Morning A’s fans!
While most of the baseball world has rightfully been focused on the playoffs, there has been other baseball being played involving major league players and prospects over in the Arizona
Fall League. The AFL, founded back in 1992, offers a chance for players to continue playing baseball after the regular season is over. It’s open to major leaguers, but for the most part its players are mostly made up of journeymen and prospects looking to refine their craft in anticipation of a call up next season. Specifically, a player must be invited to play, not assigned by the organization. The players on the roster want to be here.
The league is made up of six teams, which all have designated MLB teams that players must play for. For the A’s, they’re playing for the Mesa Solar Sox, sharing them with the Chicago Cubs, Miami Marlins, New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays. And each team gets seven players making up a 35-man roster. Some recent AFL players include Hogan Harris, JJ Bleday, Denzel Clarke,
This fall the Athletics have a few notable names taking part in the AFL looking to continue improving. Of all the players, only infielder Max Muncy has made his MLB debut. After making the Opening Day roster Muncy only slashed .214/.259/.379, though he did run into nine long balls. The former 1st-rounder is still only 23 and has made his debut. Muncy is exactly the kind of player that can really use offseason baseball after making a huge jump to the big leagues and dealing with that adjustment plus an injury. So far Muncy has gone 5-for-18 with a double and home run and a 3/5 BB/K ratio.
The other notable position players for the A’s playing in the AFL are infield prospects Tommy White and Joshua Kuroda-Grauer. White, the club’s 2nd-round draft pick a couple seasons ago, spent his first full professional season split between High-A and Double-A and looked like the promising bat he was projected to be. He’s so far gone 4-for-17 with four RBI’s and a 1/1 BB/K ratio as he prepares for his first full year in Double-A. Kuroda-Grauer, the next draft pick by the A’s in the same draft after White, has struggled so far going just 2-for-14 and a stolen base but hit well in his first taste of Double-A last year. With Leo De Vries and Jacob Wilson ahead of him on the depth chart there’s no reason to rush the 22-year-old.
And rounding out the position players, outfielder Ryan Lasko, a former 2nd-rounder in his own right that made it to Triple-A at the end of last season, has had quite the start to his fall. In just three games Lasko has gone 5-for-12, though with a couple of blemishes of caught stealing thrown in there. The club’s #17 prospect might not be far from the big leagues but he’s got a ton of competition ahead of him on the depth chart. Perhaps that’s why he elected to keep playing after the minor league season ended. We love the drive.
As for the pitchers, there’s much less name power amongst this group. Left-hander Will Johnson ranks as the team’s 18th-best prospect but profiles as more left-handed relief depth at this point; he’s allowed two runs in two innings of work so far this fall. Right-hander Corey Avant, a former 9th-rounder, has struggled to get his pro career going to this point but has allowed just one run in three innings with seven strikeouts compared to two walks. Fellow righty Nathan Dettmer has been in pro ball for three years but has yet to see Double-A; he allowed four runs on five hits, two walks and a HBP in less than three innings of work in one appearance so far. 2022 15th-rounder Mark Adamiak has made just two appearances and allowed one run but Blaze Pontes, drafted just one round later, has three appearances and has yet to allow a hit. Any chance the A’s strike gold on one of these arms?
It is just the AFL after all though. It’s important not to read too deeply into stats during this mini season that lasts all of roughly one month. Still, during the fall and winter months of no baseball, we’ll take anything.
Here’s how some A’s players did today: surprise, not well…
Have a safe and fun weekend everyone!
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MLB News and Interest:
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- Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio exits Game 3 with leg injury
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- Toronto removes outfielder Anthony Santander from ALCS roster, ending his season
- Latest on Tigers, Tarik Skubal
- Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge avoids elbow surgery; Rodon undergoes bone spur surgery
- Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe to undergo shoulder surgery, expected to miss start of ‘26
- Orioles reportedly interested in Albert Pujols for managerial opening
- Phillies brass hopes Harper can be ‘elite’ again
- Today in baseball history
Best of X:
Would be a massive loss for the Brewers if their young outfielder has to miss time at the start of next year:
Heads up for any Savannah Banana fans out there!
Very thought provoking…