Guardians prospect Welbyn Francisca taking Arizona Fall League by storm

By Mark Carlisle
Mail | X: @mwcarlisle

Halfway through the Arizona Fall League players from the Peoria Javelinas, Surprise Saguaros and Salt River Rafters are most common among the leaderboards.

There is tight pack at the top of the standings with those three teams all within 1.5 games of the first-place Scottsdale Scorpions. It has clearly been a team effort from Scottsdale as they have no players leading a major statistical category.

Each team has played 14-16 games of the 30-game season, with an off day on Friday. Each of the six teams makes the playoffs. The quarterfinals will be Thursday, Nov. 12 at Sloan Park in Mesa and the semifinals and championship game will be Friday-Saturday, Nov. 13-14 at the Peoria Sports Complex.

Rockies catching prospect Jack O’Dowd, on Salt River, celebrates hitting a home run.

(Arizona Fall League)

Top hitters

While their team fell short of the World Series, Guardians fans can take some solace that Cleveland prospect Welbyn Francisca, on Surprise, is the top hitter in the Fall League so far. He leads the league in both batting average (.471), RBIs (14) and OPS (1.283). The shortstop entered the Fall League as Cleveland’s 19th ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline, but could raise up the leaderboard if he keeps up this performance, especially if he wins league MVP.

Rockies catching prospect Jack O’Dowd, on Salt River, leads the league in home runs (five), slugging percentage (.825) and is second with a 1.206 OPS. His Rafters teammate Kyle DeBarge, a Twins prospect, is third in OPS with a 1.178 mark.

Padres prospect Alex McCoy, on Peoria, is second in the league with four home runs. Five hitters are tied for third with three.

Phillies prospect Aidan Miller, on Surprise, leads the league in both on-base percentage (.600) and walks (15).

Yankees prospect Core Jackson, on Salt River, leads the league with 10 steals and has not been caught stealing.

Orioles prospect Patrick Reilly, on Peoria, leads the league with 18 strikeouts.

(Arizona Fall League)

Top pitchers

Only two pitchers maintain a 0.00 ERA: Cardinals prospect Tekoah Roby, on Peoria, has 9 2/3 innings and Rockies prospect Konner Eaton, on Salt River, has seven innings pitched. Roby has 13 strikeouts to Eaton’s three. Eaton is also third in the league with a 0.57 WHIP.

Orioles prospect Patrick Reilly, on Peoria, leads the league with 18 strikeouts. Braves prospect Briggs McKenzie, on Glendale, is second with 16. Three are tied for third with 15. McKenzie also leads the league with 14 innings pitched.

Mets prospect Irving Cota, on Surprise, leads the league in both batting average against (.040) and WHIP (0.52) in 7 2/3 innings pitched.

Athletics prospect Grant Richardson leads the league with a strikeout rate of 17.05 K/9 with 6 1/3 innings pitched.

Rockies prospect Sean Sullivan, on Salt River, has the most innings pitched without giving up a walk with 8 2/3. He has given up 11 hits, however, for a .314 average against and 5.19 ERA.

Diamondbacks prospect Yassel Soler laughs with his Salt River Rafters teammate J.T. Etheridge, a Yankees prospect, while making a video at the team shop at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale.

(Arizona Fall League)

Here is a check in on how the Diamondbacks prospects and the top-ranked prospects in the league are doing at the midpoint.

D-backs prospects

• Demetrio Crisantes, 2B
  • .256 BA, .728 OPS, 8 RBI, 5 SB
• Nathan Hall, OF
  • .120 BA, .345 OPS, 1 RBI, 11 BB (tied for second in league), 7 SB (tied for third in league)
• Yassel Soler, 3B
  • .133 BA, .345 OPS, 1 RBI, 2 SB

• Patrick Forbes, RHP
  • 1 IP, 1.69 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 6 K

• Joe Ariola, LHP
  • 5 IP, 3.60 ERA, 6 K, 0 BB, 1 BS
• Connor Foley, RHP
  • 1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2.10 WHIP, 6 BB, 2 K
• John West, RHP
  • 1 IP, 5.40 ERA, 4 K, 0 BB
• Luke Craig, LHP
  • 1 IP, 7.71 ERA, 2.57 WHIP, 0 K

Nationals pitching prospect Jarlin Susana, on Salt River, is the 66th ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline. He's struggled in the Arizona Fall League so far with a 5.73 ERA, though he is tied for third in the league with 15 strikeouts.

(Arizona Fall League)

Fifteen Top 100 prospects

• 8. Sebastian Walcott, SS/3B, Rangers (Surprise)
  • .226 BA, .703 OPS, 1 HR, 10 RBI, 5 SB
• 15. Eduardo Quintero, OF, Dodgers (Glendale)
  • .139 BA, .493 OPS, 4 RBI, 1 SB
• 26. Zyhir Hope, OF, Tigers (Scottsdale)
  • .244 BA, .709 OPS, 1 HR, 7 RBI
• 27. Caleb Bonemer, OF, White Sox (Glendale)
  • .298 BA, 1.013 OPS, 3 HR (tied for third in league), 12 RBI (tied for third in league)
• 34. Arjun Nimmala, SS, Angels (Mesa)
  • .267 BA, .889 OPS, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 1 SB
• 44. Bryce Rainer, SS, Tigers (Scottsdale)
  • .148 BA, .422 OPS, 3 RBI
• 58. Tate Southisene, SS, Braves (Glendale)
  • .261 BA, .784 OPS, 1 RBI, 2 SB
• 59. Aidan Miller, SS, Phillies (Surprise)
  • .333 BA, 1.100 OPS, 3 RBI, 15 BB (leads league), 2 SB
• 63. Nathan Flewelling, C, Rays (Scottsdale)
  • .362 BA, .827 OPS, 10 RBI, 2 SB
• 66. Jarlin Susana, RHP, Nationals (Salt River)
  • 11 IP, 5.73 ERA, 15 K (tied for third in league), 7 BB
• 76. Angeibel Gomez, OF, Royals (Surprise)
  • .321 BA, .888 OPS, 1 RBI, 3 SB
• 78. Dax Kilby, SS, Yankees (Salt River)
  • .293 BA, .974 OPS, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 4 SB
• 79. Charles Davalan, OF/INF, Dodgers (Glendale)
  • .194 BA, .654 OPS, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 SB
• 84. Demetrio Crisantes, 2B, D-backs (Salt River)
  • .256 BA, .728 OPS, 8 RBI, 5 SB
• 95. Ike Irish, OF/1B, Orioles (Peoria)
  • .324 BA, .933 OPS, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 3 SB

Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.

Mark Carlisle
Associate Editor | Phoenix

mcarlisle@iniusa.org

Meet Mark

Mark Carlisle joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2017, covering Glendale. He has since moved to the Daily Independent team, primarily covering the city of Phoenix along with other topics affecting the Valley at-large.

Community: Mark enjoys taking his two young sons to parks, the Phoenix Zoo, the Phoenix Public Library  and other fun events around the Valley. He also participates in a local book club.

Education: Chapman University with a BA in English Journalism and one in Screenwriting.

Random Fact: Mark worked at a tuxedo shop in college. Just don’t ask him to tie a bowtie.

 Hobbies: Spending time with his wife, sons and dog, watching sports and TV shows, listening to audiobooks and occasionally writing fiction or designing a board game.