Arizona Fall League Archives - Page 3 of 4

Yankees assign Domingo Acevedo to Arizona Fall League

October 12, 2015 by Mike Leave a Comment

According to the official roster, the Yankees have assigned RHP Domingo Acevedo to the Surprise Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League. He is the eighth farmhand heading to the desert, joining C Gary Sanchez, LHP Ian Clarkin, SS Tyler Wade, 1B/OF Tyler Austin, OF Dustin Fowler, LHP Chaz Hebert, and LHP Tyler Webb.

Baseball America recently ranked Acevedo the third best prospect in the Short Season NY-Penn League. Here’s a snippet of their scouting report:

Acevedo hit 103 mph at least once this summer and routinely worked his fastball at or around triple digits. He sits 95-96 mph early in starts but reaches back for 98-100 when he needs it … Acevedo complements his plus fastball with a plus changeup at 85-88 mph that serves as his main secondary offering. He completes the three-pitch mix with a below-average slider

Acevedo, 21, had a 1.69 ERA (2.85 FIP) in 12 starts and 54 innings for Short Season Staten Island this year, including the postseason. (He also made one spot start for Low-A Charleston.) He posted strong strikeout (26.2%) and walk (7.2%) rates. Acevedo’s a big boy. He’s listed at 6-foot-7 and 190 lbs. on the Surprise roster.

The 34-game Arizona Fall League season begins tomorrow. With all due respect to the other players, Clarkin’s return from the elbow injury that caused him to miss the entire 2015 regular season is the big story this year. He’ll be the youngest player in the AzFL.

Jennings: Tyler Austin replaces Eric Jagielo in Arizona Fall League

September 25, 2015 by Mike Leave a Comment

According to Chad Jennings, the Yankees have decided to not send third base prospect Eric Jagielo to the Arizona Fall League this year. Jagielo was one of six players the team originally planned to sent to the desert this year, along with Gary Sanchez, Tyler Wade, Dustin Fowler, Chaz Hebert, and Tyler Webb. Ian Clarkin was added to the roster yesterday.

“Everything we’re doing right now is more with an eye toward 2016 and making sure he’s ready for Spring Training,” said assistant GM Billy Eppler to Jennings. Jagielo suffered a knee injury sliding into home plate in late-June this year and later had the knee scoped. The injury ended his season. A recent check-up showed everything is healing well, but apparently the Yankees decided not to push it.

Jagielo, 23, will miss the Arizona Fall League for the second straight year. He was scheduled to play the AzFL last season before being hit in the face by a pitch during Instructional League. Jagielo suffered a facial fracture and had to have surgery, so he was unable to play. This year it’s the knee injury keeping him from playing the AzFL. Two dumb, fluky injuries. So it goes.

In 58 games with Double-A Trenton this year, Jagielo hit .284/.347/.495 (141 wRC+) with nine home runs. He’s a career .266/.356/.469 (140 wRC+) hitter with 33 homers in 205 pro games since being the first of New York’s three first round picks in the 2013 draft. (Aaron Judge and Ian Clarkin were the other two.) Jagielo missed time with an oblique injury last year as well.

Outfielder Tyler Austin will replace Jagielo on the Surprise Saguaros roster. Technically it’s an infielder-for-infielder replacement, so Austin will end up playing a whole bunch of first base (and maybe third base? he has experience there) in the AzFL. The Yankees outrighted Austin off the 40-man roster a week ago but apparently still think enough of him to send him to the Fall League.

“He’s still young. (There is) a chance for him to continue to bridge the gap,” said Eppler. Austin, 24, hit .240/.315/.343 (92 wRC+) with six homers in 94 games split between Triple-A Scranton and Double-A Trenton this year. He started the season with the RailRiders, but played so poorly he had to be demoted at midseason. Maybe he can get himself back on track in the AzFL.

The 32-game AzFL season begins October 13th and runs through November 19th. The Championship Game is scheduled for November 21st. Yankees prospects will play on a team with Royals, Brewers, Cardinals, and Rangers prospects.

Update: Ian Clarkin added to Arizona Fall League roster

September 24, 2015 by Mike Leave a Comment

September 24th: Well, there has been a change of plans. MLB Pipeline reports Clarkin is instead heading to the Arizona Fall League, not Instructional League. That’s a pretty big deal. The AzFL is much more competitive than Instructs and less informal too — Clarkin is returning to true game action. He must be perfectly healthy. Good news.

September 22nd: This is some pretty encouraging news. Left-handed pitching prospect Ian Clarkin has been added to this year’s Instructional League roster, reports Josh Norris. Here is the original Instructional League roster. Instructs started last week and they start playing actual games next week.

Clarkin, 20, did not pitch at all during the minor league season this year due to an ongoing elbow issue. He was shut down with elbow inflammation in Spring Training, reportedly returned to throw some innings in Extended Spring Training in May, but had to be shut down again at some point.

According to assistant GM Billy Eppler, Clarkin has been on a throwing program in recent weeks, which advanced as far as facing hitters in live batting practice. Clarkin even posted a photo of himself throwing off a mound four weeks ago. The elbow injury, whatever it is, did not require surgery.

The assignment to Instructional League means Clarkin is healthy enough to pitch in actual games now, which is a big deal after the lost season. It’s not much — Instructs only last about four weeks, so he’ll get maybe 15-20 innings, if that — but it’s better than nothing. He needs to get some innings under his belt this year. More than zero.

Clarkin was the third of the Yankees’ three first round picks in the 2013 draft, following Eric Jagielo and Aaron Judge. The southpaw had a 3.12 ERA (3.65 FIP) with a 24.7% strikeout rate and a 7.6% walk rate in 75 innings last year, almost all with Low-A Charleston. He did made one late-season spot start with High-A Tampa.

I ranked Clarkin has New York’s second best pitching prospect coming into the season because he’s a four-pitch lefty — low-90s heater, cutter, changeup, curveball — with a bat-missing breaking ball to go with good location and deception. He doesn’t necessarily have ace upside, but Clarkin is a no-doubt starter with few flaws. A boringly good prospect, I’d say.

Given how aggressively the Yankees have moved their prospects the last year or two, Clarkin might have made it to Double-A Trenton this summer, if healthy. That would have put him in position to help at the MLB level next year. Injuries happen, that’s part of pitching, so Clarkin’s development has hit a bump in the road. Hopefully next year he can pick right up where he left off in 2014.

Sanchez, Jagielo, Wade headline 2015 Arizona Fall League rosters

September 1, 2015 by Mike Leave a Comment

Earlier today, the bulk of the 2015 Arizona Fall League rosters were announced. This year the Yankees are sending C Gary Sanchez, 3B Eric Jagielo, SS Tyler Wade, OF Dustin Fowler, LHP Chaz Hebert, and LHP Tyler Webb to the AzFL. Josh Norris says they still have two more pitching spots available, if they choose. They don’t have to send anyone else.

Sanchez and Jagielo are the headliners. I had them as New York’s No. 3 and No. 8 prospects in my most recent rankings, respectively. They’re both hurt right now — Sanchez pulled a hamstring last week while Jagielo has been out since mid-June following knee surgery — and will be making up for lost time in the desert. The fact both are on the roster is an indication the team expects them to be healthy.

Jagielo, 23, was scheduled to play in the AzFL last year before being hit in the face by a pitch in Instructional League. He hit .284/.347/.495 (140 wRC+) with nine home runs in 58 games for Double-A Trenton this season before the knee acted up. The 22-year-old Sanchez put up a .274/.330/.485 (134 wRC+) line with 18 homers in 93 games split between Double-A and Triple-A this summer.

I ranked Wade as the team’s No. 11 prospect a few weeks ago, so he’s not too far behind Sanchez and Jagielo. Wade, 20, has hit .258/.322/.332 (100 wRC+) in 119 games this year, doing most of the damage with High-A Tampa (117 wRC+ in 98 games) before struggling at Double-A (17 wRC+ in 21 games). The 20-year-old Fowler owns a .302/.339/.403 (117 wRC+) line with five homers in 118 games between Low-A and High-A this year.

Like Sanchez and Wade, the 25-year-old Webb is on the rehab trail after pitching to a 2.84 ERA (3.23 FIP) in 38 innings for Triple-A Scranton. He hasn’t pitched since late-June and I’m not sure why. Some kind of injury. Couldn’t have been too bad if the Yankees expect him to pitch in the AzFL. Hebert, 22, has had a breakout year, posting a 2.58 ERA (3.05 FIP) in 129 innings at three levels in 2015. Fowler, Webb, and Hebert did not make my most recent top 30 prospects list.

One of those last two pitching spots could go to LHP Jacob Lindgren, who’s been out since mid-June after having bone spurs removed from his elbow. He is currently on a throwing program but has not yet thrown off a mound, so he might not be ready in time for the AzFL season. The 22-year-old southpaw had a 1.23 ERA (1.88 FIP) in 22 Triple-A innings this season before throwing seven big league innings and getting hurt. The AzFL seems like a good opportunity to make up for some lost innings if healthy.

The other spot could go to LHP Ian Clarkin, I suppose, but that seems very unlikely. Clarkin, the team’s No. 7 prospect, has not pitched at all this season due to a lingering elbow problem. He is currently on a throwing program and has apparently been throwing off a mound recently. That said, the AzFL is an extreme hitter’s league, so most teams do not send their top pitching prospects. The Yankees might not want Clarkin pitching in such a rough environment after missing the season.

There’s no sense in adding Lindgren or Clarkin to the AzFL rosters before they complete their throwing programs, so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens with those last two spots. This season Yankees farmhands will play for the Surprise Saguaros alongside Royals, Brewers, Cardinals, and Rangers prospects. Here’s the full roster. The 32-game AzFL season begins October 13th and runs through November 19th. The Championship Game is scheduled for November 21st.

Aaron Judge selected to AzFL’s Fall Star Game

October 27, 2014 by Mike 70 Comments

Outfielder Aaron Judge has been selected to represent the Yankees in the Arizona Fall League’s Fall Star Game, the league announced. Here are the East and West rosters. The Fall Star Game will be played this coming Saturday night at 8pm ET and will be broadcast on MLB Network.

Judge, 22, has hit .250/.311/.475 (106 wRC+) with two homers in ten games with the Scottsdale Scorpions after a monster regular season. The Fall Star Game is designed to highlight the game’s top prospects in the AzFL, not reward strong performance. That’s why Judge is representing the Yankees and not first baseman Greg Bird, who is hitting .349/.382/.651 (171 wRC+) with a league-leading five homers in 15 games for Scottsdale.

MLB to test pace of game rule changes in Arizona Fall League

October 1, 2014 by Mike 58 Comments

MLB announced it will test pace of game rule changes in the Arizona Fall League this year. The list of changes is right here. Here’s the short version: batters must keep one foot in the batter’s box at all times (unless there’s a wild pitch, passed ball, foul ball, etc.), intentional walks are automatic (manager signals, batter goes to first with no pitches thrown), pitcher-catcher conferences are limited, and a game clock will be installed. Pitchers will have 12 seconds between pitches with the bases empty and 20 seconds with men on base.

There’s no doubt baseball has a pace of game problem and these days people have short attention spans with plenty of ways to distract themselves. I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve looked down at my phone between pitches at a game, or at my computer while watching at home. MLB isn’t going to shorten up commercial breaks, so this is the next best thing. I do think the pace of play would be less of an issue if offense hadn’t disappeared — it’s one thing to watch a high-scoring game last three and a half hours, it’s another to watch three total runs score and batters ground into the shift for three and a half hours. We’ll see. The AzFL begins play next week.

Austin, Bird, Jagielo, Judge among Yankees prospects heading to Arizona Fall League

August 26, 2014 by Mike 80 Comments

4:43pm: Norris says the Yankees are also sending a catcher to be named later to the AzFL. Maybe Kyle Higashioka after he missed the first half of the season following Tommy John surgery?

4:17pm: According to Josh Norris, the Yankees are sending OF Tyler Austin, 1B Greg Bird, 3B Eric Jagielo, OF Aaron Judge, RHP Caleb Cotham, RHP Branden Pinder, and RHP Alex Smith to play for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League after the season. I thought they might send LHP Manny Banuelos to continue pitching following Tommy John surgery, but it’s already been a long season for him. The AzFL season begins October 7th.

The Yankees are sending more top prospects to the desert this year than I can ever remember. Usually they only send one or two top prospects. Austin (wrist, groin), Bird (back), Jagielo (oblique), Pinder (groin), and Cotham (unknown) all missed several weeks due to injury this summer and will be making up for lost time. Pinder is Rule 5 Draft eligible this winter and the club probably wants some more time to evaluate him. Judge is the team’s best prospect and Smith has had a nice year out of the bullpen for High-A Tampa (2.40 ERA and 3.29 FIP). Great crop of players going to the AzFL this year.