Arizona Fall League Recap: 10/9/25

Mesa Solar Sox

Owen Ayers, C, Chicago Cubs

Ayers is a player I was going to keep a close eye on in Arizona. A former 19th-round pick out of Marshall who got just a $50k bonus, Ayers was respectable in his time on the field with Myrtle Beach this year. Hitting six home runs in 273 plate appearances, Ayers also added 14 doubles and five triples. He has a sound approach with respectable contact skills.

Yesterday, Ayers collected three hits, two doubles, and a single, but was smoking the ball all over the yard. Having four batted balls north of 101 mph, Ayers topped near 111 on a lineout he hit to dead center.

So far, Ayers has been highly impressive when it comes to batted ball data, and he is certainly opening my eyes to the kind of prospect he could be.

Tommy White, 3B, Athletics

White carried the Solar Sox in RBI, having four and scoring three runs. He contributed to seven of the nine runs scored by the team. Having a single and a double, White also smoked a lineout at 101 mph.

In a weird shift in his profile, White really cleaned up his approach and contact skills this year, but the power was not fully there, especially after he was promoted to Double-A. In 395 plate appearances, White blasted 12 home runs and slashed .275/.334/.439 between both levels, but he hit just one home run in 113 Double-A plate appearances. The impressive thing of note is that we saw White run an 82 percent contact rate this year after having a mark at 71 percent last season.

Chase and approach were also huge issues at LSU and in his pro debut, but we saw White make strides in regard to chase rate. Ground balls have limited White significantly, as he put over half his batted balls on the ground, and something seemed to change with his timing in Double-A. After pulling 43 percent of batted balls and going to the opposite field 28 percent of the time in High-A, White went oppo 51 percent of the time in Double-A.

Who is Tommy White? I hope he will get back to the power-hitting Tommy Tanks everyone loved in college.

Corey Avant, RHP, Athletics

I can’t say I was too familiar with Avant’s game prior to this start, but the former 2023 ninth-round pick out of Wingate impressed. Tossing 110.2 innings in 2025, Avant posted a 4.23 ERA with a 22 percent strikeout rate. One hundred six of the innings were in High-A with a 3.65 ERA. In 4.2 Double-A innings, Avant allowed nine earned runs, which really inflated his season-long ERA.

On Thursday, Avant struck out seven batters across three innings of one-run ball. He generated an impressive ten whiffs, distributed between all four of his pitches. Leaning heavily on his fastball, used 48 percent of the time, Avant sat 96.5 mph and touched 99 with 16 inches of IVB and good arm-side movement.

The slider had a 38 percent whiff rate, working 87-90 mph with good depth and around 4-6 inches of sweep. Avant also worked a changeup in the same velocity band and a low-80s curveball. The changeup has strong traits with eight inches of arm-side movement. The cuveball has solid two-plane movement.

I made a mistake not having Avant on my Athletics top 50. That will be corrected

Surprise Saguaros

Eiberson Castellano, RHP, Philadelphia Phillies

Castellano led the way on the mound for the Saguaros, tossing three innings of one-run ball. He punched out four batters and did not issue a walk in his effective outing. He mixed five pitches well and generated whiffs on all of them, though he had a total of just six whiffs on the day.

Injuries limited Castellano to just 36 innings during the 2025 season, in which the Twins selected him in the Rule 5 draft and later returned. The innings he did pitch this year were not great compared to what we saw in 2024 when Castellano vaulted up my rankings.

The fastball worked just 92.5 mph yesterday, but the ability to sequence was huge in his start. Castellano landed 65 percent of his pitches for strikes in the strong outing.

Wuilfredo Antunez, OF, Cleveland Guardians

Nate Handy is probably the best AFL Roto fantasy player there is, as he has won 50 percent of all AFL fantasy leagues that have ever existed. I am convinced Nate summons the players he drafts, as he never takes top names and still manages to win. This year, that player in Antunez who blasted his second home run of the year on Thursday and added a single.

The home run left the bat at 104 mph, and Antunez added the single at 107 mph before leaving the game. There are no reports about what happened as Joe Lampe replaced him in the outfield. Maybe it was scheduled to happen.

Antunez had his best season to date in 2025, hitting 18 home runs and stealing 16 bases while splitting the year between High-A and Double-A. He also posted an impressive .275/.335/.521 slash. Once regarded as an up-and-coming prospect, Antunez has a chance to showcase in Arizona that his performance in 2025 was legit.

Salt River Rafters

David Hagaman, RHP, Arizona Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks contingent of the Rafters carried the team to what should have been a comfortable victory but instead ended with the… second most devastating loss in baseball on Thursday. Hagaman, who is probably the likeliest arm designated for the AFL to catch serious helium, was absolutely sterling on the mound for three scoreless innings. He generated 11 whiffs on 24 swings for a 46 whiff rate and struck out five over three nearly-perfect innings. He sat 94 mph on the fastball but went to his other offerings 63 percent of the time, all of which were stellar. He’s a name to jump on now, not next week or next month.

Jansel Luis, 2B, Arizona Diamondbacks

Luis was a buzzy international signee after back-to-back encouraging campaigns in the DSL and stateside ball. Enthusiasm fizzled after he failed to dominate in Visalia and Hillsboro in each of the last two years. Today, he profiles like a ho-hum middle infielder with some upside should he shore up his plate approach and learn to elevate with consistency. He had a stellar night at the ballpark on Thursday, finishing with four hits in six at bats including a double. All six of his plate appearances concluded with batted balls over 95 mph: a 95.4 mph single, a 99.3 mph single, a 99.9 mph double, a 100.3 mph ground out, a 102.7 mph single, and a 103.2 mph ground out.

Kenny Castillo, C, Arizona Diamondbacks

Thursday was Castillo’s second game in Rafters aqua. Through two games, he’s been one of the best hitters in the circuit. It’s a surprise, to be sure, as he scraped together a meager .218/.262/.342 line over 65 games split between the Complex and Hillsboro (High-A). He’s a far better defender than he is with the stick, though it would be understandable if his 105.4 mph homer in a 3-for-5 night made you think otherwise.

Glendale Desert Dogs

Sam Antonacci, 2B, Chicago White Sox

If you like Sal Frelick it stands to reason you’d like Sam Antonacci, too. He’s pesky, doesn’t strike out, walks a fair bit, and makes contact with everything, all while putting balls in seats very sparingly. He regularly runs on-base percentages greater than his slugging percentages, and it’s a surprisingly productive formula. He’s never posted a wRC+ under 150 at any level and managed to swipe nearly 50 bags over 116 games in 2025. He’s putting up stellar counting stats early, tabbing his second double, fourth and fifth RBIs, and third stolen base in a 2-for-4 performance that also featured two walks.

Miguel Ugueto, OF, St. Louis Cardinals

Ugueto is a 23-year-old who has OPS’ed .650 or lower in each of the last three seasons. He is, for all intents and purposes, a non-prospect. He’s accrued just 232 total games despite being a professional since 2021, which is surely why he’s been assigned to get extra reps in the AFL. Thursday was one of the best performances of his career as he picked up three RBIs and scored a pair of runs on a 2-for-5 night that featured a home run on a 94.2 mph sinker.

Cutter Coffey, 3B, Toronto Blue Jays

Coffey was part of the triad sent to Toronto in exchange for Danny Jansen last July. Among the three, Coffey certainly had the most pedigree. He was one of the most prominent two-way players in the country and ultimately became a second rounder in 2022 out of a Bakersfield, California high school. He hasn’t yet fired on all cylinders at the dish, but 2025 was his best year to date as he slashed .273/.359/.427 in 99 games with High-A Vancouver. If his career were to careen in the right direction, Phoenix would be the right place for it. He got off to a great start with a 3-for-5 night, an RBI, and a run scored on Thursday.

Peoria Javelinas

Ryan Jackson, SS, SDP

Jackson was a standout in the Mountain West before transferring to USC where he was good but otherwise inconspicuous. He went in the 17th round and has remained very much inconspicuous — save for Thursday night. Peoria scratched across just two runs, both of which went on the scoreboard by way of Jackson’s foot touching home plate. He finished 2-for-3 with a double.

Braedon Karpathios, OF, SDP

Karpathios makes today’s rundown for two reasons: (1) he was on base a few times and (2) I don’t think we can publish a recap article with just one player featured for a team. He singled and walked twice and has been reasonably productive thus far. Karpathios is a fun underdog to root for as an undrafted free agent out of a community college in Maryland but doesn’t make much for of a fantasy prospect.

Scottsdale Scorpions

Max Anderson, 2B/3B, Detroit Tigers

Anderson led the way for the Scorpions on Thursday as he reached base five times, including three doubles. Putting up some big exit velocities, Anderson had three hard-hit balls, including 106.8 and 108.5 mph scorched line drives.

Being a huge breakout in 2025, blasted 19 home runs and drove in 88 while slashing a smooth .296/.350/.478. With a strong contact-oriented profile, Anderson experienced a significant leap in power this year, which completely changes the future outlook. If suddenly projects to be a 20-home run second baseman with a strong feel for contact, he could be a top 100 prospect.

Parks Harber, 1B, San Francisco Giants

Harber did yesterday what he did during the entire regular season, mash. Hitting a 103 mph home run and a 104 mph single, Harber has gotten off to a strong start to the AFL season and it is time for him to move up from the bottom of this lineup.

Hitting the cover off the ball during the regular season, Harber has run exit velocities in the plus-plus range with a 90th percentile exit velocity over 108 mph and a hard-hit rate north of 50 percent. Using the whole field well, Harber also gets the ball in the air often and has a highly impressive line drive rate.

The contact rates are around average, with a 73 percent overall mark and an in-zone mark of 82 percent. Showing strong swing rates on pitches in the zone, Harber also does not expand the zone often, with a chase rate in the low-20 percent range.

Nick Morabito, OF, New York Mets

Morabito has gotten off to an impressive start to the AFL as he reached base four times on Thursday. Walking twice, Morabito added a single and a double that had an exit velocity just shy of 100 mph.

Known for his strong hit tool, Morabito got away from that a bit this year as he struck out 23.4 percent of the time in Double-A, up from 18 percent last season. The contact rates were still strong, but Morabito hit just .273 with a .355 BABIP, down from his .312 batting average in 2024.

Morabito is known for his speed, stealing 49 bases, which followed his 59 in 2024. While the hit tool has been really strong, power has not been part of his game and likely won’t be. But Morabito has the perfect profile to excel in the Arizona Fall League.