Arizona Fall League Prospect Report — October 26, 2021

Image credit: Gabriel Moreno (Photo by Bill Mitchell)

Jeter Downs, SS, Red Sox — The Jeter Downs Redemption Tour (with dates at Salt River, Scottsdale, Peoria, Surprise, Glendale and Mesa) hasn’t lost a step through three weeks. Downs, who struggled through his regular season at Triple-A, connected on a grand slam in the eighth inning of his team’s loss on Monday. Result aside, Downs has been fabulous in his time in the desert. The home run, his fifth of the year, leads the AFL in that category. Boston’s system has been rejuvenated by the addition of Marcelo Mayer, the ascension of Nick Yorke and the continued brilliance of Triston Casas. It would become a lot better if Downs can use the Fall League as a springboard to a strong 2022. 

Ezequiel Duran, 2B, Rangers — Twice this Fall League, Duran has come up one hit short of the cycle. On Monday, he lacked the home run, but still had the other three legs before the game was half over. The outing was yet another highlight in what so far has been an excellent AFL for the jewel of the trade that sent slugger Joey Gallo to New York. Duran has played in just six games this AFL, but his last four have been spectacular. During that stretch he’s gone a scorching 11-for-18 with four doubles, two triples and a home run while playing all around the diamond. 

Gabriel Moreno, C, Blue Jays — A broken thumb was the only thing that stopped Moreno this season. The injury cut short what had been a breakout campaign and put him on the injured list for most of the rest of the season. Moreno didn’t get into a Fall League game until the second week of the season, but on Monday put together a signature performance. The dual-threat backstop went a perfect 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a walk in his team’s one-run (the score was 16-15!) loss to Surprise. The game was Moreno’s second four-hit effort of the year, with the last coming on June 11 against Double-A Portland. 

Andres Chaparro, 1B, Yankees — Surrounded by bigger names like Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza, Chaparro quietly had an excellent season. Between both levels of Class A, the 22-year-old corner infielder hit .267/.381/.468 with 21 doubles and 15 homers. Impressive under any context, the 15 homers were just two shy of the total he’d amassed in his previous four minor league seasons, which were spent at short-season or lower. On Monday, Chaparro was 4-for-4 with a double and his first longball of the fall.

Mike Siani, OF, Reds — Siani has earned a reputation throughout his career as a player with a table setter’s skill set. He’s swiped 75 bags in 100 tries over two pro seasons. Ninety-six of his 118 career hits are singles. On Monday, however, he provided those same attributes at the bottom of the order for Surprise, which edged Mesa in a 16-15 slugfest. Siani went 4-for-5 with a double in the contest, scored once and drove in three more runs. He and Andres Chaparro combined for eight of the Saguaro’s 17 hits. 

JJ Bleday, OF, Marlins — It’s no secret that Bleday, the fourth overall pick in 2019 out of Vanderbilt, had a rough first full season as a pro. He scuffled in Double-A, but the Marlins were heartened by the way Bleday scored on some of their internal metrics as the year wore on. Specifically, he was putting the barrel on the kinds of pitches he could damage. Early in the season, those were swings and misses or mishits. On Monday, he made some impact. The 23-year-old Bleday was 3-for-4 with his first AFL longball, scored twice, walked twice and drove in two runs. The game brought his AFL line to 11-for-30 with a slash line of .367/.525/.533. 

HITTERS

ORG CLASS RANK PLAYER AB R H RBI AVG NOTES
BAL AFL   Yusniel Diaz, RF 6 1 1 3 .208 2B (3),
BAL AFL   Greg Cullen, 2B 2 2 1 0 .231  
BOS AFL   Triston Casas, 3B 5 1 2 1 .294 2B (2),
BOS AFL   Jeter Downs, SS 3 1 1 4 .333 HR (5), BB (8),
CHC AFL   Luis Vazquez, SS 2 0 0 0 .148  
CHC AFL   Andy Weber, SS 6 2 3 2 .269 2B (1), 3B (2),
CHC AFL   Nelson Velazquez, LF 6 1 1 1 .333  
CIN AFL   Mike Siani, CF 5 1 4 3 .269
2B (2), SB (6), CS (1),
CLE AFL   Richard Palacios, 2B 5 1 2 1 .323 2B (4),
CWS AFL   Yoelkis Cespedes, OF 4 0 1 0 .233 BB (1),
CWS AFL   Jose Rodriguez, IF 5 1 2 0 .269  
HOU AFL   Pedro Leon, OF 4 0 3 0 .229 2B (1),
HOU AFL   Korey Lee, C 5 1 3 1 .333 2B (1), E (4),
KC AFL   Seuly Matias, OF 5 2 2 4 .241 2B (1), HR (3),
LAA AFL   Jeremiah Jackson, SS 4 1 0 0 .133 BB (1),
LAD AFL   Kody Hoese, 3B 5 0 1 2 .250  
LAD AFL   Jacob Amaya, SS 4 0 0 0 .267  
MIA AFL   JJ Bleday, OF 4 2 3 2 .367
HR (1), 2 BB (10),
MIA AFL   Troy Johnston, OF 6 1 2 1 .286 2B (1),
MIN AFL   Andrew Bechtold, 3B 3 0 0 0 .286 2 BB (3),
MIN AFL   Matt Wallner, RF 4 1 0 0 .258 BB (5),
NYY AFL   Austin Wells, C 3 3 1 1 .400 2 BB (5),
NYY AFL   Andres Chaparro, 3B 4 3 4 6 .227 2B (1), HR (1),
NYY AFL   Elijah Dunham, OF 5 1 0 0 .261 BB (7),
OAK AFL   Jonah Bride, 3B 3 2 1 1 .300
2B (2), BB (5), E (1),
SF AFL   Marco Luciano, SS 3 1 1 0 .222 BB (7),
SF AFL   Patrick Bailey, C 2 0 0 0 .278 2 BB (4),
STL AFL   Juan Yepez, 1B 5 2 3 3 .361 2B (5), HR (3),
STL AFL   Lars Nootbaar, RF 4 2 2 1 .300 2B (2), BB (7),
TB AFL   Curtis Mead, 2B 4 1 1 0 .294 3B (2),
TB AFL   Matthew Dyer, C 5 0 0 0 .160  
TEX AFL   Ezequiel Duran, 2B 5 0 3 2 .478 2B (4), 3B (3),
TEX AFL   Justin Foscue, 2B 5 2 0 0 .208  
TEX AFL   Sam Huff, C 5 1 1 0 .167  
TOR AFL   Gabriel Moreno, C 4 3 4 2 .429 2 2B (2), BB (6),
TOR AFL   Spencer Horwitz, 1B 3 1 1 2 .370 2 BB (6),
WAS AFL   Jackson Cluff, SS 4 3 2 0 .350 2B (2), BB (5),

PITCHERS

ORG CLASS RANK PLAYER IP H R ER BB K ERA NOTES
BAL AFL   Logan Gillaspie, RHP 2 5 4 4 1 2 8.31  
BAL AFL   Conner Loeprich, RHP 2.2 4 4 4 2 2 11.12  
BAL AFL   Nick Vespi, LHP 1.2 2 1 1 0 1 1.59  
BOS AFL   Brendan Cellucci, LHP 2 5 2 2 1 1 14.40  
BOS AFL   Connor Seabold, RHP 4 4 1 1 0 4 5.79  
CWS AFL   Johan Dominguez, RHP 3 2 1 1 1 5 11.81  
CWS AFL   J.B. Olson, RHP 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 4.50  
HOU AFL   Joe Record, RHP 2 1 0 0 1 1 0.00  
LAD AFL   Kyle Hurt, RHP 0.2 2 4 4 3 0 7.20  
MIA AFL   Justin Evans, RHP 1 5 5 3 1 0 12.60 L (0-1)
NYY AFL   Clay Aguilar, LHP 1 5 5 5 1 0 15.00  
NYY AFL   Tanner Myatt, RHP 1 0 0 0 1 1 3.38 Sv (1)
OAK AFL   Pedro Santos, RHP 0.2 1 2 2 0 0 16.20  
STL AFL   Zack Thompson, LHP 2 0 0 0 2 2 0.00 W (1-0)
STL AFL   Jake Walsh, RHP 1 2 1 1 0 0 6.75 Sv (2)
TB AFL   Carlos Garcia, RHP 2.1 3 0 0 0 2 0.00  
TEX AFL   Eudrys Manon, RHP 1 3 3 3 1 2 7.36  
WAS AFL   Cole Henry, RHP 3 4 4 4 2 5 4.50  
WAS AFL   Evan Lee, LHP 1 3 3 3 1 0 7.36  
WAS AFL   Todd Peterson, RHP 2 2 0 0 0 2 0.00 W (1-0)

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