Arizona Fall League MLB Prospects Hot Sheet (10/22/18)

Image credit: Lucius Fox (Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images)

Kyle Muller, LHP, Braves
Team: Peoria Javelinas
Age: 21
Why He’s Here: 1-0, 0.00, 2 G, 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 SO.

The Scoop: In his first full season in pro ball, Mueller showed signs of becoming the rare high-priced draft miss for the Braves. The club is usually aggressive in pushing its pitchers, but it held Muller back in extended spring training before sending him out to the rookie-level Appalachian League. There he didn’t impress. To his credit Muller responded by working harder. He spent the offseason working out at Driveline Baseball and regained the velocity that was missing for most of 2017. He made up for lost time by playing at three different levels in 2018 and has gotten off to a good start in the Arizona Fall League. Muller was sitting 91-93 mph and touching 95.

Lucius Fox, SS, Rays
Team: Peoria Javelinas
Age: 21
Why He’s Here: .450/.577/.450 (9-for-20), 7 R, 2 RBIs, 6 BB, 4 SO.

The Scoop: The Rays have a large number of middle infield prospects scattered at almost every level of the minors, but none of them can match Fox for athleticism, range and twitchiness.The question with the still-quite-skinny Fox is just how much he’s going to hit and especially how much he’ll drive the ball. His .324 career slugging percentage is evidence that so far, he’s largely slapped the ball through the infield and in front of outfielders. But so far, he’s found the AFL to his liking. Fox has had at least one hit in all eight games he’s played in so far. He’s still largely slapping the ball–he has one home run but no other extra-base hits–but he’s slapping it well.

Skye Bolt, OF, Athletics
Team: Mesa Solar Sox
Age: 24
Why He’s Here: .477’/.513/1.000 (5-for-12), 4 R, 2 3B, 1 HR, 3 RBIs, 3 BB, 4 SO.

The Scoop: This is decision time for the As when it comes to Bolt. Bolt will be Rule 5 eligible this offseason if he is not added to the 40-man roster. Right now, there’s a good reason to the A’s may take their chances with Bolt. He’s a center fielder who has a decent understanding of the strike zone and some power (19 home runs this year). But he’s struggled to hit for average. Bolt so far is adding to his case in the AFL. His home run this week was his second in just six games and he’s hitting .333 to go with it.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 3B, Blue Jays
Team: Surprise Saguaros.
Age: 19
Why He’s Here: .400/.476/.467 (5-for-16), 1 2B, 3 RBIs, 3 BB, 1 SB.

The Scoop: At this point, Guerrero has so firmly entrenched himself into the weekly Hot Sheet that we don’t know if it’s actually possible to remove him from the list. As long as Guerrero keeps this up, we’ll never find out. He has gotten at least one hit in all seven AFL games he’s played in and he’s walked four times while only striking out once. He’s hitting .517 overall. He’s hitting over .500 at home. He’s hitting over .500 in road games. He’s hitting over .500 against lefthanded pitchers and he’s hitting over .500 against righthanders as well.

Daniel Woodrow, OF, Tigers
Team: Mesa Solar Sox
Age: 23
Why He’s Here: .500/.583/.500 (5-for-10), 4 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 4 SBs.

The Scoop: When the Tigers drafted Woodrow in the 12th round out of Creighton in 2016, they were largely drafting his legs. Woodrow was a top-of-the-scale speedster. But he’s proven to be pretty good with the bat as well. Woodrow hit .313 for Double-A Erie this year. He rare hits it over the heads of outfielders, but he sprays the ball around the field quite well and has taken that approach to the Arizona Fall League. What Woodrow now needs to master is his jumps. Despite great speed, he was thrown out 13 times in 32 attempts this year.