Arizona Fall League Recap: 10/17/2026

Salt River Rafters (Beck)

Dax Kilby, SS, New York Yankees (2-4, 2B)

The Rafters got dismantled on Friday. They managed just three hits (two of which belonged to Kilby) and six total base runners. They struck out 11 times. They committed five errors. They failed to score a run. As a pitching collective, they surrendered 10 runs, seven of which were earned.

As for Kilby, you’re aware of him. His pro career got off to a raucous start when he hit .353/.457/.441 and stole 16 bases in 18 post-draft games at Single-A in 2025. He’s a talented all-around ballplayer — he has fast hands, he can use the whole field, he’s a strong athlete, and he can defend the shortstop position. He’s one of the best prospects in this fall league crop, and it will be important for him to perform like one after he appeared in just 36 regular-season games in 2026. When healthy, the results are there — it’s the “healthy” piece that has been of concern — but he’s been somewhat forgotten among fantasy prospect circles. His two-hit performance raised his fall OPS to .832.

Peoria Javelinas (Beck)

Patrick Reilly, RHP, Baltimore Orioles (4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 7 K, 1 BB)

Reilly was superb on Friday. All of Salt River’s troubles began with the 6-foot-3, 25-year-old right-hander as he dispatched the Rafters with a heavy fastball / slider combination. He sat 95 MPH on his fastball with 17 inches of hop, which are passable metrics on the surface, but he generated a 32% CSW on the pitch, indicating it was performing better than its Hawkeye reading. His slider was the prize (and is) the prize pitch, garnering a 50% whiff rate on 12 swings. It appears more curveball than slider both to the eye and metrically; it featured 43 inches of vertical break and just 6 inches of horizontal break at 83 MPH, often darting below the zone and missing barrels above it.

It was an encouraging outing for him as he continues to recover from UCL reconstruction. Each appearance is critical for him as the Orioles must decide whether to place him on the 40-man roster and protect him in the Rule 5 draft.

Brandon Butterworth, UTIL, Baltimore Orioles (2-5, 2B, 3 RBI, R)

Beyond his surname, if Butterworth sounds familiar, it’s likely because he was one of six prospects dealt at the 2025 trade deadline in exchange for Ramon Laureano and Ryan O’Hearn. He had been a 12th-round pick in 2024 out of NC State and had performed adequately as a pro between Single-A and High-A. Still, it’s difficult to say AJ Preller held him in high regard; players dealt as a package of half a dozen in exchange for two serviceable big leaguers — not stars, but every day lineup guys — are not often prized farmhands.

The 24-year-old compiled a .266/.372/.478 line with 15 home runs and 23 stolen bases in 87 games spanning four levels, the bulk of which (53 games) came at Double-A. He’s likely ready for Big League service some time in 2027, but opportunity in Baltimore appears scarce. It’ll require a significant breakout in terms of skill development for him earn at-bats. His fifth-inning double left the bat at 101.9 MPH, drove in two, and raised his fall OPS to .893.

Mesa Solar Sox (Rhys)

Jake Munroe, 3B, Los Angeles Angels (1/4 2B BB)

Jake Munroe had two hard-hit batted balls and a batted ball that was just shy of being hard-hit. Jake Munroe looks to be a rare win for the old Angels front office as someone drafted post-round 1 who has a legit chance to be a major leaguer.

Jake Munroe had a 106 mph double, a 95 mph groundout, and a 93 mph flyout. As Chris said on the last podcast we recorded, the EVs are good with Munroe, and he can actually play a perfectly cromulent 3B. So, there is a lot to like here. He also makes a solid amount of contact, so there is a chance for a second-division regular-type here, which has a solid amount of value, especially when you factor in the relative shallowness of third base at the moment.

I would be buying Jake Munroe in any league because there is proximity here. Munroe has a chance to provide a pretty boring but stable 20+ homers for a lineup that could use that sort of bat.

Surprise Saguaros (Chris)

Sebastian Walcott, SS, Texas Rangers (2/5 HR(Grand Slam))

Walcott collected both of his hits in the first inning alone with a 100.4 mph single in his first trip to the plate, then a 397-foot grand slam later in the inning. He later smoked a 109 mph grounder that wound up turning into an error on the hard-hit ball.

Walcott became my number one prospect for fantasy purposes to end the 2026 season due to how he returned to action from having elbow surgery. The power was elite and came back better than ever, and he also showed improved contact skills. He has done nothing but hit the ball well so far in the AFL

Luke Hill, 2B, Cleveland Guardians (2/5 2 2B)

Another day and two more hits for Hill, who is putting up an impressive performance reminiscent of what we saw early in the season. Hill had two doubles and three hard-hit balls on the day and has his batting average at .400 so far in the fall league.

Hill was in the midst of a breakout with the Guardians in 2026 before an injury kept him out for two months in mid-June. The oblique could have been bothering him before he even hit the IL. Up until June 12, Hill was slashing .289/.431/.597 with 11 home runs and 14 doubles while stealing eight bases. Hill had walked as often as he struck out.

He struggled before hitting the IL on June 24, and if you see the numbers after that and upon returning, Hill slashed .196/.288/.299 in 111 plate apperances. So who is Hill? The AFL should tell us.

Glendale Desert Dogs (Chris)

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

Another day, another Bonemer Bomb, and this was an absolute shot, leaving the bat at 112 mph with a 26-degree launch angle. While he reached base once more via walk, Bonemer grounded out twice, but on balls that were hit hard.

Coming off a stellar regular season in which he reached Double-A, Bonemer has continued to rake in Arizona. The batting average sits at .313 with a 1.045 OPS. He has been the lone bright spot in a talented Glendale lineup to this point.

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.

Briggs McKenzie, LHP, Atlanta Braves (4 IP/0 H/1 ER/3 BB/6 K)

McKenzie was in the middle of a breakout during the 2026 season ended in the middle of June. He began the year at the complex and looked quite good, dominated in one start in Single-A in Augusta, then worked his way to High-A Rome. For the year, he posted a 2.08 ERA across 26 innings with a 29 percent strikeout rate.

While he got off to an awful start in Arizona, McKenzie tossed four no-hit innings with 11 whiffs and six strikeouts last night. It was a weird start to the game as an error on SS Carter Johnson eventually came in to score on a swinging strikeout. Odd sequence of events.

The fastball has ticked up and currently sits around 93 mph, topping at 95 mph. He throws from a tough arm-slot but has average extension, while having 11 inches of IVB and 6-8 inches of run. McKenzie runs spin rates near 2600 rpm and it is a sneaky bat-missing pitch.

The sweeper is McKenzie’s best pitch at present, sitting around 82 mph. He spins it up to 2900 rpm, and the pitch has around a negative five-inch IVB with 17 inches of sweeping action. There is also a changeup in the profile as McKenzie gets a heavy fade, of up to 18 inches of fading action, sitting in the mid-to-upper 80s.

Scottsdale Scorpions (Rhys)

Mason Nichols, P, Tampa Bay Rays (1 IP/0 H/0 ER/0 BB/1 K)

You gotta pay attention to any reliever the Rays draft, especially one they invest a top 10 round selection on. Mason Nichols is at the very least going to be someone they utilize in the next couple of years to get some sort of leverage outs because he has a nasty splitter and a solid fastball. 

It’s a 17 inch IVB fastball with 9 inches of horizontal break, from a sub-6-foot release height that comes in around the mid-90s. His fastball topped out at 94 mph in this one. The splitter might be a plus pitch. It comes in the upper 80s and gets an average of 14 inches of horizontal break. It’s a pretty simple recipe: fastball up, splitter down. He also showed off a cutter here that is promising, giving him an east-west pitch as a reliever. 

There is a chance another stuff jump comes, because the Rays optimize relievers like nobody's business. There is a chance he becomes fantasy-viable in leagues where holds are valuable.