A Full Breakdown of the Mesa Solar Sox Roster for the Arizona Fall League

The Arizona Fall League rosters have been released this week with a lot of intriguing prospects on each team. There are six teams full of prospects from Major League teams that will play starting October 6th. I’ll be writing an article and making Twitter posts about each team’s roster. This will cover the prospects who are on the Mesa Solar Sox this fall. The team will consist of players from the Athletics, Chicago Cubs, Miami Marlins, Tampa Bays Rays, and New York Yankees.

Athletics:

Mark Adamiak RHP: The 15th round pick in 2022 has been slowly climbing the past couple years. After spending most of the season in High-A Adamiak was recently promoted to AA after putting up some solid stats out of the bullpen with a 2.94 ERA and 3.45 FIP. Adamiak hasn’t had any public pitching data since his days at Arkansas where he had a FB that sat 95 mph with a slider with above average slider and a solid changeup. From the stats I do have available it seems turned into more of a command pitcher with less overpowering stuff. He has a walk rate of only 6.4% this year and a strikeout rate of 20.2%. After some shaky years at almost every stop, 2025 has been easily his best year. The A’s will look for him to continue that into AA and eventually Arizona. 

Corey Avant RHP: After being a reliever his entire college career at Division II Wingate University Avant continued to mostly be a reliever for the first two seasons in the A’s organization but has mostly transitioned to a starter this season and has been successful enough to earn a promotion to AA. After a 2024 season of being a multiple inning reliever he had a 7.39 ERA but this season at High-A he had a 3.65 ERA with a 3.34 FIP. He doesn’t have overpowering stuff but is able to limit hard contact and get outs. His first two outings in AA though have not been pretty, his first being from the bullpen where he allowed seven hits and five runs through two innings and the second a start where he allowed three hits and a walk for four runs through 2.2 innings. He isn’t Rule 5 eligible until after the 2027 season so the A’s don’t have to make a decision on him very soon. Hopefully he can get back to his High-A form.

Nathan Dettmer RHP: The former 5th round pick out of Texas A&M didn’t pitch after August last year after being diagnosed with bone spurs in his pitching elbow but was cleared to play for the 2025 season. In 109.1 innings between Low-A and High-A he has a 5.93 ERA and 4.77 FIP. He hasn’t been able to overpowered hitter with a 17.4% strikeout rate and with an 8.9% walk rate he’s had okay command but in his six starts in High-A he only has 19.8% CSW% with only a 6.9% swinging strike rate. With missing so much time last year and having a disappointing season it’s important for him to finish strong. I’m excited to get some Statcast numbers on him this fall.

Will Johnston LHP: Another Texas A&M pitcher drafted by the A’s in 2023 Johnston has moved quicker through the organization than Detmer entering AAA this season. He’s a lefty with a deceptive delivery that hides the ball for a long time. This helps him hide his below average stuff. He has a fastball that sits in the low 90s with a split changeup that at times has looked like a great strikeout pitch but has been inconsistent in its movement profile. He also has a slider that’s still a work in progress and a sinker he started throwing this season. After being mostly a starter for the start of his career and college Johnston has transitioned to a bullpen role this season going from pitching as a regular starter to throwing two innings or less since the start of May. With his deceptive delivery he’s able to get a good amount of strikeouts at 32.9% in AA but his command which was a problem in college has gotten significantly worse this season going from 9.7% in 2024 to 13% this season. He’s looking like a potential left handed reliever in the back of the A’s bullpen potentially as soon as next year. 

Blaze Pontes RHP: The former 16th round pick out of Hawaii has had a solid season in High-A. In his first two pro-ball seasons Pontes was a multiple inning reliever but transitioned into a one inning guy this season and that’s paid off. He has a 1.79 ERA but with his low strikeout rate his FIP is up to 3.39. He’s mostly a command pitcher who hasn’t shown the stuff to miss many bats but limits hard contact and hasn’t given up a homer in all of 2025. Not a super impactful arm and has lower potential than guys with massive stuff but could find a good niche and role with his skillset. 

Joshua Kuroda-Grauer SS: The former Rutgers 3rd round pick got all the way up to AAA in the same year he was drafted last season. This year in his first year in pro ball he started at High-A and has looked okay. After playing his first eighty games in High-A he slashed .293/.353/.362 with a below average 95 wRC+. He then was promoted to AA and has played forty one games so far and put up better numbers with a .301/.372/.393 slash and a 117 wRC+. He’s a contact centered bat who only swings 43% of the time but makes some of the most contact in the minors at a 87.4% rate this season. He doesn’t chase often and even when he does he makes good contact out of the zone. He could climb through the minors with his bat quickly just like current A’s shortstop Jacob Wilson did. He likely won’t be taking Wilson’s spot at short, though with only an average arm he’ll likely be moved to second base as he gets closer to the majors.

Tommy White 3B: The first pick of the second round in last year's draft White was a major piece in LSU’s championship run in 2023. He’s a big power hitter with some of the best bat speed in the 2024 draft. He also has very solid contact skills at an 81.9% contact rate this season. He doesn’t whiff often especially in the zone and swings 55.1% of the time which causes him to walk at a below average rate. His biggest problem is his chase issues. He makes so much contact that he doesn’t pick the best pitches to swing at and tends to make weak contact on pitches out of the zone. He also hasn’t shown his power since being promoted to AA or in the months before that in High-A. In the month of May after coming off the injured list in only 36 plate appearances White hit .412/.444./.912 with five home runs and two doubles showing the potential he had as a hitter but since then he’s significantly regressed especially from the power standpoint only hitting five home runs in the next 250 plate appearances. This shows the volatility that his bat can bring. He’s putting up better overall numbers since being promoted and making better contact but he’s also swinging more and walking less. He does have the ability to stick at third with a solid glove and some unexpected athletic ability but could end up at first base as well. Hopefully he can find his power and breakout this fall. 

Ryan Lasko CF: Another player the A’s took out of Rutgers, Lasko was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2023 draft and has had a rough time adjusting to pro-ball pitching. Out of college he looked like he had the ability to hit for power and decent contact ability but both have fallen off since getting into the A’s organization. This year he’s battled a few injuries at the start of the year and after a decent 72 games in High-A he has been promoted to AAA where he’s struggled even more to hit early. In High-A he slashed .241/.359/.339 with a 94 wRC+. He walks a decent amount at 13% this season but also strikeouts out at 23.2% of the time. He doesn’t chase a lot but whiffs too much in the zone with a Z contact of only 70.1%. His calling card is his elite defense in center field which could get him to the big leagues as a bench outfielder or a defense first speed type if he can steal more bases. 

Chicago Cubs:

Thomas Mangus RHP: A very underrated prospect the Cubs stole from his commitment to Oklahoma in the 18th round last season Mangus started this year on the injured list with an undisclosed injury. He has since pitched 3.1 innings in the Complex League and was promoted in July to Low-A. He has been kept off the field for the most part for Myrtle Beach, only pitching in six games for eleven innings since joining the team. In those innings he’s been good with a 0.82 ERA but he’s been unable to get whiffs in Low-A and is only striking out 14% of batters while walking 18.6%, that’s made his FIP 4.14. Coming out of the draft he was said to have a fastball that sat in the mid 90s and could get to 97 mph with arm side run. His biggest pitch was a slider that sat in the mid 80s and got a ton of swing and misses from right handed hitters. He also had a change up and curveball that he would mostly throw to left handed hitters. There was a chance he’d join the organization as a starter but as he works his way back from injury he’s only topped out at 44 pitches in a three inning outing. I’m very intrigued to get his Statcast outings this fall and see how he’s been developing. 

Luis Martinez-Gomez RHP: An intriguing arm in the Cubs system, Martinez-Gomez missed most of his first pro-ball season on the injured list in 2024 only making ten appearances in 33.2 innings between the Complex League and Low-A. This year starting in Low-A Martinez-Gomez had an interesting season. He had a 1.89 ERA and a 31.1% strikeout rate but his FIP was up to 3.62 because he walked 18% of batters. He still was able to earn a promotion to High-A South Bend and in his first ten appearances and 17.1 innings something has clicked as his walk rate has dropped down to 5.8%. His strikeout rate also dropped but still to a solid 23.2% and he’s still limiting runs with a 0.52 ERA and 2.43 FIP. He’s got some really solid stuff with a fastball that tops out in the mid 90s, a slider that works against right handed hitters, and a splitter that gets a good amount of chases. He’ll be really fun to watch this fall and I’m super excited to see his Statcast data.

Koen Moreno RHP: Since being drafted out of high school at the end of the 2020 Moreno has dealt with a ton of injuries. He didn’t pitch a single inning in pro-ball in 2021. Then in 2022 he was only able to throw twenty eight innings before being injured again. In 2023 he was never placed on the injured list and was technically on the Low-A roster the entire season but only pitched a few games a month and totalled 71.1 innings. He looked okay in those games with a 2.90 ERA but his 18.3% walk rate hurt him a lot. In 2024 he only was able to throw 23.1 innings until he was injured in early June and was out for the season. This season he recently came off the injured list on August 16th and has thrown twelve innings in four appearances to a 2.25 ERA. The walk problems are still there with a 16% walk rate but his stuff is obviously still alive with a 30% strikeout rate this season. It’ll be fun to get some innings from him this fall to build off of for next season.

Mathew Peters RHP: After being suspended last season for testing positive for a banned substance the former 12th round pick in 2022 has spent the season between the Complex League and Low-A. Even though he has an advanced age for each of those leagues Peters has struggled at both levels with a 6.46 ERA in the Complex League and a 8.31 ERA in Low-A. He has mainly struggled with walks walking an average of a batter an inning throughout thirty seven innings out of the bullpen this season. With this offseason being Peters' decision point for the Rule 5 Draft I’m guessing the Cubs want to see as much as they can before making that decision.

JP Wheat RHP: The big armed prospect was getting very good reports this spring but has been injured since June. In his seven appearances in Low-A though he had a solid 4.09 ERA and 4.45 FIP. He was getting a solid amount of strikeouts at 24.6% but his walk rate which haunted him last year was up to 15.9%. After being picked in the 2022 draft he was injured throughout the entire 2023 season and only pitched twelve games last season. He has a big arm still sitting in the high 90s and topping out at 100 mph. This offseason he’s eligible for the Rule 5 Draft and the Cubs will need to make a decision on the 40 man roster spot because with his big arm he could get picked up by someone. It’ll be a pivotal fall for Wheat. 

Owen Ayers C: The Cubs 19th round pick out of Marshall last season has looked solid at the plate in his first full pro-ball season. In 273 plate appearances he has a .238/.341/.420 slash line with a 126 wRC+. He’s shown a good knowledge of the zone this season with a 11.4% walk rate and has shown some solid pop with 25 extra base hits. He needs to up his contact rate with only a 74.3% but he swings at only 45.8% of pitches. Not a major prospect at this point but some nice tools to build off of. 

Cole Mathis 1B: The Cubs 2nd round pick in last year's draft has been injured for most of his first season. He was recently activated off the injured list on September 6th and only was able to get 128 plate appearances this season. In those he showed the plate discipline and contact ability he was drafted for with a .215/.336/.402 slash line and a 122 wRC+. He’s a very passive hitter, only swinging at 36% of pitches in his last year at the College of Charleston and 37.6% of pitches in Low-A this season. He doesn’t have massive power especially to the opposite field but will spray balls all over and pull homers. He wasn’t able to play a single inning at a position this season only in the lineup as a DH but was regarded as an above average fielder at first base. Will be the best bat for Cubs fans to watch this fall

Miami Marlins:

Aiden May RHP: After being picked in the competitive balance round between the 2nd and 3rd round of the 2024 draft May started the season on the injured list after having elbow surgery he eventually returned for his first professional season. Starting in the complex league where he looked unhittable with a 1.32 ERA and a 40% strikeout rate in only four starts of 6.2 innings. He then was promoted to Low-A where he pitched 20.2 innings to a 3.05 ERA and 5.05 FIP. He struck out less batters and his walk rate jumped to 15.7%. Coming out of the draft it was said he had the best slider in the draft. In college it has some of the highest horizontal breaks for a college pitcher at 19 inches and a 49.2% whiff rate. He uses that slider mostly as a sweeper and throws a harder slider at 88 mph mostly as a cutter. He also rounds it out with a fastball that sat at 94 mph but topped out at 97 mpg and a sinker that topped out at 98 mph. He also has a changeup that sits in the high 80s and topped out at 92 mph. It was able to get a 42.7% whiff rate, almost better than the fastball. He has some of the best stuff in all the minor leagues and will be super fun to watch this fall.

Xavier Meachem RHP: A very underrated reliever prospect in the Marlins system Meachem has looked great at almost every level but has struggled this season. Even though he had a 2.63 ERA through forty eight innings in High-A this season he lost his strikeout ability. In the past he’s struck out more than 28% of batters a season but in High-A this season it dropped to 18.2% while his high walk rate remained. Even with these struggles he was promoted to AA Pensacola but has not only pitched 1.1 innings. Going off of his Statcast data from Low-A last season Meachem has a fastball that sits in the mid 90s and has great rising action with a 16.7 

IVB and it got a great whiff rate at 45% in only 11.2 innings I’ll add. His top secondary is a slider with great movement that he uses as a chase pitch. He also has a changeup that he’s able to throw for a strike but rarely throws it. Hopefully he can fix whatever problem has led to less whiffs and strikeouts this season.

Karson Milbrandt RHP: After starting the year in the injured list after some fluid was found in his arm he’s been very effective this season. This season throughout three levels he’s pitched to a 3.00 ERA with a 3.17 FIP. He made one short start in Low-A before making nineteen in High-A pitching 77.1 innings and then was promoted to AA where he made two starts and looked really good. Milbrandt has a solid arsenal that he’s still refining, starting with a fastball that sits in the mid 90s and tops out at 99 mph with great spin and has great arm side movement. He adds a slider that has average movement but is one of his only secondaries he can consistently throw for a strike. He also throws an upper 80s cutter which mostly helps him against left handed hitters. At times he’ll throw his curveball and changeup, the curveball has looked great at times but doesn’t fit well with the slider and can have too much depth causing hitters to lay off it entirely. His main problem has been a spotty command which improved this season as he walked slightly less but threw more strikes upping his CSW% from 25.5% in 2024 up to 29.4% this season. This could be due to a 4% jump in his whiff percentage but he was still able to throw more called strikes than the season before. One of the top arms in the Marlins organization and will be a big draw this fall. 

Darwin Rodriguez RHP:  After spending the last three seasons mostly in the Dominican Summer League Rodriguez was finally promoted to the Complex League at the end of last season and pitched eight innings to a 12.38 ERA. This season he has mostly spent on the injured list with an undisclosed injury before finally being activated on August 26th. He was able to make four appearances in Low-A and pitched 3.2 innings before the season ended and had some promising outings. In the first three appearances Rodriguez looked good finishing 3.2 innings giving up only one hit and no runs while walking two and striking out four. His last outing he was awful not getting an out in the 8th inning where he walked four and hit a batter giving up three runs. He only threw eight strikes out of twenty six pitches. That outing matched up with the command issues that had been bothering him throughout the DSL and in his few games in the Complex League. Going off his Statcast data from his couple of Low-A outings Rodriguez has a solid fastball that sits around 94 mph and has an induced vertical break of 17.2 inches. He also has four secondary pitches with a slider, cutter, changeup, and curveball. The slider and cutter have great spin and generated the most whiffs of his arsenal. He only had a zone% of 35.1% and didn’t have a single pitch other than his fastball that he threw for a strike more than 29% of the time. Definitely a 20 year old reliever that has the potential to have solid stuff and make the majors but his command problems are very serious and could hold him back. 

Starlyn Caba SS: Acquired last December from the Phillies in exchange for Jesus Luzardo Caba has struggled a bit in Low-A this season. He sprained his thumb and missed more than two months and struggled to hit after coming back hitting .205/.298/.260 in July his first month back from injury. In August and through the end of the season he hit .278/.350/.375 with a 111 wRC+. He’s had elite plate discipline walking more than he’s struck out at every level of his career. He also makes elite contact at 88.5% in the zone and a 87.7% total. His problem is his obvious lack of power. He’s only hit three home runs since starting organized ball and that aspect of his game is basically nonexistent. He makes up for it in the field and on the bases where he stole fifty bases last season and fourteen this season through his injury riddled fifty one games. His glove is said to be one of the top, especially at short stop in the minors and could lead to him becoming a Gold Glove defender at the Major League level. A fun player to watch climb as he’s only 19 years old.

PJ Morlando LF: The 16th overall pick in last year's draft had a very injury riddled first professional season this year undergoing elbow surgery before the season and a hamstring injury the rest of the season. His short season last year after the draft was also ended by a stress reaction in his back. He had some of the best power in the draft especially coming out of high school and has shown it at times this season. In the 52 games he was able to make in Low-A this season he had a .226/.361/.353 slash line and a 112 wRC+. He didn’t show the in-game power all the time, only hitting five home runs but the raw power was definitely shown at times. He was known for having solid contact skills in high school but struggled in Low-A with only a 77.6% contact rate in the zone and a 30.2% whiff rate. He was very patient walking 15.4% of the time and only swung 39.7% of the time. He likely will need to be more aggressive to become a true power hitter if that’s the development path the Marlins want to take him through. He was adjusting his swing throughout the season and will likely have a different adjustment this fall. Still a very high ceiling prospect. 

Fenwick Trimble OF: Another pick from last year’s draft Trimble was taken in the 4th round out of James Madison University and quickly rose to AA Pensacola in his first professional season. After starting the season in High-A he slashed .284/.407/.422 for a 144 wRC+. He was then promoted to AA and in his first week he strained his hamstring and didn’t return for two months. Still from the middle of July on he was very solid in the AA lineup hitting .237/.355/.395 for a 127 wRC+. He’s more of a line drive bat to ball hitter who’s not going to hit a ton of homers. He also has a great knowledge of the zone, rarely chasing and walking 13.8% of the time this year. He adds some speed on the bases with 31 stolen bases this year and is able to play average at every outfield spot. 

Tampa Bay Rays:

Jackson Baumeister RHP: Acquired during last year's trade deadline from the Orioles in exchange for Zach Eflin, Baumeister was known in Baltimore as a starter with great stuff but one who struggled with command walking 14% of batters in his eighteen starts in the Orioles High-A but his walk percentage shrunk after moving to the Rays organization to 4.8% in his couple starts at the end of the season. This season he’s spent most of the season dealing with a shoulder injury but has made fifteen starts in AA. His walk rate ended up in the middle at 9.6% but his CSW% dropped from 30.8% last season between both teams to 25.6% this season. He’s getting way less called strikes than he did in High-A and hitters are making 6% more contact. This has led to his strikeout rate also dropping from 32.7% last season to only 19.5% this season. This has been the reason for his ERA jump too from 2.53 last season to 4.62 this year. Baumeister was drafted for his athleticism and fastball that sits in the mid 90s and had 20 inches of induced vertical break. Last season after arriving to the Rays he threw his mid 80s cutter more for strikes than usual and dropped his curveball down to his last pitch but it works well when he’s able to locate his fastball to the top of the zone. He also has a changeup that’s able to miss bats at times. The problem for him is it seemed he wasn’t able to get many whiffs with that arsenal this year. It’ll be interesting to get Statcast data this fall to see what the Rays are doing with his pitches. 

Jadon Bercovich RHP: After going undrafted in the 2024 draft out of San Diego State the Rays picked up Bercovich made his Rays organization debut in the Complex League this year after recovering from an injury was promoted to Low-A. In 17 games in Low-A he had a 2.91 ERA and 1.91 FIP. He has strikeout stuff with a 33.3% strikeout rate and was able to throw strikes with only a 6.7% walk rate. There is no public Statcast data from his Rays appearances but using his data from his senior season last year he has a fastball that sits in the low 90s that he’s able to command for a strike very well. He also has a slider that had a 62% whiff rate and a changeup that had a 47% whiff rate. From his Low-A outings it seems the Rays are focusing more on his changeup that was making some hitters look silly. I’m excited to see his data this fall. 

Andrew Lindsey RHP: After being drafted in the 5th round out of Tennessee by the Marlins in the 2023 draft Lindsey was traded that offseason to Tampa Bay for Vidal Brujan and Calvin Faucher. He’s spent both of his two years in the Rays organization injured, only pitching 8 innings last season and 22.1 so far this season. He’s struggled throughout those innings with a 6.45 ERA but has a 3.66 FIP. He’s been struggling to get whiffs in Low-A only having a 9.9% whiff rate and 16.2% strikeout rate. He has a sinker that sits in the mid 90s and tops out at 98 mph. He also has an upper 80s slider that has a lot of spin and also throws a curveball at times. He could continue to be a starter like he was at Tennessee but with next season being the last before Lindsey is Rule 5 eligible I would guess the Rays transition him into a reliever next season.

Jonathan Russell RHP: Signed out of Cuba in 2023 Russell’s first state side season last year was shaky in 31.1 innings in the Complex League he had a 6.89 ERA with a low strikeout rate and high walk rate. This season though after spending his first three games in the Complex League he was promoted to Low-A Charleston and excelled with a 2.17 ERA and 2.15 FIP. He struck out 30.5% of batters and walked 7.3%. Not much is known about Russell as he’s never had any public data so I’m not sure what happened for him to jump that high this year with strikeouts but he was able to throw more strikes. It’s an intriguing arm in Arizona this fall. 

Brayden Taylor INF: The 2023 19th overall pick for the Rays out of TCU, Taylor had a disastrous 2025 season only slashing .173/.289/.286 with a 77 wRC+ in AA. His strikeout problems continued with a 27.7% rate and his power which had carried his OPS and wRC+ in the past was down with only 8 home runs and 24 extra base hits total coming off a year where he had 55 extra base hits. Taylor never had a ton of raw power but his swing from the left side was able to produce good lift and pull which helped him launch balls out of right field. He doesn’t have good enough contact skills to be able to sustain no power as he showed this season. He was a shortstop prospect but has only played 5 games there this season mostly playing third and second base lowering his value. He has decent speed and is able to pick stolen base spots at times with 17 this year. Taylor will have to figure something out with his swing if he wants to move to AAA or the majors and be anything other than a bench utility player. 

Mason Auer RHP: A former top prospect for the Rays ranking #8 from MLB Pipeline in 2023 has had a very interesting path. He broke out in 2022 where he slashed .290/.372/.487 between Low-A and High-A and become a player people looked at as a future star but struggled to hit in AA first in 2023 where he slashed .205/.292/.348 and again in 2024 with a .190/.264/.325 slash line. So instead of giving up on him the Rays have moved him into a pitching role this season. He’s made six appearances out of the bullpen for Low-A Charleston and hasn’t looked great giving 8 earned runs through 4.2 innings. He’s also been wild walking 10 batters with only 4 strikeouts. It’s an interesting experiment as he’s said to have a great fastball shape with good potential velocity and a high slider but with no public data I have nothing to back that up. One of the most interesting prospects for any team this fall.

Brailer Guerrero RF: A top international prospect in the 2023 class missed most of his first season with a torn labrum in the Dominican Summer League and spent his first season in the states dominating the Complex League slashing .330/.452/.466 for a 154 wRC+ at just 18 years old before he suffered a shoulder injury and missed the rest of the season. He again dealt with a knee injury in 2025 only able to play 50 games in Low-A but again showed his special bat slashing .251/.341/.403 for a 119 wRC+. He has big time raw power with multiple 110 mph exit velocity hits. He’s struggled with contact striking out 29.1% of the time at Low-A this season and only making contact on 64.1% of swings. He also had a swinging strike percentage of 16.4%. He sort of makes up for it with a patient approach only swinging at 45.8% of pitches and walking 11.4% of the time. He’s only 19 and with a 6’1” 215 lbs frame hitting from the left side he has a ton of time and size to still develop and could easily become a top 100 prospect one day. 

Aidan Smith CF: After being acquired at the 2024 deadline from the Mariners for Randy Arozarena, Smith has had a solid season in High-A, he slashed .237/.331/.388 for a 113 wRC+. He added a lot of strength last offseason onto his 6’2” frame and will look to build on that again this offseason. He still is struggling to make contact with a 31.2% strikeout rate but was able to show more raw power. He has great speed stealing 41 bases each of the last two years. He’s been alright in center field but has the potential to be very good out there but has played every outfield position last year just in case. Smith is a very toolsy outfielder at only 20 years old and has a very high ceiling. 

New York Yankees:

Bryce Cunningham RHP: The Yankees 2nd round pick in last year's draft Cunningham spent his first pro-ball season in High-A and pitched well when he wasn’t injured. He missed basically all of June and July with an undisclosed injury. He was able to make 12 appearances and pitched 54.1 innings for a 2.82 ERA and 3.54 FIP. He struck out 25% of batters and was able to keep his walks to 8.6% less than every season he pitched at Vanderbilt. Cunningham throws a mid 90s fastball that can top out at 97 mph and he locates it well at the top of the zone. He also has a mid 80s changeup that has a ton of fade and sink, it's easily his best pitch when he can command it. He also throws a solid upper 80s slider that he locates alright. He still has a lot to grow into in his 6’5” frame and can easily become a rotation guy for the Yankees in a few years. 

Brady Kirtner RHP: After being drafted in the 12th round by the Mets in 2023 Kirtner decided to stay in college at Virginia Tech and ended up going undrafted in the 2024 draft and quickly was picked up by the Yankees. He started his Yankees career in Low-A this year and pitched well in 41.2 innings with a 2.59 ERA where he struck out 26.7% of batters and walked 11.4% out of the bullpen. He was promoted to High-A at the end of the season and pitched 5 innings giving up five hits and two earned runs with 5 strikeouts and a walk. He has some great stuff out of the bullpen. His fastball might be his worst pitch sitting in the low 90s. His secondary stuff is nasty though, he has a slider with 16.8 inches of horizontal break that had a 42.3% whiff rate in Low-A this season. He also has a curveball with 7.4 inches of induced vertical break and 15 inches of horizontal break; it plays off his other pitches really well. He has the stuff to move up quickly and will show it off this fall.

Hueston Morrill RHP: Another undrafted Yankees pitcher Morrill has been in the organization since 2023 and after 43.1 innings out of the bullpen in High-A this season he made his AA debut. In High-A he was a dominant reliever with a 0.42 ERA and a 25.5% strikeout rate. He gets a ton of ground balls with a 49.5% groundball rate this year. He had the lowest ERA in all of minor league baseball in High-A but his college years at Oklahoma State were very different because he was mainly a position player only making 17 appearances in all of college but the Yankees saw something and signed him. Looking at his pitching data from Low-A last year he has two fastballs: a sinker that sits in the mid 90s and a cutter that sits in the low 90s. The sinker gets very weak contact. He also has a slider in the mid 80s that gets a good amount of chase and works well off the sinker against right handed hitters. He’ll look to keep throwing this fall after a bad AA debut where he walked 5 in 4.1 innings and gave up two runs.

Cade Smith RHP: After three dominant seasons at Mississippi State Smith was taken in the 6th round of the 2023 draft. In his first pro season mostly spent in Low-A he was good with a 3.65 ERA and striking out 30.6% of batters but walking 11.1%. After dealing with a shoulder injury for most of the season Smith made two rehab starts in the Complex League and one in Low-A before returning to the High-A rotation at the end of July. He ended up making eight starts pitching 32.2 innings in High-A and pitched well with a 2.76 ERA. He struck out less batters and walked more but was able to get weaker contact than 2024. Smith doesn’t have overpowering stuff but a heavy arsenal and a ton of spin make him hard to hit. His fastball sits in the low 90s and touches 96 mph but at times he doesn’t command it well. His slider and curveball get a ton of chase and whiffs especially when the fastball is working. He has a changeup but rarely ever throws it. He doesn’t have the highest ceiling but has a good floor to at least be a multiple inning reliever. 

Adam Stone RHP: Another undrafted reliever Stone was picked up by the Yankees after the 2022 draft and made his pro debut in 2023 Low-A throwing 20 innings for a 7.20 ERA. The weird thing is Stone hasn’t pitched since then missing the last two seasons with an undisclosed injury. Looking at his Statcast data from 2023 he throws a lot of pitches. He mainly threw cutters and fastballs that sit in the low 90s and he wasn’t able to throw them for strikes often. He also had a distinct sweeper and slightly harder slider that sat in the low 80s that got some chase but weren’t great. The sweeper did get 15 inches of horizontal break. He also threw 12 sinkers during the season that, like the other fastballs, sat in the low 90s and he wasn’t able to locate well. In total he only was able to throw strikes 44.1% of the time. I’m intrigued by what he’s been working on over the last two years. 

Manuel Palencia C: It’s been an interesting season for Palencia after spending the 2024 season at Low-A before an injury ended his season he started the year in the Complex League where he excelled slashing .312/.380/.422 for a 126 wRC+ in 121 plate appearances. He was then promoted to High-A skipping Low-A and played in 16 games hitting .250/.286/.300 for a 75 wRC+. Even with those disappointing numbers the Yankees needed a catcher in AA and he was promoted again where he hit even worse, slashing .230/.253/.284 for a 57 wRC+ in 21 games. He’s been a good framer in the minors but doesn’t have a strong arm and rarely is able to throw runners out. This seems like a roster addition because like in AA Mesa needed a catcher. 

Coby Morales 1B: Since being drafted in the 18th round of the 2023 draft all Morales has done is hit. In his first full year in last season he hit .253/.364/.320 between Low-A and High-A for a 107 wRC+. This season he started in High-A where he picked up right where he left off hitting .251/.332/.385 for a 114 wRC+ He was walking less than last season but striking out less and hit for more power in 23 less games. He was then promoted to AA where he struggled through the end of the season. He played in 26 games and hit .211/.260/.244 for a 53 wRC+. He struck out 32.3% of the time and only walked 6.3%. His contact numbers were always a bit concerning but this year he only made contact on 72.3% of swings. He’s able to play first but also the corner outfield positions decently well and will need to have a good end to the season to offset the bad month he had in AA.

Enmanuel Tejeda 2B: Signing with the Yankees out of the DR in 2022 Tejeda broke out in the DSL hitting .289/.463/.493 and was moved state side to the CPX league at 18 years old and again hit great with a 149 wRC+. In 2024 He was promoted to Low-A but was injured and missed May and after coming back for June was again injured at the start of July and missed the rest of the season. Still he showed some great stuff with a 108 wRC+ to go along with 24 stolen bases in 43 games. It took awhile for Tejeda to recover from that injury starting 9 rehab games in the Complex League in July before moving back up to Low-A on June 22nd. He looked great in 35 games to end the season hitting .242/.389/.342 for a 118 wRC+. He showed a great knowledge of the zone with a 17.4% walk rate compared to his 13.4% strikeout rate. He made great swing decisions, rarely chasing and making high contact especially in the zone. He has been able to transfer it to the game but his raw power is actually pretty good especially for a 5’9” 158 lbs second baseman. His average exit velocity was 87.3 mph this season with a 37.1% hard hit rate and he reached 110 mph exit velocity at one point. A very underrated prospect as he just ended his 20 year old season and could turn into a great hitter. 

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