The Arizona Fall League – Part 1

Dateline-Phoenix: Last week I combined two joyous parts of my life, family and baseball, by visiting my two older sisters and watching several Arizona Fall League baseball games. Last year my sister Nancy retired to Sun City West, joining my sister Susan, who nine years ago retired to nearby Surprise, both in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area. So my late-summer family and baseball road trip, chronicled here in these posts, continued in the arid southwest.

The Arizona Fall League is owned and operated by Major League Baseball. Now in its twentieth year, it gives teams the opportunity to have some of their top prospects compete against other similarly talented prospects. This year the schedule runs from October 4th through the November 19th League Championship Game. Each major league organization sends seven players who are collectively assigned to one of the league’s six-teams. The Managers and coaches are assigned in the same manner. Here’s this season’s lineup:

Mesa Solar Sox: Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Minnesota Twins and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Salt River Rafters: Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Scottsdale Scorpions: Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants and Washington Nationals.

Peoria Javelinas: Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners.

Phoenix Desert Dogs: Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics and Toronto Blue Jays.

Surprise Saguaros: Atlanta Braves, Florida Marlins, Kansas City Royals, Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers.

Thursday, October 20th.

I’m in Peoria Stadium to watch the visiting Phoenix Desert Dogs tangle with the home-town Javelinas. The stadium is easy to find, has oodles of free parking and is easy to navigate. After stepping up to the ticket booth and buying my $6 ticket, I realize with mixed feelings that I have just been given my first ever Senior Citizen discount. How did that happen? I suspect gradually, but now that it’s here, it all seems terribly sudden. But what can you do? Paying the extra dollar wouldn’t do me any good because I’d still be a Senior Citizen. I guess the moral of the story is that it’s better to have these circumstances than none at all, plus I’ve got an extra dollar in my pocket, so into the stadium I go.

Players Warming Up At Peoria Stadium

It’s a mere 96 degrees under a clear, gorgeous sky. A resident of San Francisco and it’s cooler, fog-driven climate, I’m not used to it. If you ever come out here it’s a good idea to drink before you’re thirsty, because it’s easy to get dehydrated. I want to mention right at the outset that I didn’t keep a scorecard for these games. I went to enjoy myself and to see the players with an open mind, letting their talent draw my attention. I put my observations and thoughts into my digital voice recorder and figured I would put the whole story together later. This worked out very well until I somehow managed to lose the tiny device after the game. Not to worry. I’m still pretty sharp (Hold that Senior Citizen discount!) and am ready to give you my observations of some of the players. I’ll list the organization the player is from immediately after his name. Here we go:

Cody Scarpetta, Milwaukee Brewers, started for the Javelinas. He’s wild and a parade of runners takes to the bases like fish to water. I didn’t count, but it seemed like her got behind every batter. He wasn’t missing low either, he was wild high  and the Desert Dogs were teeing off. I found myself feeling very badly for him. His jersey read Milwaukee but I could clearly see some Honorary 1962 New York Mets in him. His struggle ended after a merciful Desert Dog hit a grand slam, and Cody walked off the field with a line of four hits, seven runs and no outs. Ouch. That’s what I call a rough day at the office.

Anthony Gose, Toronto Blue Jays, is a rocket quick center fielder who laid down a bunt to start the game, easily beating the catcher’s throw to first. He then stole second base with ease. I could see how he stole 70 bases during the just completed season when he played 137 games for Double AA New Hampshire in the Eastern League. He is a plus runner who looks major-league ready with the glove. His throws had plenty of zip on them, so I’d say his arm is a plus, clearly above average. The Blue Jays need help at second base, and Anthony Gose looks like he could be the answer. He’s 21 years of age and at 6′ 1″ and 190 pounds looks like he could develop some power. Barring an injury, this guy is a major league player for sure.

Wilfredo Tovar, New York Mets, played shortstop and showed good range and a very strong-arm. The nineteen year old Venezuelan made one outstanding play that received a nice round of applause from the crowd. He broke to his left to grab a ground shot up the middle. The pitcher lunged for it and the ball unexpectedly glanced off his glove, ricocheted in the opposite direction. Tovar instantly reversed his direction, moved quickly to his right where he got to the ball and made a one-bounce throw to the first baseman. Even though a fast runner just beat his throw, this was a major league play all the way. He was a little quiet with the bat, but showed a flash of power when he hit a deep fly to centerfield that landed at the foot of the fence for an easy double.

Jefry Marte, New York Mets, is a third baseman. I know that because that’s where he stood when the game started. I didn’t see anything noteworthy about his defense. I liked his arm strength but not his range. If it’s hit to him, he’ll catch it. I’ve read it’s a different story with the bat, however, I didn’t see it. I know he has some power. Maybe this was an off day for him. He’s a shade younger than most of the players in this league, but he certainly didn’t look intimidated.

Scooter Gennett, Milwaukee Brewers, is a wiry second baseman with exceptional speed. On this date he’s a line drive machine who could get on base in his sleep. He lashed two solid hits before working two walks in the four at bats that I saw. He was hands down the best pure athlete I saw in my three games. He looks like he could play shortstop; he’s sure got the arm strength. This kid looks like a .300 hitter who could hit 15 to 20 home runs a year. I think he’ll start next year in Double AA, but I don’t expect him to stay for the entire season.

Friday, October 21st.

Your Blogger In Surprise Stadium

The Scottsdale Scorpions journeyed to Surprise to play the Saguaros. This match had a little more star power for me, with Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals, the first player taken in the 2010 draft, and several players from the Red Sox and Giants organizations. I’ve got a lot of very good friends back home in the San Francisco who would want my take on their prospects, so I paid close attention.

Gary Brown, San Francisco Giants. He’s an intriguing prospect. The Giants 2010 first round draft-pick is a fleet-footed center fielder who gets out of the box quickly and can steal a base. Or perhaps I should say bases; lots of bases. On his lone attempt to steal second base, he got a terrific jump and had the base easily stolen but there were two outs and the batter made an out. His day with the bat brought mixed results: a fly ball out to shallow left field, a sizzling liner that was caught by the shortstop, an infield ground out, a tapper down the third-base line that he beat out by a whisper and a strikeout after a classic hitter vs pitcher battle in which he fouled off four pitches before whiffing on strike three. In the field, Brown had a minor bobble on a ground single in the bottom of the first, made a great one-hop throw from deep center field to third base that missed getting the runner by a whisper. On the flip side, several of us in the stands thought he could have caught a deep fly ball to center field that went over his head. Other people in the stands thought he should have had it, including a life-long Giants fan sitting in the row next to mine.

Joe Panic, San Francisco Giants, is the organization’s 2011 first round draft pick. He’s from Yonkers, New York and played college ball at St. Johns. But don’t let that east-coast pedigree fool you, Giants fans; this kid is tough as nails. He hit .341 this past year in 69 games for the short-season Class A Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, where he earned his league’s Most Valuable Player Award. He had an OBP (on-base percentage) of .401. Every Giants fan knows the parent club needs more players who can get on base consistently. He hit seventh in this lineup, but don’t be fooled by that noise. I project him as a number two hitter. On this occasion, he grounded into a double play, smacked a ground single through the right side, flied out to center field and got an infield hit. He made all the routine plays in the field, and one exciting one when he made a nice diving catch to his left that prevented an easy double. On that play, he looked more like Omar Vizquel than Robby Thompson.

Tyson Gillies, Philadelphia Phillies. When Cliff Lee was traded to the Seattle Mariners back in 2009, Gillies was one of the prospects sent to the Phillies. I can see why they wanted him. He’s a line-drive hitter with exceptional speed. With his acceleration, he’ll take that extra base, stretching singles to doubles and doubles to triples. His quickness translates into exceptional range in right field, where he appears major league ready. On a high fly ball down the right field line, he blazed a great distance to make the catch in foul ground. This brought a WOW! and a well-earned round of applause from the crowd. He made several excellent catches that day. He has a strong arm, too, which was demonstrated from deep right field when he unleashed a blazing strike that beat a runner trying to score from 3rd base.

Will Middlebrooks, Boston Red Sox is big and strong. In my first look at him he launched a home run to deep, and I do mean deep, left field. In his next at bat, he hit the ball hard, but to the right side of the infield for an out. I’m thinking we’ve got a slugger here when the next time at bat he laid down a bunt which he easily beat out, stole second, and scored with room to spare on a double. He has a very strong arm, although one of  his throws sailed high over the first baseman’s outstretched glove.

Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals. I thought he played right field last year, but today he’s in left, where nothing notable occurred; routine plays only. At bat, a strikeout swinging, a fly-ball to right, a tapper to the pitcher. Quiet today.

Brock Huntzinger, Boston Red Sox, can really bring it. His fastball topped out at 97, the slider was in the low 90’s, and the breaking stuff in the mid-80’s. He looks like he knows what he’s doing on the mound. Two successive strikeouts looking and a few ground outs later and I’m all over this guy. More stikeouts followed. Who is this guy? I think we’re going to get a chance to find out. I saw a smooth delivery with an over the top release. His ERA has been high at some of his minor league stops, but I like his mechanics as well as his three to one strikeout to walk ratio.

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Those were the players who caught my eye in my first two Arizona Fall League Games. In my next post, I’ll cover my last two games and introduce you to some new friends I made while I was here in the Valley of the Sun.