November 7, 2025: Desert Dogs 9, Scottsdale Scorpions 3
Montgomery (1-for-3, 2B, RBI, 2 BB) and Antonacci (3-for-5, RBI, HR) showed exactly why they are members of the AFL Fall Stars team. Antonacci smashed his third dinger, raising his OPS to an impressive 1.074.
Anxious to see Montgomery in right field at Guaranteed Rate? It looks like it’s coming, and fast. The top prospect has jumped every hurdle this year, broken foot and all. Nothing seems to be slowing this kid down.
Galanie’s bat stayed cold (0-for-2), but he did manage to walk three times. Take your victories where you can get them.
Davis closed out the contest, tossing a hitless and scoreless frame, although he did allow a lone baserunner on a walk.
Saturday, November 8, 2025: AFL Home Run Derby
Galanie was an interesting pick. However, he did combine to knock 25 homers over the past two seasons. So the power is definitely there, but he has yet to swat a single one so far in regular fall play.
In the Derby, he smacked just three dingers and bowed out in the first round, getting outslugged by Parks Harber of the San Francisco Giants, who launched six four-baggers.
Sunday, November 9, 2025: AL Fall Stars 5, NL Fall Stars 4
The Fall Stars players were chosen by major league farm directors, AFL staff, and writers. That group selected Smith and Antonacci, while Montgomery had to win the Fall Stars Final 2 Vote to sneak in. I can only guess that Montgomery didn’t make the original cut because he had a late start to his AFL stint, due to recovering from the foot fracture. So far, his fall numbers have been incredible.
The switch-hitting Montgomery patrolled center field and slotted in as the two-hole hitter. Antonacci, who can play any infield position, manned second and batted seventh. On the mound, Smith tossed the second frame.
Antonacci (0-for-2, 2 RBI, BB) played the hero, lifting the game-winning fly ball in the bottom of the ninth. He also drove in a run in the fifth, working a bases-loaded walk.
While Montgomery (0-for-1, 2 BB) didn’t get a hit, the one ball he squared up left the bat at 98.7 mph for a flyout.
Smith danced around a bit of traffic as he surrendered a walk and a base hit to lead off the second. After the nerves settled, he induced a fielder’s choice and got back-to-back strikeouts, fanning both batters on his nasty signature slider.
