Arizona Fall League Prospect Report — November 2, 2021

Image credit: JJ Bleday (Photo by Bill Mitchell)

JJ Bleday, OF, Marlins — The JJ Bleday Experience was in full swing on Monday in Mesa, where his Solar Sox played to a tumultuous, topsy-turvy, 10-inning tie, with a final score of 15-15. In the midst of all that offense, Bleday collected five hits, and was a triple shy of the cycle through three innings. With the big game, Bleday bumped his average to .400 and inched atop the league RBI leaders, with 18. All three of his triple-slash categories are among the top five in the league, and his 1.180 OPS ranks fourth. If you’d like to see how his swings on four of those hits looked from the open side, here you go. 

Lars Nootbaar, OF, Cardinals — If it’s a day that ends in -y, Nootbaar is hitting. On Monday, the Cardinals prospect continued his white-hot AFL with two hits, two runs and two RBIs in Glendale’s win over Salt River. His five home runs are tied for first in the Fall League and his .813 slugging percentage is the best in the league by a large margin. It’s not a huge surprise that Nootbaar is raking n the AFL given he hit his way to the big leagues this year (to say nothing of the overall state of pitching in the AFL), but his continued performance will further cement his place on the prospect landscape.

Willie MacIver, C, Rockies — One of three Rockies Futures Game representatives this summer, MacIver put together a strong first portion of the season in High-A before struggling at Double-A. He snapped out of a bit of a funk on Monday by collecting three hits in Salt River’s loss to Glendale, including one single with an exit velocity of 105.1 mph. Entering the game, he’d gone just 2-for-13 for the Fall League. All five of his hits have been singles, and he’s sprinkled three walks into his stat line as well.

Curtis Mead, 3B, Rays — Mead’s regular season was impressive enough—he played a part in three MiLB championship clubs and had a successful turn at Triple-A in a year when he got his first official time outside of Rookie ball. He’s carried that success over from the AFL, including a 2-for-4 Monday with a double and two runs in Scottsdale’s win over Surprise. The double was Mead’s eighth extra-base hit of the fall, tying him with JJ Bleday and Richie Palacios for fourth place in the league. 

Jackson Cluff, SS, Nationals — Pitching prospects rightly got most of the buzz in the Washington system—at least until the team’s sell-off at the deadline netted them crown jewel catcher Keibert Ruiz—but Cluff is doing what he can in the AFL to bump himself into the mix. He went 3-for-5 in the Surprise leadoff spot on Monday, bumping his AFL average to .378, good for sixth in the league. His on-base and OPS numbers both rank No. 10 in the league as well. 

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