Arizona Fall League Prospect Report — October 21, 2021

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.

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