Monday evening marks the 2025 return of the Arizona Fall League, and the Atlanta Braves will be sending an interesting group of players this season. The Braves will be sending their representatives to
the Glendale Desert Dogs this season, who will not be playing on opening day but instead opening their season on Tuesday, October 7th. This year all AFL games will be streamed on MLB.com, giving dedicated Braves fans an outlet to cure the October blues.
Roster
The full Glendale Desert Dogs roster can be found here, and among the nine prospects the Braves are sending, three of them ranked amongst the top 16 prospects on the Battery Power midseason top 30 prospects list.
The first of these is Nacho Alvarez Jr., whose age 22 season was a significant step back for him. Alvarez missed most of the season due to injuries, and when he was on the field he showed disappointing production at the major league level. Alvarez was forced into MLB action with the slew of injuries on the big league club, and his lack of time to develop compared to last year showed as he struggled significantly at the plate and only due to his highly-graded third base defense barely landed above replacement level. His power production at Triple-A also took a step back in a very small sample, though his overall numbers were solid, and the Arizona Fall League will present a significant opportunity for him to continue to hone his skill. The loss of so much development time this spring was a setback, but fall will be his chance to turn over a new leaf and hopefully turn things around after two disappointing Major League stints.
The Braves are intent on getting Jhancarlos Lara as many innings as possible this season, a show of just how confident they are in his bullpen future. Lara was tremendous in Gwinnett out of the bullpen and showed off a slider which is already one of the best pitches in baseball when he can control it. His numbers took a significant hit anytime he started, which is how he accrued most of his innings this season, so his overall production doesn’t reflect the progress he made this season. He improved the consistency of his release point and was overwhelming for Triple-A hitters in short stints and the Arizona Fall League will be a proving ground for Lara. He should enter spring training in 2026 with a chance to win a roster spot in Atlanta, and this month and a half will be the next step in that process.
Luke Sinnard got his first professional action this season, and while he was limited to only 72 1/3 regular season innings, his performance in that time was eye-opening and could have him on the fast track to the major leagues. Sinnard was overwhelming in Single-A, prompting a quick move to High-A, and while his command after this was inconsistent he showed the ability to miss bats at a high rate with four pitches. Sinnard could be looking at a major league starting role within the next two seasons, and has a chance now in Arizona to build up his stamina further and refine the command of his changeup to help him handle higher level hitters. His arsenal and command are built for a middle-rotation sort of role, and this nod indicates a high level of confidence in his health after his return from Tommy John surgery.
The Braves brought in Trent Buchanan as an undrafted free agent last winter, and he had a solid professional debut in the lower levels of the minor leagues. Buchanan is a righty who sits 92-96 on his fastball with a sweeper and a rarely-used splitter, and the AFL will be a chance to see him tested against more talented hitters than what he faced in most of 2025. Patrick Clohisy was a second half breakout player in the Braves system, and though there have been a number of additions he is still a candidate for the back end of the top 30. Clohisy struggled to produce power early in the season despite terrific contact and walk rates, but adjustments to get him lifting the ball on his pull side have paid major dividends. His power numbers in Double-A weren’t great but they were passable given his contact and defensive skills, and Clohisy is trending towards being a big league bench outfielder. He stole 79 bases across two levels in 2025, and though he doesn’t make enough impact to be a starter he has the defensive versatility and contact ability to carve out a big league role. The Braves acquired Jim Jarvis at the trade deadline for Rafael Montero, and Jarvis played well in 24 games in the system though he did end the season on the injured list. Jarvis is a low impact middle infielder with a contact-oriented profile, and has a good enough glove to be a depth piece as a shortstop. The Braves acquired Jacob Kroeger as a senior sign in 2024, and he had an interesting start to the season before falling off after a promotion to High-A. Kroeger’s low velocity fastball was not enough to beat hitters even at the High-A level, and though his fastball, slider, and changeup all have good shape and he is able to command those pitches he doesn’t have the power to get hitters out consistently. LJ McDonough has put together two solid seasons for the Braves as an undrafted reliever, though his command has yet to progress to the level for him to be a real prospect. McDonough has a jerky low-three quarters delivery that aids in his deception, though it also makes it difficult for him to repeat his mechanics and consistently throw strikes. Regardless of this limitation McDonough has consistently produced high swing-and-miss rates with a fastball that sits 94-96 and a tight 83-88 mph slider. He has the stuff to potentially fit as a low leverage major league reliever, though he needs to continue to get reps to try to improve his consistency. Cory Wall was a mainstay at the lower levels of the Braves system for the first two years of his professional career, but despite solid performances his progression was slow and he didn’t break into Double-A until the end of 2025. Wall typically sits around 92-93 mph on his fastballs and his low-80’s slider is his best pitch, and he is able to throw all of his pitches for strikes.
Schedule
Glendale’s season opens up on October 7th and the regular season will run until November 12th. Every game will be streamed on the Arizona Fall League website, and you should be able to find the links to those streams here about an hour before the games begin. The annual Fall Stars showcase game will be on Sunday, November 9th featuring the “best” of the league, though typically those rosters are pre-determined before the season starts and my expectation would be Jhancarlos Lara and maybe Nacho Alvarez as the Braves representatives. That game will also be shown on MLB Network. This season also features a change to the playoff system, with all six teams getting spots in the playoffs that run from November 13th through the 15th. The top two seeds receive a bye, and the championship game will also be shown on MLB Network.
Battery Power will be bringing coverage of each of the major events of the Arizona Fall League season, and in addition there will be bi-weekly recaps of the on-field action. Those will post on Friday mornings and Monday mornings, and we hope to see you all in the comment section and following along with the on field action.
