Arizona Fall League action begins today
Postseason baseball is well underway at the Major League level but today marks the start of another exciting season: the Arizona Fall League.
If you’re unfamiliar with the AFL, think of it as a month-long all-star league for some of the rising stars in baseball. The neat thing about the AFL is that there are only six teams and each team is a medley of five different organizations. It’s a fun way to mix things up while giving the guys a chance to meet fellow prospects.
The Rangers field their team in Surprise (their normal Spring Training home) alongside prospects from the Royals, Blue Jays, Cardinals and Pirates. Here’s the Rangers contingency on the Opening Day roster, including a couple of guys from the 2018 Riders roster.
PITCHERS
Joe Barlow (2018 with Class-A Hickory)
Tyler Davis (Frisco)
Demarcus Evans (Hickory)
C.D. Pelham (Frisco and Advanced-A Down East)
Tai Tiedemann (Short Season-A Spokane)
CATCHER
Josh Morgan (Frisco)
INFIELDERS
Chuck Leblanc (Down East)
Yanio Perez (Frisco and Down East)
OUTFIELDER
Julio Pablo Martinez (Spokane and DSL)
There’s plenty of intrigue with this collection of Rangers farmhands. Of note, Evans had a whale of a year at Hickory in 2018 (4–1, 1.77 ERA, 9–9 Sv in 35 outings) and is quickly becoming one of the most intriguing relief prospects in the system. Another guy to watch is Martinez, who was the Rangers big splash of a free agent signing earlier this year. The 22-year-old out of Cuba spent most of the year with Spokane and hit .252 with eight homers and 21 RBIs for the Indians in his rookie campaign. He’s currently rated as baseball’s 56th-best prospect by MLB Pipeline.
Most interesting of all though is the level of players the Rangers targeted for this year’s AFL roster. The majority of AFL players usually come to the circuit after spending the season in Advanced-A or Double-A. And while the Rangers have plenty of those guys, they also have four who have yet to play above Class-A. By comparison, the other 29 Major League organizations combined to send three guys to the AFL who have yet to reach Advanced-A. If you’re a Rangers fan, that’s something to get excited about because it shows that they not only believe in those guys but they think they’re ready for the challenge of the AFL.
Those Rangers prospects will have plenty of talented teammates to learn from as well. The star of the Surprise team is baseball’s top overall prospect, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. There was some concern he’d back out of the AFL because of an injury-riddled season but it’s great that he’ll be participating. Additional star power comes in the form of Blue Jays prospect Cavan Biggio (like Guerrero, the son a former big leaguer), Royals №2 prospect Khalil Lee and Pirates №5 prospect Cole Tucker, along with plenty of guys we saw in the Texas League this year at Northwest Arkansas and Springfield.
All the action begins today at 2:35, when Surprise hosts Salt River. The 30-game slate runs Monday-Saturday until mid-November. We’ll keep an eye on the happenings in the AFL and provide updates here on the Cash Store Riders Insider Blog throughout the fall league slate.
— — —
COUNTDOWN TO OPENING NIGHT 2019 (April 4): 177 days
