Live From The Arizona Fall League: 11/4/2026

Salt River Rafters (Beck)

Kevin Bazzell, C, Washington Nationals (2-4, 2B, HR, R, 3 RBI)

Bazzell is getting extra work this fall after playing just 66 games between two levels in 2026. Part of his time out of the lineup was due to a broken orbital bone after being hit by a pitch in the face in April. When he was on the field, he was quite productive — he put together a .287/.389/.470 slash with a minuscule strikeout rate and a healthy walk rate. He’s continued those trends into the fall, where he’s walked three times more than he’s struck out, but he’ll be looking to prove he can do damage on contact consistently.

He had four hard-hit baseballs on Tuesday (95+ MPH), the hardest of which left the yard. If the mandate is to hit the baseball square and elevate, he accomplished that much. Whether there’s enough bat to be a fantasy contributor remains to be seen.

Mesa Solar Sox (Chris)

Peyton Olejnik, Los Angeles Angels (4 IP/4 H/3 ER/0 BB/6 K/15 Whiffs)

A 2024 sixth-round pick out of Miami, Olejnik has been the model of consistency since being drafted. After tossing 128.2 innings in Single-A last year with a 4.20 ERA and a 23 percent strikeout rate, Olejnik jumped to High-A, where he spent the entire 2026 season. The 106.2 innings were nice to see, but Olejnik regressed to a 4.47 ERA, though his 23 percent strikeout rate stuck.

While he allowed three earned runs last night, Olejnik was really BABIP’d to death. He generated an AFL-best 15 whiffs and struck out six. Olejnik led with his slider, generating nine whiffs on 18 swings, showing 13 inches of sweep on average.

The fastball worked 92-94 mph with rather generic shapes, but Olejnik did manage five whiffs on six swings. He also showed a solid feel for an 87 mph cutter and a heavy fading changeup with 17 inches of arm-side fade on average.

Jake Munroe, 3B, Los Angeles Angels (3/4 HR)

Munroe collected three hits on the day, including a 108 mph home run in the ninth inning, but he also added a 101 mph single. His third single was a bloop into center, but counted nonetheless. Munroe continues his impressive AFL run as he is up to an .899 OPS.

During the regular season, Munroe showed a lot of good things, hitting 19 home runs with 30 doubles across 516 plate appearances split between High-A and Double-A. He slashed a strong .289/.402/.498 while striking out 17 percent of the time with a 12 percent walk rate.

Munroe has a respectable approach with good in-zone contact rates. He also has above-average power, which showed more in games this year. He is a great fantasy buy right now.

Surprise Saguaros (Beck)

Felix Arronde, RHP, Kansas City Royals (2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K)

Arronde is 6-foot-3 and wiry, with obvious room to fill out, already runs a fastball up to 98 MPH, and has a handful of pitches in his repertoire. He threw over 100 innings this year and in each of the last two, and he’s Rule-5 eligible this offseason. Should the Royals opt not to protect him, it’s easy to see another org taking a chance on the broad positives in his profile.

Tuesday was a microcosm of Arronde’s 2026 season. He’s had trouble with walks that may eventually require a move to the pen, but control issues didn’t materialize against Scottsdale. He struggled to finish plate appearances and punch batters out, which remains a concern moving forward. His fastball is rather generic and the quality of his slider and splitter tends to variate wildly from start to start. He finished the evening with just one baserunner in one of the better performances we’ve seen since arriving Monday, but the strikeout column remained empty.

Welbyn Francisca, SS, Cleveland Guardians (2-5, R, RBI, SB)

Surprise had a very nice night at the dish. There were hard hit balls in almost every inning, including Aroon Escobar’s 111.3 MPH triple in the third, a fourth-inning Aidan Miller line drive that left the bat at 109.6 MPH and was seemingly still rising when caught by the left fielder, and a 107.1 MPH triple from Zion Rose in the eighth. None of those hard hit balls belonged to Welbyn Francisca, though that hasn’t been the expectation of him. What he has done well is make plenty of contact and use his legs to make plays.

That continued on Tuesday night as he finished with a pair of well-hit singles and a stolen base. Truthfully, he’s here because I was more encouraged by seeing his frame in person than I was for, say, Aroon Escobar. He moved very well, and while there isn’t any projection remaining, there are physical tools present that will play at the big league level. I just wouldn’t expect his surface contributions for fantasy to be very loud.

Scottsdale Scorpions (Chris)

Matthew Wood, DH, Milwaukee Brewers (1/4 2B)

A 2022 fourth-rounder out of Penn State, Wood has shown some flashes at times during his pro career, but really put things together in 2026, blasting 18 home runs in 386 plate appearances while adding 13 doubles and two triples. The slash sat at a solid .257/.398/.492.

Wood was one of the only players to do much of anything in the Scottsdale lineup, with a double. His regular season success has carried over into the AFL as Wood showed an 89 percent zone contact rate during the regular season with an impressive 16 percent chase rate.

The power is modest as Wood ran a 104 mph 90th percentile exit velocity during the regular season, but his launch angles do make up for it. It would not be shocking to see him get time with the Brewers in 2027 or be traded to a team that could use a catcher that can hit.

Peoria Javelinas (Beck)

Carter Graham, 1B/3B, Cincinnati Reds (4-5, R, 2 RBI, BB, 2 SB)

Graham is among the oldest players in the desert this fall. He played a full complement of games during the regular season, logging 552 plate appearances in 126 games between High-A and Double-A. He’s here because he’s Rule-5 eligible this offseason, and the Reds have a decision to make regarding his 40-man status. 2026 was by far his most productive as a professional, and the leap came from over-the-fence output. His 54% hard-hit rate was a very promising signal that led to 29 home runs. The Reds will more or less hope to confirm it wasn’t a one-year mirage. Graham led the Javelinas in hits with four and swiped a pair of bases for good measure.

Ike Irish, 1B/OF, Baltimore Orioles (3-4, 2 2B, 2 BB, 3 R, RBI)

Irish looked every bit of the first-round offensive talent he is on Tuesday. He consistently hit the ball hard all over the field. His doubles left the bat at 95.5 and 105.7 MPH. He’s here largely to prove he’s healthy and get extra reps missed after he tore his left meniscus in July. Truth be told, there isn’t much else to say — he’s very talented, played well all year while on the field, and is continuing to do so on the other side of a reasonably scary injury. Set any concerns about his knee to the side.

Glendale Desert Dogs (Chris)

Briggs McKenzie, LHP, Atlanta Braves (4 IP/3 H/0 ER/2 BB/6 K)

McKenzie was in the middle of a breakout during the 2026 season, which ended in the middle of June. He began the year at the complex and looked quite good, dominated in one start in Single-A in Augusta, then worked his way to High-A Rome. For the year, he posted a 2.08 ERA across 26 innings with a 29 percent strikeout rate.

While he got off to an awful start in Arizona, McKenzie has continued to rebound in a big way, striking out six batters across four scoreless innings. He generated an impressive 11 whiffs with a 29 percent CSW.

The fastball has ticked up and currently sits around 93 mph, topping at 95 mph. He throws from a tough arm-slot but has average extension, while having 11 inches of IVB and 6-8 inches of run. McKenzie runs spin rates near 2600 rpm and it is a sneaky bat-missing pitch.

The sweeper is McKenzie’s best pitch at present, sitting around 82 mph. He spins it up to 2900 rpm, and the pitch has around a negative five-inch IVB with 17 inches of sweeping action. There is also a changeup in the profile as McKenzie gets a heavy fade, of up to 18 inches of fading action, sitting in the mid-to-upper 80s.

Tate Southisene, SS, Atlanta Braves (3/4 3 Hard-Hits)

Southisene may have had just three singles on the day, but he had three hits and was one of two players in Glendale’s lineup with a multi-hit day. He had three hard-hit balls, and while he topped out at just 100 mph, it was still quite a successful showing for Southisene.

After making his debut after being drafted in 2025 and striking out in 41 percent of his plate appearances, the lack of hype seemed justified as Southisene looked lost. This year, he looks like a different ballplayer and one to invest in. The approach has changed dramatically, and Southisene has seen a rise of 13 percent in his contact rate to 74 percent. The in-zone contact rate of 83 percent was fine and Southisene also ran a chase rate around 22 percent.

The power breakout was legit as well as he posted a 106 mph 90th percentile exit velocity and a 50 percent hard-hit rate. Getting hit by a pitch on the wrist caused his season to end in July, just after getting promoted to Double-A. It looks like he is fully healthy now, though.