Arizona Fall League 2024: Salt River Wins Championship, Josue Briceño Takes Home MVP

Image credit: Salt River Rafters (Photo by Bill Mitchell)

For the first time since 2019, the Salt River Rafters are champions of the Arizona Fall League.

The Rafters earned the crown by upending the Surprise Saguaros—winners of the league’s last two titles—by a 3-2 score while playing as the visiting team at their home park of Salt River Fields.

Surprise opened the scoring when Rangers prospect Max Acosta reached Salt River starter Dustin Saenz for an RBI single. Salt River answered with single runs in each of the next two frames. The first on a Ben Ross sacrifice fly, which sent Robert Hassell III scampering home. An inning later, Twins outfielder Kala’i Rosario gave the Rafters the lead on a double to left field.

Rosario drove in Salt River’s final run two innings later on a double play in the fifth inning, and Surprise answered on another Acosta single in the bottom of the frame.

From that point on, it was a battle of the bullpens. Royals righthander Luinder Avila and Rangers fireballer Marc Church held serve the rest of the way, but their zeroes were matched by Salt River’s trio of Alfredo Morillo (Diamondbacks), Luis Pacheco (Yankees) and Evan Justice (Rockies), who held Surprise to just a hit and two walks over the duration.

Things got messy in the ninth when Justice plunked Orioles catcher Creed Willems and walked Guardians prospect Chase DeLauter, but a grounder to short from Rangers outfielder Alejandro Osuna snuffed the rally, ended the game and set off Salt River’s celebration.

The Fall League season was marked by new heights from some of the participants. Yankees infielder Caleb Durbin swiped 29 bags, breaking the league’s all-time mark, and finished the year with a .312/.427/.548 line that included five doubles, five home runs, 17 walks and just six strikeouts.

Scottsdale’s Josue Briceño also put his name in the record books. The slugging Detroit first baseman ended the fall with a .433/.509/.867 slash line, 10 home runs and 27 RBIs. Those numbers earned him the first triple crown in the history of the AFL, which began in 1992.

Briceño, who was named the league’s MVP was also the first player to finish a fall with double-digit home runs since Mike Olt did so in 2011.

Phillies top prospect Andrew Painter, who has not pitched a game in the regular season since 2022, showed no signs of rust in his return to the mound.

The tall righthander overpowered hitters with the same arsenal he used to carve the competition two years ago, when he raced from Low-A to Double-A in his first full pro season and earned BA’s inaugural Pitcher of the Year award. Painter finished the AFL with 18 strikeouts over 15.2 innings. He allowed just four runs on 10 hits and four walks, let up just one home run and re-established himself as one of the game’s premier pitching prospects.

Padres infielder Leodalis De Vries joined a star-studded club by hitting an AFL home run as an 18-year-old. The list also includes current Padres teammate Ethan Salas, Mariners cornerstone Julio Rodriguez and Phillies megastar Bryce Harper.