2026 Arizona Fall League Roster Breakdown: Scottsdale Scorpions

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 are working our way through the AFL team previews, with this one being the AFL Preview for the Scottsdale Scorpions. The team is comprised of prospects from the Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, San Francisco Giants, Tampa Bay Rays, and Detroit Tigers.

Scottsdale Scorpions Roster Breakdown

Pitchers

Best Arm

Slim pickings for the best pitcher on this Scottsdale team, but Miguel Mendez is an interesting arm, to say the least. I think he may trend toward being a reliever, but when you can come in with a fastball that has gone over 100 mph and has a really good slider, there is a solid floor as a leverage arm here.

Miguel Mendez was part of the return the Giants received for Robbie Ray, and he spent a large part of the season rehabbing a shoulder injury that limited him to 49 innings across two organizations and four different affiliates.

Mendez’s strong fastball and slider give him a high floor as a leverage reliever, but if the Giants are able to coax a third viable pitch out of him, that would go a long way. He would then need a few other pitches to try and become more platoon neutral. We may very well see Mendez next year with the Giants, as he is on the 40-man roster and the Giants will presumably not want to waste two of his option years.

In the desert, look for him to utilize that plus fastball and plus slider combo to get whiffs. If the changeup shows well or we see a third pitch, like a different fastball or even a cutter, then his stock should take a decent jump. One of the nice things is that we will be able to see some data because these ballparks are in locations with publicly available Statcast data.

Arm Who Could Increase Stock

Randy Rodriguez could see his fantasy stock go up the most, because he himself is in an interesting spot. He is an established reliever who needs to show that his stuff is back following Tommy John surgery in August of 2025. 

Randy Rodriguez might get some redraft people’s eyes on the AFL because this might be a slight buying opportunity for what could be a nasty back-end of the bullpen guy who might walk into being the Giants' closer next year. If we see the fastball back in the upper 90’s with about 18 inches of IVB and 5 inches of horizontal break, all from a 5’6” release height, he was able to generate a -4 degree vertical attack angle on the fastball when he was healthy. Oh, and he pairs that with a nasty slider that gets about 10 inches of glove-side movement along with 2 inches of induced vertical break.

Rodriguez just needs to come in, blow away some minor league hitters, show the slider is still strong, and his stock will take a jump. He isn’t technically a prospect, but in a cluster of relievers on this squad, sometimes you gotta go with the "reliever in the hand is worth two relievers in the bush", or however that expression goes.

Sleeper Arm

Railin Perez was a minor league Rule V pick that the Astros acquired from the Red Sox, and he may utilize his time in the Arizona Fall League to springboard his way into potentially being added to the 40-man roster for the Astros, or to show that he could be kept as a major league piece if selected in the Rule V draft.

Railin Perez presents an uncomfortable look for hitters: he’s a sidearm righty who almost slingshots the ball in there. He features a sinker and a slider, showing a genuine feel for spin. However, he has little idea where the ball is going, which holds him back from being viewed as a leverage reliever. The command does leave a lot to be desired, however, and that has been what’s held him back. 

This sort of reliever has value in the deepest of deep leagues, as he presents an uncomfortable matchup against both right-handed and left-handed hitters. He induces a solid amount of ground balls, so in deep save/hold leagues, there is some upside here.

Hitters

Best Bat

Zyhir Hope is one of the better prospects in baseball. He is now in his third organization after being traded to the Detroit Tigers as part of the return for Tarik Skubal.

Hope is an elite power hitter who taps into his sizable game power, routinely posting max EVs north of 113. He consistently squares up batted balls, projects to have more than enough hit tool to tap into his power, and could also be a solid stolen-base option given his speed. There is some swing-and-miss and chase in his game, but fantasy managers can stomach that if he continues to provide high-quality contact.

I would not be shocked to see Hope perform exceptionally well in the AFL, which could serve as a springboard to a call-up with the Tigers in 2027. The one thing working against him is that he won’t face his own team's pitchers in games. Look for Hope to post loud EVs and hit the ball far, as the ball tends to fly in Arizona.

Bat Who Could Increase Stock

This was really a toss-up between Nathan Flewelling and Bryce Rainer, and I am going to go with Nathan Flewelling. Twenty-one homers from a catching prospect, even with the state of the minor league run environment, is rather impressive.

Flewelling will be coming down to the desert and presumably be the primary catcher for the Scottsdale squad. Getting a chance to see him behind the dish will be good, especially because he will be catching what is a new crop of pitchers for him. If he handles the staff well, that is a positive.

At the plate, Flewelling is someone with an all-fields approach who shows a good feel for putting the ball in the air. There is no speed in the profile, but you don’t really ever expect much speed from your catcher. There is some swing-and-miss here, and he is a better prospect in OBP formats because he does have a good approach. The big thing for him this past season was that he bumped up his swing rate. He posted a 37.2% swing rate last year, and this year he bumped that up to 45.5%; the encouraging thing with that is we didn’t see the strikeout rate jump up with the swing tendency jump.

Given that he is probably projecting out as a league-average defensive catcher (which carries an immense amount of real-life value) and might be an above-average offensive performer, we could be talking about a potential riser if he comes out, shows off his all-fields approach, and hits a few homers.

Sleeper Bat

It is easy to write off Nehomar Ochoa Jr. after his 2025 season; he had just over 100 plate appearances, hit one homer, and struck out just shy of a third of the time. But before the season, he was involved in a freak accident that could have killed him, as a hook from a truck struck him in the face. He had lingering side effects, which explains why his 2025 season was so poor.

Ochoa Jr. bounced back in a big way in 2026 and looks like one of the rare bright spots in the Astros' minor league system. He hit 11 homers, stole 29 bags, and hit .287/.349/.500 across both Single-A and High-A. He did strike out just south of 30% of the time this past year, which brings up some hit-tool concerns. However, one thing he does well is pull-batted balls, with a 46% pull rate.

The encouraging thing is that he gets the ball in the air a good bit, but there is a higher ground-ball rate than you would want, which can happen with pull-heavy hitters. Usually, with this sort of profile, you want about 33–35% ground balls, so a 39% rate is a bit worrisome. However, that is a swing-plane issue more than anything, which presumably the Astros can fix.

He can get a touch aggressive in the box, but he is a good athlete who looks the part of a future corner outfielder. It is good to see Ochoa Jr. back, because I remember when he was drafted; my buddy with the Astros at the time said he was a good one to keep an eye on.