Arizona Fall League Prospect Report — October 26, 2021

Image credit: Gabriel Moreno (Photo by Bill Mitchell)

Jeter Downs, SS, Red Sox — The Jeter Downs Redemption Tour (with dates at Salt River, Scottsdale, Peoria, Surprise, Glendale and Mesa) hasn’t lost a step through three weeks. Downs, who struggled through his regular season at Triple-A, connected on a grand slam in the eighth inning of his team’s loss on Monday. Result aside, Downs has been fabulous in his time in the desert. The home run, his fifth of the year, leads the AFL in that category. Boston’s system has been rejuvenated by the addition of Marcelo Mayer, the ascension of Nick Yorke and the continued brilliance of Triston Casas. It would become a lot better if Downs can use the Fall League as a springboard to a strong 2022. 

Ezequiel Duran, 2B, Rangers — Twice this Fall League, Duran has come up one hit short of the cycle. On Monday, he lacked the home run, but still had the other three legs before the game was half over. The outing was yet another highlight in what so far has been an excellent AFL for the jewel of the trade that sent slugger Joey Gallo to New York. Duran has played in just six games this AFL, but his last four have been spectacular. During that stretch he’s gone a scorching 11-for-18 with four doubles, two triples and a home run while playing all around the diamond. 

Gabriel Moreno, C, Blue Jays — A broken thumb was the only thing that stopped Moreno this season. The injury cut short what had been a breakout campaign and put him on the injured list for most of the rest of the season. Moreno didn’t get into a Fall League game until the second week of the season, but on Monday put together a signature performance. The dual-threat backstop went a perfect 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a walk in his team’s one-run (the score was 16-15!) loss to Surprise. The game was Moreno’s second four-hit effort of the year, with the last coming on June 11 against Double-A Portland. 

Andres Chaparro, 1B, Yankees — Surrounded by bigger names like Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza, Chaparro quietly had an excellent season. Between both levels of Class A, the 22-year-old corner infielder hit .267/.381/.468 with 21 doubles and 15 homers. Impressive under any context, the 15 homers were just two shy of the total he’d amassed in his previous four minor league seasons, which were spent at short-season or lower. On Monday, Chaparro was 4-for-4 with a double and his first longball of the fall.

Mike Siani, OF, Reds — Siani has earned a reputation throughout his career as a player with a table setter’s skill set. He’s swiped 75 bags in 100 tries over two pro seasons. Ninety-six of his 118 career hits are singles. On Monday, however, he provided those same attributes at the bottom of the order for Surprise, which edged Mesa in a 16-15 slugfest. Siani went 4-for-5 with a double in the contest, scored once and drove in three more runs. He and Andres Chaparro combined for eight of the Saguaro’s 17 hits. 

JJ Bleday, OF, Marlins — It’s no secret that Bleday, the fourth overall pick in 2019 out of Vanderbilt, had a rough first full season as a pro. He scuffled in Double-A, but the Marlins were heartened by the way Bleday scored on some of their internal metrics as the year wore on. Specifically, he was putting the barrel on the kinds of pitches he could damage. Early in the season, those were swings and misses or mishits. On Monday, he made some impact. The 23-year-old Bleday was 3-for-4 with his first AFL longball, scored twice, walked twice and drove in two runs. The game brought his AFL line to 11-for-30 with a slash line of .367/.525/.533. 

HITTERS

ORG	CLASS	RANK	PLAYER	AB	R	H	RBI	AVG	NOTES
BAL	AFL		Yusniel Diaz, RF	6	1	1	3	.208	2B (3),
BAL	AFL		Greg Cullen, 2B	2	2	1	0	.231
BOS	AFL		Triston Casas, 3B	5	1	2	1	.294	2B (2),
BOS	AFL		Jeter Downs, SS	3	1	1	4	.333	HR (5), BB (8),
CHC	AFL		Luis Vazquez, SS	2	0	0	0	.148
CHC	AFL		Andy Weber, SS	6	2	3	2	.269	2B (1), 3B (2),
CHC	AFL		Nelson Velazquez, LF	6	1	1	1	.333
CIN	AFL		Mike Siani, CF	5	1	4	3	.269	2B (2), SB (6), CS (1),
CLE	AFL		Richard Palacios, 2B	5	1	2	1	.323	2B (4),
CWS	AFL		Yoelkis Cespedes, OF	4	0	1	0	.233	BB (1),
CWS	AFL		Jose Rodriguez, IF	5	1	2	0	.269
HOU	AFL		Pedro Leon, OF	4	0	3	0	.229	2B (1),
HOU	AFL		Korey Lee, C	5	1	3	1	.333	2B (1), E (4),
KC	AFL		Seuly Matias, OF	5	2	2	4	.241	2B (1), HR (3),
LAA	AFL		Jeremiah Jackson, SS	4	1	0	0	.133	BB (1),
LAD	AFL		Kody Hoese, 3B	5	0	1	2	.250
LAD	AFL		Jacob Amaya, SS	4	0	0	0	.267
MIA	AFL		JJ Bleday, OF	4	2	3	2	.367	HR (1), 2 BB (10),
MIA	AFL		Troy Johnston, OF	6	1	2	1	.286	2B (1),
MIN	AFL		Andrew Bechtold, 3B	3	0	0	0	.286	2 BB (3),
MIN	AFL		Matt Wallner, RF	4	1	0	0	.258	BB (5),
NYY	AFL		Austin Wells, C	3	3	1	1	.400	2 BB (5),
NYY	AFL		Andres Chaparro, 3B	4	3	4	6	.227	2B (1), HR (1),
NYY	AFL		Elijah Dunham, OF	5	1	0	0	.261	BB (7),
OAK	AFL		Jonah Bride, 3B	3	2	1	1	.300	2B (2), BB (5), E (1),
SF	AFL		Marco Luciano, SS	3	1	1	0	.222	BB (7),
SF	AFL		Patrick Bailey, C	2	0	0	0	.278	2 BB (4),
STL	AFL		Juan Yepez, 1B	5	2	3	3	.361	2B (5), HR (3),
STL	AFL		Lars Nootbaar, RF	4	2	2	1	.300	2B (2), BB (7),
TB	AFL		Curtis Mead, 2B	4	1	1	0	.294	3B (2),
TB	AFL		Matthew Dyer, C	5	0	0	0	.160
TEX	AFL		Ezequiel Duran, 2B	5	0	3	2	.478	2B (4), 3B (3),
TEX	AFL		Justin Foscue, 2B	5	2	0	0	.208
TEX	AFL		Sam Huff, C	5	1	1	0	.167
TOR	AFL		Gabriel Moreno, C	4	3	4	2	.429	2 2B (2), BB (6),
TOR	AFL		Spencer Horwitz, 1B	3	1	1	2	.370	2 BB (6),
WAS	AFL		Jackson Cluff, SS	4	3	2	0	.350	2B (2), BB (5),

PITCHERS

ORG	CLASS	RANK	PLAYER	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	NOTES
BAL	AFL		Logan Gillaspie, RHP	2	5	4	4	1	2	8.31
BAL	AFL		Conner Loeprich, RHP	2.2	4	4	4	2	2	11.12
BAL	AFL		Nick Vespi, LHP	1.2	2	1	1	0	1	1.59
BOS	AFL		Brendan Cellucci, LHP	2	5	2	2	1	1	14.40
BOS	AFL		Connor Seabold, RHP	4	4	1	1	0	4	5.79
CWS	AFL		Johan Dominguez, RHP	3	2	1	1	1	5	11.81
CWS	AFL		J.B. Olson, RHP	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	4.50
HOU	AFL		Joe Record, RHP	2	1	0	0	1	1	0.00
LAD	AFL		Kyle Hurt, RHP	0.2	2	4	4	3	0	7.20
MIA	AFL		Justin Evans, RHP	1	5	5	3	1	0	12.60	L (0-1)
NYY	AFL		Clay Aguilar, LHP	1	5	5	5	1	0	15.00
NYY	AFL		Tanner Myatt, RHP	1	0	0	0	1	1	3.38	Sv (1)
OAK	AFL		Pedro Santos, RHP	0.2	1	2	2	0	0	16.20
STL	AFL		Zack Thompson, LHP	2	0	0	0	2	2	0.00	W (1-0)
STL	AFL		Jake Walsh, RHP	1	2	1	1	0	0	6.75	Sv (2)
TB	AFL		Carlos Garcia, RHP	2.1	3	0	0	0	2	0.00
TEX	AFL		Eudrys Manon, RHP	1	3	3	3	1	2	7.36
WAS	AFL		Cole Henry, RHP	3	4	4	4	2	5	4.50
WAS	AFL		Evan Lee, LHP	1	3	3	3	1	0	7.36
WAS	AFL		Todd Peterson, RHP	2	2	0	0	0	2	0.00	W (1-0)