Arizona Fall League Recap: October 28, 2024
Chris and Beck break down Sunday's Arizona Fall League action.
Hello readers, I am writing to you on a flight on the way to the Arizona Fall League. Between Beck and me over the next two weeks, we should be bringing you live looks from over 20 games. We had just one game of action on Sunday, but it was a good one, and we are here to bring you up to date on everything you need to know.
Arizona Fall League Recap: 10/28/24
Peoria (Chris)
Andrew Pintar, OF, MIA, 23
Pintar was one of the long bright spots in Peoria’s offense on Sunday as they mustered just four hits, and Pintar had two of them. They were weakly hit singles with 79 mph exit velocities on both, but they were hits, nonetheless. Having consistent playing time in the fall league, Pintar is up to 21 hits in 15 games with two doubles and a home run.
It has been a long road for Pintar, who had shoulder surgery at BYU but ended up having the wrong surgery. Not long after his pro debut, he needed another shoulder surgery. Pintar then broke his foot last year, which cost him time.
After being primarily a second baseman, Pintar is now working in centerfield and progressing well. He chases at very low rates while running slightly above-average contact. I wonder if the power will always be limited by the fact that his swing is rather flat, and until this year, Pintar has struggled to lift the ball.
Drake Baldwin, C, ATL, 23
No one has questioned whether Drake Baldwin’s bat is ready for the Majors because it is. The continued improvement behind the dish tells me he is on the cusp of debuting with the Braves in a potential platoon situation in 2025 with Sean Murphy.
In the first inning of yesterday’s action, Baldwin threw out both Tyler Calligan and Thomas Saggese, who were attempting to steal with pop times in the 1.9-second range. At the plate, Baldwin smoked a single that left the bat at 108 mph and had a forceout that he hit at 104 mph. Baldwin is slashing a smooth .362/.434/.489 in the fall league as he prepares to now head off with Team USA.
Ryan Birchard, RHP, MIL, 21
Birchard had an interesting start on Sunday as he pitched 3.2 innings, striking out three batters with ten whiffs. The negatives, he walked four and allowed three earned runs. The strike-throwing has been a bit inconsistent during his pro career, and that was on display on Sunday as he landed just 36 of his 63 pitches for strikes.
The 2023 fifth-rounder recently turned 21 and is coming off an injury-riddled season that saw him pitch just 18 innings in full-season ball. After a solid first start of the season in which Birchard struck out six across four scoreless innings with two walks, he was never the same upon return.
Birchard has a strong arsenal. His fastball, which reaches 98, sits in the low-to-mid 90s. He throws two variations of a breaking ball: a slider in the mid-80s and a curveball in the upper-70s. His changeup and command are still work in progress. If he can throw more strikes, there is a chance Birchard could be a starter. Otherwise, he will likely wind up in the bullpen.
Glendale (Beck)
Tyler Callihan, 2B, CIN, 24
Cincinnati somehow has too many infielders and not enough (as evidenced by 2024). Callihan is one of the many in their system and spent time at 1B, 2B, 3B, and LF during the regular season, a versatility that may be necessary for him to garner playing time at the big league level. There isn’t a tremendous amount of thunder in his bat – he’s yet to hit a home run despite a gaudy .359/.468/.487 line in 10 AFL games – and it’s hard to point to a standout tool in his profile. He’s a below-average runner with just an average arm who has already been pushed to the fringes of the defensive spectrum, so there’s a lot riding on his hit tool to translate sufficiently. He was 2-for-3 with a pair of walks on Sunday.
Thomas Saggese, 2B, STL, 22
I feel like I’ve been writing about Saggese forever, starting with his 2023 breakout in Double-A. The sparknotes are this: he possesses (or has crafted, to the extent that it’s a true skill) the ability to consistently pull his batted ball events, which enhances his ability to do damage with mediocre exit velos. He’s gotten time at the big league level – not a ton, but 52 plate appearances – and we’ve yet to see that skill truly translate. There are questions about whether it will (it’s easier, at least in theory, to influence batted ball direction when you’re comfortable with the level of pitching you’re seeing), but I hope the Cardinals are curious enough to find out. He had the best night of any AFLer, going 2-for-3 with a double, two walks, two runs, and two RBIs. More like Twomas Saggese.
Otto Kemp, 3B, PHI, 25
Kemp is coming off of a very encouraging year that saw him climb three levels and finish at Triple-A while maintaining a .285/.392/.489 slash. He’s on the older side but could figure into Philadelphia’s infield plans in short order with some sneaky upside. He collected 49 extra-base hits and stole 20 bags in 123 games (he was caught nine times, so that will need some refinement or he’ll have to practice abstinence, but alas) and has now been one of the most productive players in the desert. His 2-for-3 day at the dish included a double and three RBIs and pushed his fall league slash to .310/.l488/.759.
Ixan Henderson, LHP, STL, 22
Henderson (government name Philip) was an eighth-round selection out of Fresno State in 2023 and spent his first full year as a professional pitching his way to High-A. He racked up 104.0 innings, striking out 105 and walking 44 en route to a 2.34 ERA across 17 starts (22 appearances). I’m of three minds about his profile (I’m an overachiever); first his the raw stuff in arsenal seems a little underwhelming, and it’s unclear to me how it’ll translate against better competition. Second is that he’s left-handed (which is good), and third is that we’ve seen a recent example of developmental success with a low-velocity college lefty in the Cardinals system. Even still, Quinn Mathews had a tick or two more in that tank than Henderson showed on Monday, and it’s irresponsible to expect a leap like the one he took. Henderson fired five distinct pitches over his three innings of work (4SF, SL, CH, SI, CB), which is encouraging, but he only registered a 23% CSW, allowed plenty of contact in the zone, and sat 91 mph on his heater. It was a good outing nonetheless, as he struck out four while staying out of the earned run column (one unearned).
Bryan Rincon, SS, PHI, 20
I can’t write about Rincon without conjuring up memories of the trade scene in Moneyball. That’s got nothing to do with Bryan Rincon and more to do with the way my brain works. Rincon is a disciplined hitter with enough athleticism to stick at shortstop, and he showed some strides in the power department in his second year as a pro despite little to show for it on his Baseball Reference page. He made contact in the zone at an 87% clip while chasing under 20% of the time and managed to swipe eight bags without getting caught in 35 games. He added two more burglaries to his 2024 total by pickpocketing Drake Baldwin in a 1-3 night that included a walk.