Arizona Fall League Prospect Report — October 21, 2021

Image credit: (Photo by Bill Mitchell)

Sam Huff, C, Rangers — Texas’ massive catching prospect played first base on Wednesday but still showed the same hard impact at the plate that helped him get to the big leagues. He missed most of the season with injury, so he’s using the Fall League to make up for lost time. Against Surprise, the hulking Huff went 3-for-4 with a trio of singles. All three of the hits were scorched, each registering exit velocities between 107-108 mph. 

Michael Toglia, 1B, Rockies — The Colorado kid keeps on hitting. Toglia’s started his AFL season on a tear, with hits in five of his first six games and two hits apiece in two of his last three games, including a pair on Wednesday afternoon. He’s also gone deep twice already. Both of his singles on Wednesday went to the opposite field, one a nice piece of hitting against a 95 mph fastball and the other a Baltimore Chop into no man’s land on the infield. 

Gabriel Moreno, C, Blue Jays — Moreno was one of the biggest breakout prospects of the season before a broken thumb sidelined him for nearly the remainder of the season. He didn’t make his AFL debut until Tuesday, when he went 0-for-2 with three walks. At his best, he showed a combination of offensive and defensive skills to make him a potential frontline catcher in the big leagues for years to come.

Nelson Velazquez, OF, Cubs — Velazquez has always had potential bubbling below the surface. He started to show it in the regular season, when he produced a career-best 20 homers between High-A and Double-A, accompanied by an .829 OPS. He put together an excellent game on Wednesday as well, going 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, an RBI and four runs. 

Jeter Downs, SS, Red Sox — After a trying regular season at Triple-A Worcester, Downs’ prospect stock took a tumble. Now, he’s trying to make up that ground with a reset in the AFL. So far, so good. Downs has been on fire to open the season, including a 2-for-4 day with his third home run, tied for the most in the league. He’s 5-for-14 with the three homers to begin his season, and has walked six times while striking out just three times. 

Logan O’Hoppe, C, Phillies — Though he has flown below the spotlight in a system with higher profile players like Mick Abel and Bryson Stott, O’Hoppe put together an excellent season of his own. He produced a .789 OPS with 19 doubles and 17 homers while jumping from High-A Jersey Shore to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He’s opened the AFL on a hot streak, too, including a 3-for-4 effort on Wednesday that included a pair of doubles. 

MacKenzie Gore, LHP, Padres — After a scintillating outing in his first AFL start, the wheels fell of in Gore’s second outing. He threw just 42% of his pitches for strikes (compared to 64% his first outing) and walked five of the 11 hitters he faced in 1.1 innings without striking out a hitter. Command and control were problematic all season for Gore, to the point he had to go back to the Padres’ spring training complex to re-tool. He made it back to Double-A in the regular season and showed flashes of dominance but still with work to do to get all the way back. His fastball still got to the mid 90s on Wednesday and he showed flashes of a plus changeup, but there’s still work to be done. 

HITTERS

ORG CLASS RANK PLAYER AB R H RBI AVG NOTES
ARI AFL   Dominic Canzone, RF 4 0 0 0 .250  
ATL AFL   Jesse Franklin, OF 1 0 0 0 .071 2 BB (2),
BAL AFL   Yusniel Diaz, RF 5 1 0 0 .200  
BAL AFL   Greg Cullen, 2B 4 1 1 3 .143 HR (1), BB (3),
BOS AFL   Christian Koss, SS 5 1 2 3 .286  
BOS AFL   Jeter Downs, SS 4 2 2 1 .357 HR (3), BB (6),
BOS AFL   Kole Cottam, C 3 1 1 0 .250 2B (1), BB (2),
CHC AFL   Nelson Velazquez, LF 4 4 2 1 .333 2B (3), BB (1),
CHC AFL   Andy Weber, SS 4 0 2 2 .200 2 BB (5),
CIN AFL   Drew Mount, OF 4 1 0 0 .091 BB (1), E (1),
CIN AFL   Mike Siani, CF 3 1 0 0 .000 2 BB (5), SB (2),
CIN AFL   Ivan Johnson, 2B 4 0 1 0 .286 2B (1),
COL AFL   Ezequiel Tovar, SS 4 0 0 0 .136  
COL AFL   Michael Toglia, 1B 4 0 2 0 .318  
COL AFL   Ryan Vilade, LF 4 0 1 2 .176  
CWS AFL   Jose Rodriguez, IF 3 0 1 1 .250 BB (1),
DET AFL   Spencer Torkelson, 3B 1 0 0 0 .450 BB (8),
HOU AFL   Grae Kessinger, SS 4 1 1 0 .238  
HOU AFL   Korey Lee, C 3 0 0 0 .143 BB (4), E (3),
KC AFL   Nathan Eaton, 2B 4 1 2 0 .333 2B (1),
KC AFL   Seuly Matias, OF 5 0 0 1 .167  
LAA AFL   Jeremiah Jackson, SS 2 1 0 1 .000  
LAA AFL   Orlando Martinez, RF 4 0 0 0 .238  
LAD AFL   Jacob Amaya, SS 2 1 1 0 .375 BB (5),
MIL AFL   Joe Gray, OF 3 0 0 0 .059  
MIL AFL   Joey Wiemer, OF 4 1 1 0 .214 2B (1), BB (2),
MIN AFL   Andrew Bechtold, 3B 5 1 2 0 .353 E (3),
MIN AFL   Matt Wallner, RF 5 1 1 0 .333  
MIN AFL   Michael Helman, 2B 5 1 2 1 .455 2 E (2),
NYM AFL   Wilmer Reyes, SS 2 0 0 0 .267 2 BB (6), E (2),
NYM AFL   Brett Baty, 3B 3 1 0 0 .381 2 BB (6),
NYM AFL   Hayden Senger, C 3 0 1 0 .273 BB (1),
NYY AFL   Andres Chaparro, 3B 4 0 0 0 .071  
OAK AFL   Jonah Bride, 3B 3 0 0 0 .375 2 BB (2),
OAK AFL   Austin Beck, OF 4 2 1 2 .400 2B (1), BB (2),
OAK AFL   Logan Davidson, SS 4 0 0 0 .133 BB (8),
PHI AFL   Logan O’Hoppe, C 4 1 3 2 .300 2 2B (3),
PHI AFL   Simon Muzziotti, CF 4 0 1 2 .133  
PHI AFL   Bryson Stott, SS 4 2 2 0 .421 SB (3), CS (1),
PIT AFL   Nick Gonzales, SS 3 1 0 0 .238 BB (2),
PIT AFL   Canaan Smith-Njigba, LF 2 1 0 0 .231 2 BB (6), SB (2),
SD AFL   Eguy Rosario, 2B 3 0 0 0 .158 BB (2),
SD AFL   Matt Batten, 2B 2 0 1 0 .269 2 BB (4), SB (2),
SEA AFL   Cade Marlowe, LF 3 0 0 0 .111 BB (4),
SF AFL   Will Wilson, SS 3 1 0 0 .154 2 BB (3),
SF AFL   Patrick Bailey, C 4 1 1 1 .333 HR (1), BB (2),
STL AFL   Brendan Donovan, 3B 2 1 1 0 .385 2B (3), BB (1),
STL AFL   Juan Yepez, 1B 3 0 1 1 .313 BB (4),
STL AFL   Lars Nootbaar, RF 2 0 0 0 .222 2 BB (4),
TB AFL   Matthew Dyer, C 5 0 1 1 .176 2B (1),
TEX AFL   Sam Huff, C 4 0 3 1 .200 BB (4),
TOR AFL   Gabriel Moreno, C 2 3 0 0 .000 3 BB (3), E (1),
TOR AFL   Spencer Horwitz, 1B 5 0 2 3 .375  
WAS AFL   Donovan Casey, RF 4 1 1 0 .143 SB (1),
WAS AFL   Drew Millas, C 3 0 0 0 .100 BB (1),

PITCHERS

ORG CLASS RANK PLAYER IP H R ER BB K ERA NOTES
ATL AFL   Jake Higginbotham, LHP 1 1 1 1 1 0 4.50  
BOS AFL   Andrew Politi, RHP 1 0 0 0 1 0 0.00  
BOS AFL   Josh Winckowski, RHP 1.2 3 3 3 2 0 5.79  
CIN AFL   Michael Byrne, RHP 1 1 0 0 0 1 0.00  
CIN AFL   Eddy Demurias, RHP 0.2 2 2 2 2 1 10.80  
CIN AFL   Jacques Pucheu, LHP 2.1 0 0 0 1 2 0.00 W (1-0)
CWS AFL   Caleb Freeman, RHP 1 1 0 0 3 0 0.00  
DET AFL   Chavez Fernander, RHP 1 0 0 0 0 1 0.00  
KC AFL   Zach Haake, RHP 3.2 1 0 0 2 3 3.00  
LAA AFL   Zach Linginfelter, RHP 1 3 2 2 1 2 4.91 L (0-1)
LAD AFL   Kyle Hurt, RHP 2.1 0 0 0 2 2 0.00  
MIA AFL   Justin Evans, RHP 1 3 2 2 1 2 9.00  
MIA AFL   Evan Fitterer, RHP 3 4 2 2 1 4 3.86 W (1-1)
MIL AFL   Taylor Floyd, RHP 1 2 2 0 0 1 3.38  
MIN AFL   Kody Funderburk, LHP 2 2 3 0 3 1 9.00 L (0-1)
NYM AFL   Garrison Bryant, RHP 3 1 0 0 1 3 1.80  
NYM AFL   Connor Grey, RHP 3 3 1 1 2 3 1.50 L (1-1)
NYM AFL   Brian Metoyer, RHP 1 1 1 1 2 2 9.00  
OAK AFL   Bryce Conley, RHP 0.1 1 0 0 0 1 0.00 Sv (1)
OAK AFL   Pedro Santos, RHP 0.2 2 4 3 2 1 13.50  
OAK AFL   Brock Whittlesey, RHP 2 1 0 0 0 1 11.25  
SD AFL   MacKenzie Gore, LHP 1.1 2 3 3 5 0 7.11  
SD AFL   Jose Quezada, RHP 1 1 0 0 0 1 9.00 Sv (1)
SD AFL   Matt Waldron, RHP 2 1 0 0 0 1 3.00  
SEA AFL   Devin Sweet, RHP 1.2 0 0 0 1 2 6.00 W (1-0)
STL AFL   Jordan Hicks, RHP 2.2 3 3 3 3 2 9.64  
TB AFL   Trevor Brigden, RHP 1 1 2 0 1 0 0.00  
TB AFL   Carlos Garcia, RHP 2 0 0 0 1 3 0.00  
TB AFL   Matthew Peguero, RHP 1.1 2 3 3 3 1 8.10  
TEX AFL   Eudrys Manon, RHP 1.1 1 0 0 2 0 0.00 Sv (2)
TOR AFL   Cre Finfrock, RHP 2 1 1 1 1 3 2.70  

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