Arizona Fall League Prospect Report — November 3, 2021

Image credit: Nick Gonzales (Photo by Bill Mitchell)

Kole Cottam, C, Red Sox — Boston’s fourth-round pick out of Kentucky in 2018 looked like he was having a career year following the lost 2020 season. Between High-A Greenville and Double-A Portland, the 24-year-old slashed .278/.371/.500 and slammed a career-best 10 homers (he entered the year with just 11 to his name). His season didn’t begin until July 29, however, so he’s using the Arizona Fall League to make up for lost time. He’s played three seasons in the minors, but on Tuesday he achieved a pair of career-bests when he collected his first four-hit game and first multi-homer game in Scottsdale’s walk-off win over Salt River. Even better? Cottam’s last hit—a 10th-inning single—brought home the game-winning run. 

Richie Palacios, OF, Guardians — Very quietly, Palacios—the brother of Josh and nephew of Rey—put together an excellent season in the Cleveland system. He struck out just 70 times while drawing 58 walks over the course of 428 plate appearances spent between Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus, and posted an .874 OPS in the process. He had a big day on Tuesday in AFL action, collecting three hits—including his third home run of the AFL—and scoring three times in his team’s win over Salt River. 

Nick Gonzales, 2B, Pirates — The man can flat-out hit. Gonzales, the Pirates’ first-rounder from the 2020 draft, spent his first year as a pro at High-A Greensboro, where he raked consistently but missed time with a broken finger. When he was on the field, he showed a quick, twitchy stroke geared for slicing line drives all over the yard. He has power, too, and on Tuesday connected on his first home run of the AFL. Most of his home run power came during games at hitter-friendly Greensboro, but he’s a fine complement to Oneil Cruz in the resurgent Pirates system. 

Roansy Contreras, RHP, Pirates — The man can flat-out pitch. Contreras, acquired from the Yankees in the Jameson Taillon deal (Peoria teammate Canaan Smith-Njigba came along with him), was one of the biggest revelations of the early season, which he spent flaming hitters in the Double-A Northeast. His entire arsenal was boosted a tick from its pre-pandemic state, and the pitcher who was formerly known as a high-floor, low-ceiling kind of arm showed wipeout stuff. He dealt with forearm soreness this year, but recovered in time to make a big league cameo at season’s end. On Tuesday, he spun three perfect innings with five punchouts in Peoria’s win over Surprise.

Gabriel Moreno, C, Blue Jays — With Riley Greene pulled before Opening Day, Spencer Torkelson gone with an ankle injury and C.J. Abrams having yet to debut, Moreno is the highest-ranking prospect in the Fall League. Lately, he’s been showing everyone exactly why he’s earned that reputation. He lashed a pair of doubles on Tuesday, one on a 97 mph fastball that he shot the opposite way down the first-base line and another he pulled into the left-field corner. His at-bats were impressive, too. The Blue Jays backstop worked counts all afternoon until he picked pitches he could impact. He saw 26 pitches in his five trips to the plate. 

 

HITTERS

ORG CLASS RANK PLAYER AB R H RBI AVG NOTES
ARI AFL   Cooper Hummel, OF 1 1 0 2 .188
3 BB (11), CS (1),
ARI AFL   Buddy Kennedy, 3B 2 2 1 3 .158 HR (1), BB (3),
ATL AFL   Luke Waddell, SS 4 1 1 1 .179 BB (6),
BAL AFL   Greg Cullen, 2B 2 0 1 3 .280  
BOS AFL   Triston Casas, 3B 4 1 1 2 .308 2B (3), BB (10),
BOS AFL   Kole Cottam, C 5 2 4 4 .294 2 HR (2),
BOS AFL   Jeter Downs, SS 4 1 0 0 .257 BB (14),
CHC AFL   Nelson Velazquez, LF 4 2 1 1 .387 HR (6), BB (12),
CHC AFL   Andy Weber, SS 3 0 0 0 .320 2 BB (14),
CIN AFL   Ivan Johnson, 2B 4 1 1 0 .237 2B (2),
CLE AFL   Richard Palacios, 2B 5 3 3 2 .321 HR (3),
COL AFL   Ezequiel Tovar, SS 1 0 0 0 .154  
COL AFL   Michael Toglia, 1B 3 0 1 0 .280  
COL AFL   Ryan Vilade, LF 5 2 2 0 .267  
CWS AFL   Yoelkis Cespedes, OF 5 1 2 0 .234  
CWS AFL   Yolbert Sanchez, SS 3 0 2 1 .313  
DET AFL   Eric De La Rosa, OF 6 1 1 0 .235  
HOU AFL   Grae Kessinger, SS 3 1 1 0 .263 BB (4),
KC AFL   Nathan Eaton, 2B 4 1 2 3 .444 HR (1),
KC AFL   Luca Tresh, C 3 0 0 0 .118 E (1),
KC AFL   Seuly Matias, OF 3 0 0 0 .226 BB (8),
LAA AFL   Orlando Martinez, RF 4 0 1 1 .200  
LAA AFL   Anthony Mulrine, C 3 0 0 0 .036  
LAD AFL   James Outman, CF 5 0 1 2 .282 SB (1),
LAD AFL   Kody Hoese, 3B 3 0 0 0 .161 BB (3),
LAD AFL   Jacob Amaya, SS 3 2 1 0 .269 BB (8),
LAD AFL   Carson Taylor, C 2 0 1 0 .412  
MIA AFL   JJ Bleday, OF 5 0 1 0 .382 2B (6),
MIA AFL   Kameron Misner, OF 3 2 1 0 .188 BB (11), E (3),
MIL AFL   David Hamilton, SS 2 1 2 0 .444  
MIL AFL   Joe Gray, OF 3 1 1 3 .061 2B (1), 2 BB (5),
MIN AFL   Andrew Bechtold, 3B 5 0 0 1 .205  
NYM AFL   Brett Baty, 3B 4 1 1 0 .241  
NYM AFL   Wilmer Reyes, SS 5 0 2 1 .238  
NYM AFL   Hayden Senger, C 5 0 1 0 .231  
NYY AFL   Elijah Dunham, OF 4 0 1 0 .378 E (1),
NYY AFL   Andres Chaparro, 3B 4 1 1 1 .250 2B (4), E (1),
OAK AFL   Logan Davidson, SS 3 1 1 0 .262
2 BB (11), SB (1),
PHI AFL   Logan O’Hoppe, C 3 2 1 1 .319 2 BB (16),
PHI AFL   Bryson Stott, SS 3 1 0 1 .346 BB (15), SB (4),
PIT AFL   Ji-Hwan Bae, SS 4 2 1 1 .315 SB (6),
PIT AFL   Nick Gonzales, SS 4 2 2 1 .345
HR (1), BB (10), 2 SB (3),
PIT AFL   Canaan Smith-Njigba, LF 5 1 3 0 .263 3 2B (5), SB (4),
SD AFL   Matt Batten, 2B 4 0 3 1 .326 2B (2),
SEA AFL   Cade Marlowe, LF 1 1 0 0 .205 4 BB (12),
SEA AFL   Jose Caballero, IF 4 0 1 3 .250 BB (5),
SF AFL   Hunter Bishop, OF 2 1 0 1 .250 2 BB (3),
SF AFL   Marco Luciano, SS 4 0 2 0 .213  
SF AFL   Will Wilson, SS 4 0 0 0 .150  
STL AFL   Juan Yepez, 1B 4 0 1 0 .283  
TB AFL   Curtis Mead, 2B 4 2 1 0 .309 2B (4),
TEX AFL   Ezequiel Duran, 2B 3 0 0 0 .348  
TEX AFL   Justin Foscue, 2B 4 0 0 1 .190  
TOR AFL   Gabriel Moreno, C 4 0 2 2 .366
2 2B (6), BB (8), E (2),
TOR AFL   Spencer Horwitz, 1B 4 1 1 0 .400
2B (3), BB (9), SB (2),
TOR AFL   Leonardo Jimenez, 2B 2 1 1 1 .217 2 BB (8),
WAS AFL   Donovan Casey, RF 3 2 1 0 .258 2B (2), BB (6),

PITCHERS

ORG CLASS RANK PLAYER IP H R ER BB K ERA NOTES
ATL AFL   Indigo Diaz, RHP 1 1 0 0 0 2 18.69  
ATL AFL   Jake Higginbotham, LHP 1 3 4 4 1 1 19.64  
BOS AFL   Brendan Cellucci, LHP 1 1 0 0 0 1 11.57  
BOS AFL   Andrew Politi, RHP 1.1 3 4 4 2 4 6.00  
CHC AFL   Ryan Jensen, RHP 4 6 3 3 3 0 7.30 W (2-0)
CHC AFL   Caleb Kilian, RHP 4 2 0 0 0 4 8.00  
CIN AFL   Eddy Demurias, RHP 0.2 2 3 3 3 0 8.44  
CIN AFL   Jacques Pucheu, LHP 2 2 0 0 1 1 0.00  
CLE AFL   Tanner Tully, LHP 3.1 4 2 2 3 3 6.23  
COL AFL   Jake Bird, RHP 1.1 1 1 0 2 1 1.35 L (0-1)
COL AFL   Matt Dennis, RHP 4 3 1 1 0 2 3.38  
CWS AFL   Caleb Freeman, RHP 1.1 2 0 0 0 1 1.50  
CWS AFL   McKinley Moore, RHP 1.2 1 0 0 1 2 5.40  
KC AFL   Stephen Woods, RHP 1 2 3 3 2 1 4.50  
LAD AFL   Jeff Belge, LHP 0.2 1 3 3 2 1 18.56 L (0-1)
LAD AFL   Kyle Hurt, RHP 0.2 3 2 2 2 2 6.75  
LAD AFL   Landon Knack, RHP 3 1 0 0 3 1 4.26  
LAD AFL   Bobby Miller, RHP 0.2 1 2 2 2 1 7.04  
MIA AFL   Justin Evans, RHP 1 2 1 1 0 0 10.29  
MIL AFL   Taylor Floyd, RHP 1 4 4 4 1 0 6.75  
MIL AFL   J.T. Hintzen, RHP 1 1 1 1 0 1 11.81  
MIL AFL   Justin Jarvis, RHP 2 2 3 3 1 4 4.00  
MIN AFL   Evan Sisk, LHP 1.1 0 0 0 0 1 11.37  
NYY AFL   Clay Aguilar, LHP 2.2 2 3 1 1 1 9.53 L (1-1)
PIT AFL   Michael Burrows, RHP 4 2 1 1 1 1 3.72  
PIT AFL   Roansy Contreras, RHP 3 0 0 0 0 5 4.50 W (1-1)
TB AFL   Trevor Brigden, RHP 1 2 2 2 1 1 6.00  
TB AFL   Carlos Garcia, RHP 2 2 1 1 0 0 1.69 W (2-0)
TEX AFL   Tim Brennan, RHP 1.1 4 1 1 1 0 8.53  
TEX AFL   Eudrys Manon, RHP 0.1 0 0 0 2 1 9.53  

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