Arizona Fall League Roster Breakdown: Glendale Desert Dogs

As Minor League Baseball wraps up, it is time to turn our attention to the Arizona Fall League. All Single-A and High-A affiliates are done, and Double-A playoffs are in full swing. While Triple-A is still in the regular season, it wraps up on Sunday. So as the season winds down, my mind is already in Arizona.

I will be out in the desert the second week of the AFL season to cover the league and the players there. So now is the time to break down each team’s roster and to give thoughts on players who could see their stock increase in the prospect world.

We will go team by team, alphabetically. So today, we start with Glendale. The team is comprised of prospects from the Atlanta Braves, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, and Toronto Blue Jays.

Glendale Desert Dogs Roster Breakdown

Pitchers

Best Arm

Hagen Smith had a rough year on paper, especially in the walk column, putting 17.6 percent of batters he faced on base via walk. In his final regular-season start, we saw the epitome of what Smith looked like this season. He pitched four innings and allowed just one hit, while striking out six. But he walked six batters, which was the consistent issue all season.

Smith’s fastball lives in the 94-96 range, generating 14-15 inches of IVB from a 5’7” release height, getting 13 inches of horizontal movement. The pitch is highly effective, even when he does not hit his spots consistently.

Smith’s slider morphs into a cutter at times, with some having -5 inches of IVB, while others have shorter horizontal and 4 inches of IVB. You can see in the video below that some had longer sweeping action, and he used the pitch efficiently against lefties and righties. The slider sits in the lower 80s while the cutter was in the 85-87 mph range.

Smith will throw changeups on occasion, sitting around 90 mph. The pitch shows good carry, having 11 inches of IVB and playing pretty well off the fastball before diving off with 15 inches of fading action.

Reminder, being at Camelback Ranch in Glendale is the White Sox complex. He is sure to already be working on things, so his command and control will be something to watch closely in the Arizona Fall League.

Arm Who Could Increase Stock

Hyun-Seok Jang suffered multiple injuries this season that derailed him and caused him to miss nearly three months. Initially suffering a torn ligament in his right foot, Jang also had a right latissimus dorsi(large back muscle) injury, which caused him to miss three months. Jang returned to the mound in late August, and his final start ended on a high note. While it was just three innings, Jang struck out six batters and allowed just two hits.

Showing struggles with command, Jang already has a well-rounded arsenal, throwing four pitches led by a fastball that sits between 93-95, but reaches 99 on occasion. Some scouts believe he could add more velocity, given his bigger 6’4” frame.

From a breaking ball standpoint, Jang throws a power slider already in the mid-80s with high spin and sweeping action. The curveball sits in the upper 70s with nice downward action.

Jang still needs to work on his changeup development, but it made progress this year. When it’s working, it shows good fade and late diving action.

Walking 18.3 percent of batters this year is an issue, as is his 54.5 percent strike rate, both of which are the worst marks among minor league pitchers. If that cannot improve, Jang is heading to the bullpen quickly. But the stuff is good, and it could play up in Arizona. But, he is also possible he walks the world and pushes his stock further down.

Sleeper Arm

If you have read my work for any amount of time, you probably know that I really like what Payton Martin brings to the table. The Dodgers selected Martin in the 17th round of the 2022 MLB Draft, but he has not pitched like a 17th-rounder, despite a smaller pro sample. Martin pitched in Single-A Rancho Cucamonga in 2023, posting a 2.04 ERA across 39.2 innings with 48 strikeouts and 15 walks allowed. Injuries have limited him in every pro season, including 2025

After a rough start to 2025 in High-A, Martin missed nearly three weeks before rehabbing on the complex. After three dominant starts there, Martin returned to High-A Great Lakes and has pitched well for the most part. Eleven of Martin’s 15 starts were two earned runs or less. Martin’s ERA was a little inflated by a nine-run blowup start in August.

Despite a smaller frame, there is still room to grow and add weight while already having a strong arm. Martin consistently sits in 94-96, touching 98 with his fastball with carry. When he hits the upper part of the zone, he gets swings and misses. He is still working on fastball command, but when he learns to locate up consistently, he could take off.

Martin uses a slider as his second pitch, sitting in the low-to-mid 80s with late bite and downward action. He does feature a changeup, but primarily to left-handed hitters. Martin has begun to work in an upper-80s cutter that is a good ground ball type out pitch

Hitters

Best Bat

For a second straight season, Josue De Paula has put up surface numbers that just look okay. Spending the majority of the year in High-A before finishing in Double-A, De Paula slashed .250/.391/.400 with 12 home runs in 445 trips to the plate. He also swiped 32 bases on 40 attempts and had 29 extra-base hits. But De Paula is clearly one of the best prospects in the game for quite a few reasons.

Starting slightly open in the box, De Paula has a leg kick while moving his front foot toward the plate to slightly close his body. He gets good hand-to-hip separation, and his body and hands work together to help him generate power. De Paula does a good job keeping his hands inside the ball and can go to all fields well.

De Paula has extremely strong underlying data, consistently hitting the ball hard and showing good high-end exit velocities. His 90th percentile exit velocity of 105.5 mph is highly impressive for his age and will likely only rise. The launch angles have improved as De Paula has seen his ground ball rate fall for the second straight season. The launch angle on hard-hit balls is a strong 13 degrees.

Given the number of walks, it should be no surprise that De Paula had one of the better chase rates in baseball, sitting below 15 percent. The overall contact rate was north of 78 percent, an extremely strong mark, but jumped to 83 percent in-zone.

De Paula could show out in Arizona.

Bat Who Could Increase Stock

Sam Antonnaci put together a highly impressive 2025 campaign after the White Sox selected him in the fifth round of the 2024 MLB Draft out of Coastal Carolina. Splitting the season between High-A and Double-A, Antonnaci slashed .291/.433/.409 with five home runs and 48 stolen bases. Sure, you want to see a little more home run power, but Antonnaci did add 32 extra-base hits to his ledger.

While the profile is built on contact, the exit velocity data is better than you might expect. Given the high OBP, it should not be surprising that Antonnaci has a strong approach. His chase rate around 16 percent is highly impressive, and Antonnaci shows respectable swing rates on pitches in the zone.

Antonnaci ended the year with an overall contact rate of around 87 percent, and the in-zone number was just shy of 90 percent. Ground balls limited Antonnaci in High-A as he posted a 48 percent ground ball rate, which dropped by five percentage points in Double-A. The exit velocities were respectable, as his 90th percentile exit velocity of 102 mph will play for someone with his contact and speed.

If Antonnaci can pop a few home runs in Arizona and run wild, he could have a Caleb Durbin-type buzz.

Sleeper Bat

Patrick Clohisy is an interesting prospect that never really gets talked about. A 2024 11th-rounder out of St. Louis University, Clohisy did some interesting things this year at the plate. A shorter, but strong frame, Clohisy played strong centerfield defense in the games I saw him, and he has a strong first step both in the field and on the base paths. Clohisy stole 79 bases, the third most in Minor League Baseball.

Clohisy actually put up respectable exit velocities this year with a 90th percentile exit velocity north of 104 mph, and he pairs it with above-average contact rates. While he is aggressive, Clohisy made contact on 76 percent of overall swings this year.

While the angles have limited him at times, Clohisy made a huge leap in pulled fly balls in Double-A, seeing that number jump from 17 to 39 percent, albeit the sample was much smaller. In Baseball America’s Best Tools article, where managers vote on the best tools in their respective leagues, Clohisy was voted best and fastest baserunner. Running as much as he did, Clohisy being successful on over 82 percent of his stolen base attempts is impressive.

This is an intriguing prospect who could do some things in Arizona that catch the attention of many.