Arizona Fall League Recap: 10/14/2026

Salt River Rafters (Beck)

Teo Banks, OF, Washington Nationals (3-5, HR, R, 2 RBI)

Banks was a 12th rounder in 2021 as a high schooler but opted to try his hand at college ball. He managed a .287/.380/.572 slash with 34 home runs in 601 plate appearances at Tulane and ultimately signed with the Nationals after going in the 18th round of the 2024 draft.

His home run power dried up as a pro and he struggled to a 90 wRC+ with Wilmington (High-A) this year. He put the ball in the air reasonably often, but had a below-average HR/FB rate. Without the EVs in front of me, I’d wager the transition to wood bats hit him particularly hard. He remains a stellar athlete with good footspeed and a strong arm, but the bat will need to perform for his athleticism to matter. He has nine hits and a .400/.435/.545 slash through six fall league contests thus far. His 6th inning home run was his first of the circuit and left the bat at 96.0 MPH.

Yasser Mercedes, OF, Minnesota Twins (1-2, 3 BB, 2 R)

Mercedes feels like he’s been around for a long while, which is a funny thing to say about a 21-year-old. It feels that way because he dominated the Dominican Summer League in 2022 but has struggled since with two forgettable campaigns in 2023 and 2025 (63 wRC+ in the Complex and 87 wRC+ in the Complex and Single-A, respectively). He was spectacular in 21 Single-A games to open the year but spent the bulk of the season with Cedar Rapids (High-A), where he had issues with contact and damage.

There may still be fantasy intrigue here. He’s taken time to adjust to each new level but ultimately found a way to conquer them, and he remains an excellent athlete. He stole 52 bases in 109 games in 2026. He has some juice when he gets the ball in the air to the pull side. Whatever the outcome, he’ll be a slow burn. He reached base four times on Tuesday, three by way of the free pass, and scored twice in a 6-5 victory over the 1-8 Glendale Desert Dogs.

Glendale Desert Dogs (Chris)

Caleb Bonemer, OF, Chicago White Sox (1/4 HR)

Bonemer has built on what was already a highly impressive season in the AFL. While it is still quite early in the AFL, Bonemer has swung it well and blasted his first home run of the fall last night on a shot that only left the bat at 98 mph, but he pulled it down the left-field line 388 feet. Bonemer had another hard-hit ball on the day at 97 mph.

During the regular season, Bonemer blasted 37 home runs between High-A and Double-A and honestly got better when he was promoted. He even stole 17 bases and is a player who has shown improved run times. In Double-A, the zone contact rate jumped back up near the 85 percent mark we saw in 2025, which was encouraging because in the early part of the season we saw the contact regress.

The power is legitimate, backed by strong exit velocity data, and he has shown that out in Arizona. Bonemer is a stud prospect and one that, despite being a third baseman, could reach top 10 status in 2027.

Colby Shelton, SS, Chicago White Sox (1/4 HR)

Shelton spent the majority of his 2026 season in Double-A, where he hit 24 home runs and stole 14 bases. It was a major improvement from what we saw after the White Sox drafted him in 2025 out of Florida. The slash was a bit underwhelming but still a respectable .244/.338/.488.

There is some aggression in the profile, but Shelton shows an approach and contact skills that are close to average. The ability to pull the ball in the air was one of the big reasons for the power outbreak during the season.

Last night, Shelton hit his first fall league home run, a 101 mph, 398-foot shot to left-center. It has been a slow go for Shelton over the first week of the season, but that has been the case for most of the Glendale team, which has just two players with an OPS above .670. Hopefully, Tuesday’s game will be a catalyst for Shelton moving forward.

Peoria Javelinas (Beck)

Ike Irish, 1B, Baltimore Orioles (4-5, 2B, R, 2 RBI)

Irish, a 2025 first-round selection and well-known quantity by this point in the calendar, has been a force through his first week in the AFL. He collected four hits in Tuesday’s contest including a 402-foot double that left the bat at 104.8 MPH. He finished the regular season with a .915 OPS in 343 plate appearances with Frederick (High-A) and has effectively added .200 points to that figure through six contests in Arizona.

His year could have been even better. He missed time owing to a torn meniscus in July (one of the primary purposes of his fall is to make up at-bats lost), and when he was on the field he put the ball on the ground far too often. A little more lift, and it’s possible to see a future 25-home-run hitter annually. His position this fall is also of note — he’s not catching, and it looks like his life behind the plate is over entirely. He’s born anew with a mix of first base and outfield responsibilities.

Matthew Ellis, 1B/C, Seattle Mariners (2-4, HR, 4 RBI, BB)

Ellis is a 26-year-old undrafted free agent who struck out in 28.9% of his plate appearances in 76 High-A games in 2026. That’s not to take away from his Tuesday — which was excellent — but rather to inform any FAAB bids that might be tempted by a strong circuit-long performance. He’s collected three hits thus far en route to a .200/.368/.467 slash, but his fifth-inning two-run blast was the biggest yet. If he’s going to make a splash in October, the long ball will be the vehicle; he managed 17 home runs in 339 plate appearances in Everett, and while that’s a hitter-friendly park, it’s probably on par with the fall league.

Scottsdale Scorpions (Rhys)

Bryce Rainer, SS, Detroit Tigers (0/4, 4 K)

Sometimes the volatile hit tool guy is going to show off his volatile hit tool.. With Bryce Rainer, it is all about damage on contact, and whether he makes enough contact is the question.

Four punchouts are not what you want to see from Bryce Rainer. The big thing in this one was an inability to do anything with below-average velocity coming in. The swing path with Rainer is weird, and that limits the overall upside with him. If he can’t make contact with the stuff he is going to see in the Fall League, that is a bit worrisome.

The upside with Rainer is obvious; it’s crazy raw power, and when you could get a 30-homer option at shortstop, that is what we are chasing. We have to rank him high because he is still young and can fix the swing. But as currently constructed, the swing is a bit worrisome, and so are some of the aggressive swings we see from him.

Eric Bitonti, 1B, Milwaukee Brewers (2/3, 2B)

Eric Bitonti is a localish kid, in the sense that I saw him in high school, as he plays close to where I go watch MiLB games. He has always been a big-time power guy; just the upside with a non-elite first-base prospect isn’t the highest.

Bitonti is a pretty optimized hitter: he likes to lift and pull batted balls, and he also has tremendous raw power. He showed off that plus juice in this one with a 108 mph batted ball event on the double, and a 105 mph single. The Brewers' first-base prospect smashed 25 homers this past season, while lifting and pulling his fair share of batted balls.

Trying to figure out which one of the myriad of first-base prospects the Brewers have will be the one to break through is a tough thing to project. Because you have Bitonti, Andrew Fischer, Luke Adams, and Blake Burke all in the upper minors. The other thing with this group of guys is none of them should really be playing third base, and a team like the Brewers tries to win with every little edge, so having a first baseman play third base seems like a nonstarter for the Brewers. It will be fun to see how this sorts itself out. I would imagine before the lockout we see some sort of trade.

Randy Rodríguez, P, San Francisco Giants (1 IP/0 H/0 ER/0 BB/1 K)

This one is for the reliever fans among us, because who doesn’t love a good reliever blurb. Randy Bobandy has a chance to be a high-leverage reliever we want to have in all leagues, and his value could possibly never be lower. 

Randy Rodriguez had two whiffs on the day, both coming off the four-seamer. It’s a high-vert fastball, getting about 19 inches of IVb and only 3 inches of horizontal break from a 5’6” release height. That brings into play a solid slider that was noticeably down in velocity. In the past, he was averaging about 86 mph on the slider, but in this one he was averaging about 81 mph. That does come with 0 IVB and 14 inches of horizontal break in this one, which will be a nasty pitch if he can regain the 4ish miles per hour he used to have on the offering. 

Randy’s stuff is good, and in a barren Giants bullpen he has a chance to be the no-doubt closer for them. How many save opportunities will there be next year for the Giants? I don’t envision them being very good, but still, he can get upwards of 25 saves if he is good. He has the stuff; he just needs to prove it, and he can be a sneaky pickup for you in your leagues who could play a role in potentially winning a championship for you.

Mesa Solar Sox (No Game)

Surprise Saguaros (No Game)