Arizona Fall League Recap: 10/20/2026

Salt River Rafters (Rhys)

Dax Kilby, SS, New York Yankees (2/4 3B, 2B, BB, 2 SB)

Dax Kilby is real, and he is out here producing in Arizona. It looks like his hamstring is all the way back with the way in which he is moving, and that bodes well for his fantasy value.

Kilby missed a big portion of the season with a hamstring injury, so he is making up for lost time. It’s a plus to potentially plus-plus athlete here, and there are some encouraging things here. It’s plus bat-speed; he posted multiple 75+ mph swings here, and he shows an ability to attack pitches all over the zone. And he can hit the ball hard: he posted a 103 mph exit velocity on one of his batted balls that resulted in a double.

Kilby has a chance to be a real riser this offseason, because he is healthy, and showing off the tools that make him an interesting prospect. I really hope you bought the dip here.

Kyle DeBarge, DH, Minnesota Twins (1/3 HR, 2 BB, 2 SB)

An inside-the-park homer for noted speedster Kyle DeBarge, to go along with two walks and two stolen bases. The former Ragin’ Cajun had a down year in Double-A, and maybe the Fall League is just what the doctor ordered as far as a get-right for him, because he does have good speed that could make him an interesting fantasy second baseman if it all clicks.

Kyle DeBarge has some wheels, so he can take the extra base when it presents itself. And there is some power upon contact; it’s just this past season was a weird one for DeBarge. Everything under the hood looks good: he got the ball in the air more, posting a 41% fly-ball rate, and he pulled 50% of his batted balls. He swings at an appropriate amount of pitches. The results just weren’t there this season. I just think this approach doesn’t work for batters like him, and pitchers were attacking him on the outer third where he can’t do much with certain pitches because of the way his swing is geared toward pulling so much of his contact.

The question with him is whether he will fix the swing enough, because if he can’t, that doesn’t bode well for him. You can’t have such glaring holes. But he is a fun prospect because he can really pick it at second and is a fast runner. There isn’t much upside here, even with him being a second baseman with a pulse.

Peoria Javelinas (Rhys)

Tai Peete, OF, St. Louis Cardinals (4/4 3B, 2 2B, BB, 2 SB)

Tai Peete with one heck of a day, he posted a few hard hit batted balls, stole a few bags, and in general showed off the tools that make him a relatively interesting fantasy prospect. 

Tai Peete smoked his triple, it came off a 95 mph fastball from Jank Pichardo and he hit the ball 112 off the bat with a 16 degree launch angle. Earlier in the game he smoked a 109 mph batted ball off an 88 mph breaking ball from Randy Rodriguez. Tai Peete even showed off the speed, stealing third base off the Rodriguez/Flewelling duo, and then for good measure later in the game he stole a base off Flewelling again. 

I like Tai Peete as a potential platoon hitter, which lucky for him he would be part of the long-side of the platoon. He hits right-handed pitching much better than lefties in his career. There is some value here in this profile in deeper leagues. This is just an aside but I think he was moved to the outfield too quickly, I think he had what it takes to stay on the left-side of the infield. But whatever, Tai Peete is enjoying his time in the Fall League, and has an outside chance to be a contributor in 2027 for the Cardinals late in the season.

Mesa Solar Sox (Chris)

Aaron Parker, OF, Toronto Blue Jays (2/3 HR, 2 BB)

Parker hits the ball incredibly hard and has all year. He posted 19 home runs in 350 Double-A plate appearances and slashed .253/.347/.467 while also stealing 12 bases. Parker has an interesting swing with a hitch and an uphill plane, which led to a ground ball rate around 45 percent this year.

Small but mighty, Parker hit a 90th-percentile exit velocity north of 110 mph, with a max near 115 mph. Strikeouts are a major issue as he punched out in 32 percent of plate appearances and ran a low 66 percent contact rate.

Parker reached base four times yesterday, with two being walks, but he smoked a 375 foot home run in the process. In the eighth inning, he put the ball on the ground, but with a 111 mph exit velocity, it led to a single. The performance in the AFL has been quite strong from Parker, but contact and strikeouts are still something to watch.

Dominick Reid, RHP, Chicago Cubs (4 IP/1 H/0 ER/1 BB/5 K)

Reid was set to be promoted to High-A in June before he went down with an injury that kept him out three months. Prior to the 1.1-inning blow-up start when injured, Reid was rocking a 3.35 ERA across 48.1 innings with a 24 percent strikeout rate to a 7.8 percent walk rate. Reid returned for the last week of the High-A season and posted four scoreless innings with four strikeouts.

Yesterday, Reid dominated, striking out five batters across four scoreless innings. He allowed just two baserunners and generated nine whiffs.

Working his fastball in the 92-94 mph range, Reid creates 14 inches of IVB from a 5’6” release height. While the traits are fairly generic, the pitch plays up thanks to over seven feet of extension. He actually led with his curveball yesterday, a strong two-plane breaker sitting 79-80 mph.

Reid uses his changeup heavily, getting great depth and over 15 inches of fade on average while getting 10 mph of separation off the fastball. The cutter is a new look this fall and has been an impressive pitch, but you have to wonder if he is just cutting the cut-ride four-seamer. Reid also has a heavy running sinker.

Surprise Saguaros (Beck)

Austin Charles, SS, Kansas City Royals (2-4, 3B, 2 RBI, R)

Charles had a much more inspiring campaign in High-A this year than he had in 2025 (115 wRC+ over 45 games vs. 57 wRC+ in 59) wrapped around a core injury that sidelined him for three months from May to August. His contact rate improved, strikeout rate shrank, and damage on contact returned. He boasts plus raw power but has struggled to get to it in games owing to difficulty making regular, flush contact, but he remains a legitimate prospect if only because of plus defense at shortstop. He’s had difficulty through his first seven games in the AFL, collecting just five hits and striking out nine times en route to a .172/.167/.414 slash, though Monday’s 2-4 performance with a 100.2 MPH triple may have been the spark he needed to continue the bounce-back he started with the Quad Cities River Bandits.

Paxton Kling, OF, Texas Rangers (2-4, 2 R, SB)

Kling’s performance hasn’t entirely matched his peripherals. He’s shown average EV90 figures but accumulated just eight home runs in 110 minor league games, leading to a career slugging percentage (.379) nearly 150 points lower than his college figure (.516). He plays a competent center field with enough arm to move to right, and should move relatively quickly given his age and amateur track record. He’s off to a raucous start in the fall circuit and has been one of Surprise’s strongest offensive performers with a .464/.545/.571 line, two extra-base hits, and six stolen bases through seven games. He finished Monday’s contest with a pair of singles, two runs scored, and a swipe.

Glendale Desert Dogs (Beck)

Colby Shelton, INF, Chicago White Sox (2-3, BB, RBI)

Shelton was the only Desert Dog that had a productive evening on Monday. They were held to four hits, half of which came from Shelton, who knocked in their lone run with a fourth-inning single. The 2025 sixth-rounder was significantly more productive as an amateur, compiling a .303/.411/.623 slash and 52 home runs over 762 at-bats in the SEC. He struggled with a fast promotion to Double-A after playing just 58 total games in the low minors, and his titanic over-the-fence from early in his college tenure deteriorated. He projects as an above-average power threat from a middle infield position with shaky contact ability, but the White Sox have him playing first base in the AFL and may decide to lean into the strengths in his profile as a slug-first corner piece.

Scottsdale Scorpions (Chris)

Jank Pichardo, RHP, Houston Astros (3 IP/2 H/1 ER/1 BB/6 K)

Having quite the name, Jank Pichardo turned in one of the better performances we have seen on the mound in the AFL. Despite signing back in 2022, Pichardo has just 69 professional innings under his belt. He reached full-season ball for the first time in his career in 2026, but struggled. Last night painted a different picture though as he generated 11 whiffs.

Working the fastball at 95-96 mph, Pichardo lets it play in sinker shape, getting 15 inches of arm-side movement, but he also has a distinct four-seamer with a touch more velo. There is a third fastball in the arsenal with an 88 mph cutter with strong shape.

The slider sits in the mid-80s with good depth and six inches of sweep. The changeup sits in the same velocity band and has seven inches of arm-side movement. There is a low-80s curveball with two-plane movement as well.

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

Bitonti has long been known for his big-time power, and it was on display in the regular season as he blasted 25 home runs across 517 plate appearances between High-A and Double-A. The slash sat at a modest .262/.378/.507, and Bitonti punched out in 33 percent of his plate appearances. He even snuck in 25 stolen bases on 25 attempts, which is quite impressive.

The overall contact rate of 62 percent was putrid, and his zone contact rate of 72 percent was not much better. But the power was real, and Bitonti creates ideal launch angles.

Scottsdale’s lineup did not get much going on Monday as they did not score and collected just seven hits on the day. Bitonti has two hits, both being singles, but they were hard-hit. One checked in at 109 mph and the other 103 mph.