Arizona Fall League Statcast and Advanced Data Standouts

At this point in the Arizona Fall League season, I am not sure how impactful the daily recaps are for people. The World Series has ended, and many are checking out of baseball for a little while, even if it is a short period of time.

So, the goal of this article is to help provide you with the top info you need to know from the Arizona Fall League a month in. Excluding the playoffs, there are just seven game days left, which is sad. But much of the actionable info we need on players is as established as it will be.

So, let’s break down all the hitter data that you need to know.

Arizona Fall League Statcast and Advanced Data Standouts

Average Exit Velocity Leaders(Min 50 PA)

I first want to put a caveat on the exit velocity leaders that you are naturally going to see higher exit velocities and batted ball distances in Arizona. Part of that is the environment and the air that allows the ball to travel further. The larger part of that is that pitches move differently in the Arizona air, and you often see more pitches left over the heart of the plate. That leads to harder hit balls and plenty of home runs in the hitter-friendly environment.

Max Anderson stands out here in a big way on the top of the exit velocity leaderboard. While he lacks the high-end exit velocities, having a 108.5 max, Anderson has hit the ball hard consistently, running a 64 percent hard-hit rate. The contact and approach skills are strong with Anderson, and he looks ready to bring a contribution to Detroit’s lineup in 2026.

Owen Ayers finds himself on every list in this article, outside of max exit velocity. He has been one of the AFLs biggest breakouts and we have written about him a ton over the course of the season. Check out all his feature articles here: https://www.thedynastydugout.com/archive?q=owen+ayers

90th Percentile Exit Velocity Leaders(Min 50 PA)

Another caveat to put on this article is that the 90th percentile exit velocity leaderboard could change really quickly. What this statistic does is take the average of the top ten percent of batted balls. Most of these players are looking at three or four batted balls that are being counted for this leaderboard, given that most of the players on the list have between 25 and 40 batted balls.

Charlie Pagliarini and Chris Suero really caught my eye here as they did when I was out in Arizona scouting. Both players have had strong fall leagues and are players to keep an eye on heading into 2026.

Max Percentile Exit Velocity Leaders

Chase Rate Leaders (Min 50 PA)

Reaching the chase and contact portion of the leaderboard, it is also important to note that the quality of pitching in the AFL is not great. There are a lot of non-competitive pitches, and players who have a strong approach are naturally going to run low chase rates and take a lot of walks in Arizona. The names that top this leaderboard are all no surprises to me, as players who have shown respectable approaches throughout their careers. 

Zone Contact Rate Leaders (Min 50 PA)

I was a little surprised when I ran this filter on the leaderboard and saw how high Luke Adams was compared to all the other hitters. Not that Adams has not shown good contact skills in the past, but more the fact that he is head and shoulders above every other hitter. He has swung and missed just once on a pitch in the zone in Arizona.

Esmerlyn Valdez is the other name to note here. He has shown some of the best power of any hitter in Arizona, and he has also shown good contact skills. This is not new, though, as the numbers throughout the entire 2025 regular season were good. You can read more about Valdez in any of the articles here: https://www.thedynastydugout.com/archive?q=esmerlyn+valdez

Contact Rate Leaders (Min 50 PA)