Live from the Arizona Fall League: November 7, 2024

Chris and Beck breakdown Wednesday's slate of games from the Arizona Fall League.

Happy Thursday! It is almost Fall Stars weekend, which sadly means the Arizona Fall League is coming to its final leg. We had a full slate of action on Thursday, with lots of errors, walks, and few hits. Still, there was plenty to discuss, especially with some lesser-hyped players.

Let’s get to it!

Arizona Fall League Recap: 11/7/24

Surprise (Chris)

Jac Caglianone, 1B, KC, 21

To no surprise, Caglianone can mash and keeps showing us his high end exit velocities in the AFL. On Wednesday, Caglianone hit his fourth Arizona Fall League home run that left the bat at 113 mph and traveled 418 feet. He has topped out at 117.3 mph in the AFL and is doing a good job of squaring up balls. As the fall has worn on, he is chasing less and is making a ton of zone contact. 

In my looks, the swing is a little flat, and I have noticed he struggles to lift on pitches lower in the zone. The power is undeniable. But I worry his chase and flat swing may limit the massive upside. On balls down in the zone, Caglianone has put them on the ground often. It is something to watch moving forward.

Daniel Vazquez, MI, KC, 20

Sometimes, it takes guys a little longer to click before taking off, and maybe that is the case for Vazquez. The former $1.5 million bonus recipient back in 2021 looks stronger and more filled out in his 6’1”/150 frame. Though he did his third season in the Single-A Columbia this year, I thought Vazquez showed some good things and has been solid this fall.

On Wednesday, Vazquez had two hits, both doubles, and had three batted balls north of 100 mph. Both doubles nearly left the yard in right-center and traveled 385 and 383 feet, respectively. His third hard-hit ball was smoked right at the centerfielder, traveling over 300 feet with an exit velocity of 103 mph.

Glendale (Chris)

When I say Glendale did next to nothing on Wednesday, they really did not do much at all. I do want to hit on Gabriel Rincones and a couple of pitchers, though.

Gabriel Rincones, OF, PHI, 23

​​Rincones is a player that I have loved more than most since I saw him last year in the AFL. He has power, sneaky speed, and a respectable feel to hit. The numbers so far have not been great in the AFL this time around, but he is picking things up. He was the only Glendale hitter to collect multiple hits on Wednesday, including a 108 mph double.

I still believe Rincones is an underrated fantasy asset and one that could contribute to a good Phillies team soon.

Jose Acuna, RHP, CIN, 22

Acuna has pitched pretty well in nearly every Arizona Fall League start except the one in which I saw him. He tossed three innings of one-run ball on Wednesday, striking out six and walking two. He allowed just two hits and generated six whiffs.

Acuña’s fastball sits between 92 and 94 mph. It does not stand out in any way, but his changeup does play well off of it, having nearly 15 inches of arm-side run. The changeup sits around 83-84 mph and has late tumble and fading action. He rounds out his arsenal with a slider in a similar velocity band to the changeup while having a gyro shape.

Salt River (Chris)

Gino Groover, 3B, ARI, 22

Groover collected two hits on Wednesday and registered one of the hardest-hit balls of the day at 107 mph. While he has not been overpowering or hit any towering home runs, he has put a ton of balls in play. Contact has been the best aspect of Groover’s game for a while, but I would like to see him tap into a little more power, especially since he plays third base. Interestingly enough, Groover has just one extra-base hit on his 20 hits in the AFL. The slash is solid, though, at .370/.444/.389. 

Groover ended the year on a hot note, slashing .281/.363/.502 post All-Star break. Over his final 17 games, he mashed seven home runs and four doubles. The underlying exit velocity data was slightly below average, but after missing a significant chunk of the 2024 season, Groover came to the AFL with something to prove. 

Chase Solesky, RHP, WSH, 27

Solesky came up in the White Sox organization and eventually wound up spending time in Indy ball in 2024 before the Nationals signed him, and he looked great in Double-A. Yes, he is older, turning 27 just after the season, but Solesky has looked great since the Nationals signed him. 

He tossed two scoreless on Wednesday with zero walks and four strikeouts. Solesky generated seven whiffs, split equally between his entire arsenal. The fastball sits at 91-94 mph, and he pairs it with a low-80s slider and an upper-80s cutter. 

Mesa (Beck)

Jonathon Long, 1B, CHC, 22

Long got a rare start at first base on Wednesday – where I think he ultimately ends up positionally – as Mesa put Tre’ Morgan and Niko Kavadas in the outfield, DH’ed Nick Kurtz, and sat Xavier Isaac. His bat is legit, but questions about whether it’s good enough to carry an R/R first base profile at the big league level remain, and it’s possible the Cubs will try to develop him at third base. He finished the bout with Salt River 2-for-4 with his sixth home run of the AFL campaign, a walk, and three RBIs.

Niko Kavadas, 1B, LAA, 26

I’m not sure what Niko Kavadas is doing out here besides hitting the cover off the ball. He seems like an odd inclusion – he’s 26 years old, he played 130 games in 2024, and is more or less a finished product – but he’s pacing the circuit in OPS with exactly a week remaining in the “regular season” (a span that includes the derby and fall-stars game). He added a pair of doubles to his line and raised his slugging percentage to .855 on Wednesday. I don’t think there’s much to take away from his performance; he’s already logged MLB service time, we know what he looked like in that sample (albeit small), and we know what his underlying data looked like in Triple-A (large sample, not great).

Scottsdale (Beck)

Jake Miller, LHP, DET, 23

This was my first time seeing Miller in person, and he delivered the strongest start I’ve seen in 13 games. He struck out eight over 4.0 scoreless innings and allowed just one baserunner on a Juan Baez dribbler that could have been ruled an error with a less favorable official scorer. The lefty threw 41 of 55 pitches for strikes – a reprieve from the 15+ walk contests we’ve attended thus far – and generated plenty of swinging strikes along the way. His fastball sat 93 - 95, which is far more enticing than the 90 - 93 that was reported for his previous start. He has a good changeup, serving as an effective platoon neutralizer, two variations of fastball (4SFB, SI), and two slider shapes (traditional slider and sweeper). Miller had flown under my radar but had a tremendously productive 2024, throwing 87.1 innings of 2.37 ERA ball from Single-A up through Double-A and striking out 104 in the process.

Sammy Siani, OF, PIT, 23

Siani has been a total monster in the AFL, coming off of a 2024 season that constituted something of a bounceback. He’s carrying a .407/.478/.610 slash with just a handful of games remaining and is an outside contender for MVP (the presumptive winner as of publication is Josue Briceño, but things can change). Siani is a little undersized at 5-foot-10, 195 pounds, but he is a good athlete despite his size. He’s had an up-and-down minor league career since going 37th overall in 2019, though he ultimately looks like a non-prospect for fantasy. He had a great night on Wednesday, finishing 2-for-3 with a home run, a walk, two RBIs, and two runs scored.

Peoria (Beck)

Leodalis De Vries, SS, SDP, 18

It’s like he’s committing errors to spite me for the glowing defensive report. He booted one in the first inning when Liranzo ran in front of him and nearly got hit by the ball in the process, making it a tough play all around. This was one of the sloppiest professional baseball games I’ve ever attended; the teams combined for nine errors committed by nine separate players and I may have scored a couple more as errors if I had my druthers. He had an otherwise empty day at the plate, finishing 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.

Juan Baez, 2B, MIL, 19

In the box score, it looks like he had a 2-for-4 day. The first hit was a slow roller to third that was fielded by Eddinson Paulino and launched into the stands, and I think a good throw would have gotten him. The second was a true base knock, but it was not an impressive day for Baez at the ballpark. He had more than one gaffe in the field – a traditional error, the misplaying of a hard grounder that was scored a hit, and failing to reel in a throw on a stolen base attempt that was ultimately ruled a throwing error on Ethan Salas. It’s unclear where he goes if he can’t handle the demands of the second base position – I don’t think he has the thunder in his bat to support a move to a corner.