2026 Arizona Fall League Roster Breakdown: Peoria Javelinas

As Minor League Baseball wraps up, it is time to turn our attention to the Arizona Fall League. My mind is already in Arizona as I look forward to seeing more prospects play and get a chance to see quite a few that I have never seen before.

With the AFL just a few weeks away, it is the time to break down each team’s roster and to give thoughts on players who could see their stock increase in the prospect world.

We will go team by team, alphabetically. Chris got us rocking and rolling with the Glendale squad, and now I am handling the Peoria Javelinas (great team name and great hat). The team is comprised of prospects from the Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, and St. Louis Cardinals

Peoria Javelinas Roster Breakdown

Pitchers

Best Arm

Brandon Clarke is all about big-time stuff, and it’s all coming at you from a low three-quarters armslot, and he gets over seven feet of extension down the mound. Which makes everything play up, and it’s loud stuff. 

His fastball comes in around 100 mph, and has good movement. He releases the ball from a sub-5’5” release height, and when paired with that extension down the mound, you get an uncomfortable look from the left side. He plays around with both a sinker and a four-seam variant. Then he plays around with a sweeper, a cutter, and a slider. There is technically a changeup here as well. 

Brandon Clarke’s stuff has never been an issue; it’s injury-related problems. In 2025, he missed time with a blister injury. Then in 2026, Brandon Clarke missed time recovering from surgery to help with an aneurysm in his left arm. There are also some command issues here; he doesn’t throw enough strikes, and there is a high reliever risk to him because of the injury issues (albeit they aren’t serious injuries like a shoulder, but they do look like they are starting to pile up) and an inability to throw strikes for extended portions of outings.

At the very least, he can be a high-leverage reliever with a sinker that generates 8 inches of IVB and 14 inches of horizontal run, to go along with two-plus breaking balls like the slider and sweeper.

Arm Who Could Increase Stock

Braxton Bragg has missed all of 2026 after undergoing Tommy John surgery around the All-Star break. Seeing him pitch will raise his stock, as he has been out of sight, out of mind for over a year now. He comes in with a strong group of pitchers, and on his team, he probably has the highest likelihood of remaining a starter.

Before the injury last year, Braxton Bragg was awesome. Over 59 innings, he posted a 1.59 ERA with 17 punchouts and 17 walks. Bragg does a few things that make him an interesting fantasy pitcher: he gets whiffs, throws strikes, and induces ground balls. Last year, he posted a 48% ground-ball rate across both High-A and Double-A.

We shall see what he looks like coming back from TJ, but I would expect his command to take a slight dip, which is pretty typical for guys returning, as command is usually the last thing to return. Before he was injured, however, he provided a unique look with a four-seamer whose shape isn’t great but can touch 101 mph, a distinct sinker with good arm-side run, what might be a plus splitter, and a solid-or-better slider and cutter combo. All of this comes at you from a sub-5’5” release height.

If he comes out, holds his velocity in shorter spurts, and makes all of his scheduled appearances, he will fly up the rankings. He will be Rule V eligible this offseason, not that that should really matter for him; he is a slam-dunk add for the Orioles if he isn’t traded to a different team this offseason.

Sleeper Arm

I am not sure how much of a true sleeper Kiefer Lord is, because he has his supporters in the Dynasty Dugout Discord. Kiefer Lord does fall by the wayside because of just how many quality pitching prospects the Orioles have collected over the past two years. But he is a worthwhile sleeper in a deep farm system that doesn’t have the star talent at the top, but has a ton of interesting prospects.

Kiefer Lord will have to be added to the Orioles' 40-man roster this offseason or risk being left exposed to the Rule 5 draft if it happens, so this is an opportunity for him to show what he can do in a big-time offensive environment. The question for him will be what sort of role he will ultimately have, because he has good stuff; the question is just the command, or the lack of command for stretches.

The former Washington Husky comes at you with a mid-90s cut-and-ride fastball that has topped out at 98 mph. He pairs that with a good mid-to-upper-80s slider that he can get whiffs with. Then he has a curveball he can bust out from time to time. There is a changeup here that he can mix in, but he does like to use the fastball and slider as his two primary pitches.

I like him in a less jumbled organization where he has a better chance to remain a starter, because while he has good stuff, it’s not no-doubt closer stuff either, so the fantasy appeal takes a bit of a dip if he is just a reliever.

Hitters

Best Bat

Ike Irish suffered a torn left meniscus on 7/24/2026 and will now be looking to make up for lost time in the Arizona Fall League, where they have him listed as part of their outfield. He is by far the best prospect on the Peoria Javelinas as Chris ranked him as the 67th hand gestures prospect in his most recent prospect list.

Irish has a nice blend of contact and power, nothing crazy, but Ike Irish should clear the threshold needed to be fantasy-relevant in most league formats. He makes a solid amount of contact, has a solid approach, and has good contact quality. Before he tore his meniscus, he hit 16 homers and stole 20 bags (not something I expect to be a big part of his game going forward), while hitting .286/.388/.528 at the High-A level.

Irish should come to the AFL and perform well; a solid AFL showing and proof that he is fully healthy could lead to him rising up rankings. The upside with Irish isn’t very high, but there is a solid floor here. He could easily hit 25 homers and post a good triple slash at the major league level during his peak years. 

Bat Who Could Increase Stock

Last season we watched a slightly old-for-the-level Owen Ayers come in and torch the Arizona Fall League. While he carries none of the defensive value that Ayers did, Carter Graham is very similar in profile, albeit a year younger and coming in with a much better season, so not that similar, outside of being "old" for a prospect (not River Ryan old, but I digress).

Carter Graham will end the season looking like one of the better Reds prospects after he hit .300/.421/.565 with 29 homers across both High-A and Double-A. Carter Graham has significantly raised his prospect stock this past season; one thing he did was swing less and swing with more intent. In 2025, Carter Graham swung at 48.8% of pitches, but in 2026 he has pared that down significantly to 40.6%. That has unlocked a lot for him: he has become more selective, and both his walk rate and quality of contact have gone up.

Carter Graham should come into Arizona and smash a few batted balls, and that, along with the improved swing tendencies, can go a long way. I would not be shocked if he were near the top of the exit velo leaderboards during his time in Arizona. Now is a good time to buy in on him, because this profile would do really well in Great American Ball Park in a year.

Sleeper Bat

Alex McCoy is built like an NFL tight end, and he has some tremendous raw power. This sort of profile has a chance to really explode in the Arizona Fall League, especially if he is able to make some sort of swing-tendency adjustments. 

Alex McCoy is a free-swinger; he looks to go up to the plate and swing and not see a ton of pitches, which does lower the floor on him, and this is mostly a ceiling play. It’s not quite a 30-hitter on the 20-80 scale, but the upside isn’t much higher than that. What makes him a sleeper here is the power. It is easy power. You can watch him in the box, and just see him unleash on a batted ball. He posts serious power and can make any ballpark look small. 

There are some rough parts around the edges with McCoy; he swings a lot, and he doesn’t always make contact. He hasn’t been fully “optimized” either, in the fact that he doesn’t have a lift-and-pull approach. But the former undrafted free agent has only been in pro ball for two years now, and by and large has gotten away with his loud tools. There is a chance the hit tool starts to take a jump, maybe around some other coaches like he will have in the AFL, and we can see him more consistently translate his plus raw power in-game.