A Full Breakdown of the Peoria Javelinas Roster in the Arizona Fall League

durstockd
6 days ago
32 min read

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 will be on the Peoria Javelinas this fall. The team will consist of players from the Seattle Mariners, Baltimore Orioles, San Diego Padres, Cincinnati Reds, and Minnesota Twins.

Seattle Mariners:

Tyler Cleveland RHP: A really interesting pitcher, Cleveland is a submarine reliever who has been unhittable this season. Throughout 51.2 innings between High-A and AA he has a 0.87 ERA and 2.91 FIP. He struck out 25.5% of hitters this year but his strikeout numbers dropped from 31.6% in High-A to 16.5% in AA. His walk numbers also got worse in AA going from 7.7% in High-A to 10.1% in AA. Still he was able to limit any hard contact at both levels giving up no homers at both stops. He had 37 out of 41 games where he didn’t give up a run. Like most submarine pitchers he mostly throws his sinker that sits in the high 80s but gets a ton of weak contact. He also throws a sweeper that sits around 74 mph and gets more than 15 inches of horizontal break; he uses it as his big strikeout pitch. At times he will throw a changeup and harder slider to keep hitters guessing. He has a chance to make the Mariners after next spring especially with the advanced age of 26 he’ll likely start in AAA at worst.

Christian Little RHP: After being drafted in the 11th round in last year’s draft Little is already getting comparisons to current Mariners starter Bryan Woo. They both came out of college with pretty awful numbers but good enough stuff the Mariners felt they could mold them into great starters and within the first year for Little it’s happening. In college after 2 years at Vanderbilt he transferred to LSU and mostly came out of the bullpen in his senior year at LSU in 2024 he had a 6.37 ERA but there were signs that something was there with his 3.23 FIP. In his first professional season this year he pitched 61.2 innings in Low-A even after being put on the injured list for bone spurs that kept him out for all of July. Little was then promoted and pitched two starts in High-A for 9 innings total. He had a 3.95 ERA between both levels with a 24.9% strikeout rate and his lowest walk rate since his sophomore year at Vandy with a 10.9%. Little has a full pitch mix already with a fastball that sits in the mid 90s but tops out at 99 mph. He pairs that with a curveball in the upper 70s with a ton of drop. He’s also been developing an upper 80s cutter that's been getting good results. He will probably be ranked within the Mariners prospect rankings next season.

Brock Moore RHP: Standing at 6’6” the former Oregon pitcher and 7th round pick had a disappointing first year in pro ball. In High-A he struggled to throw anything for strikes with a 26.7% walk rate leading to his ERA to jump to 9.64. He was able to get strikeouts as his stuff should he struck out 24.8% this year but the command issues are scary. I talked about Moore after an outing this spring where his stuff looked phenomenal against the Dodgers spring team but he had absolutely no idea where it was going. Moore has a slider that he throws in the high 80s with great movement and is his main pitch to get ahead as he has the most feel for it. His fastball which tops out at 100 mph and sits around 97 mph is nasty with 16 inches of induced vertical break. He also has a high 70s curveball with 17 inches of horizontal movement. He has 3 big league pitches right now that would work in the Mariners bullpen today but he’ll never make it out of the low minors with that command. I will say Moore was figuring it out with four outings of no runs in June before being injured for all of July. He still has two years before needing to be on a 40 man roster so he has plenty of time to figure it out and with the Mariners pitching lab I’m sure they have something cooking this fall.

Marcelo Perez RHP: After dealing with injuries during the start of the season and end of the season Perez ended up putting a good season together. He made 8 starts for 35.1 innings in High-A where he really struggled the year before but dominated this season. This season in High-A Perez had a 2.04 ERA striking out 25.4% of batters and showing off his elite command only walking 3.7% of batters. He then rightfully was promoted to AA and struggled striking out only 11.9% and upping his walk rate to 7.6%. This led to his ERA jumping to 4.31 in 56.1 innings. Unlike another Mariner starter with great command George Kirby, Perez doesn’t have the high level stuff to be able to compete at the higher levels. His fastball only sits in the low 90s and can get hit hard at times. His main pitches are two sliders, one a more gyro like slider that sits around 87 mph and a low 80s sweeper that had great late movement. Those pitches and his control could carry him into a low leverage reliever at the MLB level but he’ll need to either have an uptick in his velocity or add another pitch like a changeup or curveball to have the potential to break into a MLB rotation.

Stefan Raeth RHP: The former 17th round pick in 2022 dominated High-A this season with a 2.06 ERA. In 39.1 innings in High-A Raeth struck out 29.7% of batters the most of his career and only walked 4.7% the least of his career. He obviously earned a promotion to AA and struggled a bit, his ERA went to 5.50 in 18 innings but he still struck out 23.1% of batters and kept his walk rate down to 7.7%. He’s a reliever that can go multiple innings at his best and even had three starts at the end of his season. He has a big league pitch mix but his primary pitches aren’t the best stuff wise. He throws three fastballs: a four seam, cutter, and sinker that all sit in the low 90s or high 80s (cutter). He’s able to command these really well though and when they’re working can get weak contact. His breaking pitches are really good and are mainly used as strikeout pitches. His curveball sits in the high 70s and gets great late drops while his slider is nasty with over 15 inches of horizontal break. He’s shown at the very least he can be a solid reliever depth option but with this offseason being his rule 5 decision time the Mariners need to see more this fall.

Brock Rodden 2B: All Rodden has done his whole minor league career is hit and this season was no different. Even after battling an oblique injury that kept him out for basically two months Rodden still put together a good 37 games in AA with a .295/.356/.466 slash line with a 139 wRC+ until his season was ended by a broken hamate bone. Rodden seems to be recovering well because he’ll come into the Fall League ready to hit. He spent the early part of his minor league career as a contact oriented hitter but had a breakout power season in 2024 with a .416 slugging percentage and 14 homers and showed this season that wasn’t a fluke hitting 5 homers in 37 games and is said to have his highest exit velocities ever. He adds that to his ability to steal bases and play solid defense all around the infield. His strikeout rate though is concerning, going from 22.7% last season to 30.1% in his shortened year this year. His walk rate also dropped 3% to 7.4% this year. He’s making less contact which for a 5’7” infielder is very concerning since his power likely won’t translate as he gets to higher levels. It’ll be interesting to see how he performs this fall after the injury.

Jonny Farmelo CF: The highest ranked prospect on the Mariners fall league roster. Farmelo was the 29th pick in the 2023 draft out of high school but has struggled with injuries in his first two pro ball seasons. In 2024 he looked good in Low-A slashing .264/.398/.421 for a 126 wRC+ in 46 games before tearing his ACL while making a catch in the outfield. In 2025 He was ready to go at the end of April and hit really well before suffering a stress fracture in his ribs during a swing and missing all of June and July. Since coming back in August he’s not looked good with a .191 average during the last 18 games of the season. He’s shown big raw power and that mixed with his elite speed makes him a high potential outfielder especially in center field but his contact concerns especially this season need to be fixed. He struck out 29.5% of the time in High-A a jump from the season before and walked 6% less. He also only made contact on 64.5% of swings and whiffed 36.7% of the time. Farmelo’s only in his 20 year old season and hasn’t been able to have a full non injured season. I still have high potential for him to figure it out especially after a hopefully fully healthy offseason.

Baltimore Orioles:

Luis De Leon LHP: After a great end to 2023 and start of 2024 in Low-A De Leon was promoted to High-A in 2024 and really struggled with control and was getting hit really hard. After starting the 2025 season on the injured list with an elbow injury he made 4 rehab starts in Low-A and looked about the same as he did in High-A the year before walking 16.3% of batters and having a 4.09 ERA but he then was sent from his rehab to High-A and looked really solid dropping his walk rate to 10.1% in 60.1 innings while striking out 26.7%. He was throwing more strikes in the zone and getting weaker contact than the year before. This earned him a promotion at the end of the year to AA where he made 3 starts for 16 innings and looked phenomenal. He kept his walk rate around 10% and struck out 35.3% of batters. This earned him a 1.69 ERA and 1.60 FIP in those 3 starts. De Leon has a sinker that sits 96 mph and can top out in the high 90s. If he can command the sinker especially near the top of the zone it really works. He also throws a slider that sits in the mid 80s that has a really good sharp break and gets a lot of chases. His third pitch is a changeup that he commands really well arm side and has averaged around 20 inches of horizontal break. He has the potential to be a really good mid rotation starter if he can continue to command his sinker well but the floor is still a great lefty out of the bullpen. De Leon is definitely a prospect to keep an eye on this fall.

Carson Dorsey LHP: After being drafted out of Florida State in the 2024 draft Dorsey was only able to pitch 0.1 of an inning after being drafted where he gave up 4 runs before being pulled and shut down until this season. Dorsey’s season didn’t start until late June because of an undisclosed injury and after one alright rehab start in the Complex League he made his Low-A debut and ended up pitching in 42.1 innings. He looked pretty good there with a 4.04 ERA and 2.41 FIP. He was able to strike out 33.1% of hitters and walk 9.7%. His ERA was inflated by two starts where he gave up 6 runs but he had some really impressive starts especially his last two where he pitched 10.2 innings total giving up 6 hits 1 earned run while striking out 13 and only walking 2. He has a really deceptive delivery that allows his stuff to play up. He has a low to mid 90s fastball that he commands really well. Plus a slider, changeup, and curveball that all get solid chase and are actually thrown for strikes more than half the time. I can easily see Dorsey getting on top prospect lists before next season especially if he has a solid fall league.

Andy Fabian LHP: Not much is known about the 2023 international signing out of the DR but Fabian has looked fantastic this year in his first state side action. Starting in the complex league he pitched 17 innings to a 2.12 ERA. He struck out 34.7% of batters but showed his bad command walking 16%. He then was promoted to Low-A Delmarva and he got even better pitching in 22.2 innings for a 1.19 ERA. Somehow he struck out even more hitters at 38.7% but walked the same amount. Fabian also gets an incredible amount of ground balls going back to his outings in the Dominican Summer League last season. In Low-A he had a 65.8% ground ball rate. He throws a fastball that touches 97 mph which is great for a 22 year old lefty. He also throws a slider that is nasty especially against left handed hitters. His last pitch is a changeup that he has the most control over and is a great third pitch. If Fabian can clean up the command with the fastball and slider he’s an amazing left handed relief prospect and I’m super excited to get some Statcast data on him this fall.

Zach Fruit RHP: After an impressive spring Fruit started the season in AA and struggled in three starts and was put on the injured list with a right lat strain. He was out until July where he made two rehab starts in High-A before moving back up to AA where he again struggled especially with command. In 43.2 innings this season in AA he walked 14.2% of batters. His strikeout rate also dropped to only 19% this led to his ERA being 7.01. He has impressive stuff though with a fastball that sits in the high 90s and can top out at 100 mph. He also throws a slider with great movement and a low 90s cutter that gets weak contact. The stuff can carry him to be at least a solid reliever in the big leagues. He’ll need to focus on command to be able to stick in the rotation and likely add another pitch to get left handed hitters out.

Tanner Smith RHP: Acquired at the deadline from the Padres in the Ryan O’Hearn and Ramon Laureano trade, Smith is in his first pro ball season after being drafted in the 15th round of last year’s draft and has already moved from the Complex League to High-A. He’s already shown great stuff with a 3.38 total ERA across all levels and teams this season with a 2.73 FIP. He has strikeout stuff with a 30.8% strikeout rate this season and kept his walk rate which was a major problem at Harvard to 10.7%. He’s listed by Baseball America as a player to watch this season for a reason standing at 6’6” and 245 pounds he has great stuff with a fastball and sinker that sit in the upper 90s. He also has a changeup in the high 80s and slider that sits in the mid 80s for an already high level pitch mix. He’s likely a pitcher who comes out of the bullpen but will be really exciting like all these Baltimore pitchers this fall.

Ethan Anderson C: Drafted in the 2nd round of the 2024 draft Anderson has already moved to AA in his first professional season. He’s a very contact oriented bat slashing .257/.338/.355 for a 109 wRC+ in High-A this season before the promotion. In his last 20 games in High-A he had a 183 wRC+ while walking 5 more times than he struckout. That hot streak ended in AA where he was still making good contact but those balls didn’t find outfield grass enough and he slashed .215/.338/.277 for a 80 wRC+. He was able to walk more than he did in High-A though and showed his elite contact skills barely swinging and misses or chasing. Defensively Anderson isn’t the best behind the plate; his arm coming out of college is what made him drop to the late 2nd round and the Orioles have already experimented with him at first base and at both corner outfield positions. Unlike other teams the Javelinas this fall have 3 catchers on the roster with top 100 prospects Ethan Salas and Alfredo Duno making the team so it seems Anderson will get playing time elsewhere as he develops this fall.

Enrique Bradfield Jr. CF: A very interesting prospect, the Orioles took Bradfield with the 17th overall pick in 2023 out of Vanderbilt. At the plate Bradfield isn’t going to show off a lot of power with just a .106 ISO this season but he makes elite swing decisions rarely chasing breaking balls out of the zone and he makes elite contact especially in the zone with a 90% in zone contact rate the past two seasons. He rarely hits the ball hard only maxing out around 104 mph exit velocities but he slaps the ball around the field. He also has elite speed, maybe being the fastest player in the minors allowing him to beat out a bunch of infield hits and bunts. That speed also allows him to cover a bunch of ground in center even though his arm is only about average he makes up for it by stealing extra base hits away with his speed. He dealt with a hamstring injury in April and after a few rehab games he eventually was back in the AA lineup a little over a month later until he again suffered a hamstring injury and missed most of July. This led to him not using his speed on the bases, only stealing 36 bags in 76 total games unlike last season where he stole 74. In total he was able to play only 50 games in AA throughout the season but hit well with a .269/.393/.386 for a 124 wRC+ this led to him getting promoted to AAA for the last month of the season where he really struggled. His contact rating was still high but he ended up chasing 30.9% of pitches out of the zone and struck out at a 30.6% rate almost double what he was doing in AA. Hopefully he can go back to what was working this fall.

Thomas Sosa OF: The exact opposite of his new teammate Bradfield. Sosa is a big framed lefty with pretty bad contact ability but big time power. In 2024 his first season in the states he struggled with contact going from the Complex League to Low-A and ending with 19 games in High-A where he really struggled only hitting .181/.298/.194. He showed his raw power with some of the highest exit velocities in the entire Orioles system but was only able to hit 4 homers in the Complex and 4 in Low-A. This season he again was in High-A but after only 4 games he hit the injured list with an undisclosed injury and didn’t return to High-A until July. He ended up playing 47 total games in High-A and actually hit pretty well with a .222/.309/.407 slash line and a 112 wRC+. He was walking at a 9.4% rate and cut his strikeouts down from 33.3% in High-A in 2024 to 24.1% this year. He rightfully earned a promotion to AA being one of the youngest players in the league at 20 years old but really struggled in only 11 games there hitting .158/.220/.342 for a 54 wRC+. He was walking less and making very weak contact but still showed off his power with 2 big homers in his first four games. It’ll be interesting to see if Sosa can fix some of his contact skills and bring his raw power into more games. If he can, he'll shoot up prospect lists.

San Diego Padres:

Isaiah Lowe RHP: After a shoulder injury ended his first professional season in 2023 the former 11th round pick had a great second season especially in Low-A where he pitched to a 3.00 ERA through 72 innings and made the All Star team but his numbers at the end of the season once promoted to were worse. In 7 starts in High-A to end the season Lowe pitched to a 3.05 ERA and cut his strikeout rate from 29.7% in Low-A to 14.9% while upping his walk rate by 2%. This season he pitched entirely in High-A making 22 starts and pitching in 91.2 innings. He again struggled pitching to a 5.69 ERA. He was still struggling with whiffs only striking out 16.2% of batters and his walk rate jumped to the highest of his career at 11.8%. Lowe tends to get a lot of flyballs and has struggled with homers in High-A as well. Lowe’s fastball sits in the mid to low 90s but can touch 97 mph at times. He was known for his slider that sits in the low 80s and had a 44% whiff rate in 2024 but hasn’t been working in High-A. He also has a changeup that he can command all around the zone. In the past Lowe has shown good control and a solid enough pitch mix to get hitters out but the struggle in High-A could keep him stuck there another season especially if he continues to perform poorly this fall.

Maikel Miralles RHP: After his first state side season mostly working out of the bullpen Miralles transitioned into a starter mostly this season starting in Low-A before an injury sidelined him for about a month and a half. After coming back Miralles continued to struggle, throwing a combined 55.2 innings before and after the injury to a 5.17 ERA. He’s never been a strikeout pitcher only striking out hitters 20% of the time but he struggled with walks in Low-A walking 13.3%. That came from a struggle to throw strikes with only a 26.2 CSW%. Even with the struggling numbers he was eventually promoted to High-A where he started 2 games throwing 12.2 innings and really improved. He gave up 3 runs in his first start and none in his second while only walking 1 batter total. The Padres wanted to see more and promoted the 20 year old to AAA where he made one outing in the 9th inning of the September 14th game throwing 0.2 inning giving up 4 runs. Looking at his Statcast data from that game Miralles obviously doesn’t have overpowering stuff with a fastball that sits around 93 mph that only averaged 12.9 inches of induced vertical break. He throws a cutter or harder slider that sits 88 mph with not much movement and a changeup at the same speed with some fade but not much.

Carson Montgomery RHP: Drafted in the 11th round of the 2023 draft after some struggling seasons at Florida State, Montgomery looked good in his professional debut season where he pitched in 7 innings to a 3.86 ERA before being shut down with Tommy John. Because of the surgery Montgomery hasn’t pitched in a pro game all season only getting some outings in back field games getting ready for the fall. Even with the struggles at FSU Montgomery showed off some nasty stuff in college. His fastball has a lot of energy hitting the high 90s often with some natural sink on it. He pairs that with a great slider with a ton of horizontal movement that gets a ton of whiffs. His problem throughout college was and in the few innings he threw in 2024 was an inability to throw strikes. In those 7 innings only 12% of his pitches were called strikes and he walked 20% of the batters he faced. This problem has stayed with Montgomery throughout college and when playing on summer ball teams. Still I’m excited to see what he looks like after Tommy John this fall.

Johan Moreno RHP: The 2023 international signing out of Venezuela has struggled since coming to the states. In his first full season in the US in 2024 he pitched 51.2 innings between the Complex League and Low-A to a 5.40 ERA. He struggled to get strikeouts with only a 18% rate while walking 14% of batters. This season he was a multiple inning guy out of the bullpen starting in Low-A again and throwing 68.1 innings. He improved with a 4.48 ERA in Low-A. He was able to get a lot more strikeouts at a 27.1% rate while keeping his walks down a bit to 11.1%. He also gave up less home runs in more innings. This earned him a promotion to High-A where he only pitched 7 innings before the TinCaps season ended and was promoted to AA to get 3.2 more innings. At both stops he struggled against more experienced hitters even with mostly throwing an inning out of the bullpen. With no public data I can’t confirm it but he’s said to have a mid 90s fastball and tight slider that has some life. It’ll be fun to get some data on him this fall.

Tucker Musgrove RHP: A very weird career so far for Musgrove. He was drafted in the 7th round of the 2023 draft out of NAIA school the University of Mobile. Originally Musgrove was going to be a two-way player like he did at Mobile hitting .397/.485/.635 in his Junior year while serving as the team’s closer throwing 18 innings for a 3.00 ERA while striking out 23. While being medically tested by MLB teams it was found he had a torn UCL and had to have Tommy John surgery. Musgrove missed the end of the 2023 season and all of 2024. After rehabbing the Padres moved him to a full time pitcher and after two years he finally made his professional debut in Low-A Lake Elsinore at the end of April. The Padres have been very careful with him especially after he was on the injured list twice this season. He only pitched in 20 innings in 2025 to a 5.40 ERA but struck out 30.6% of batters. His fastball has been the main story clocking in around 96 mph and can hit 100 mph while averaging 17” of induced vertical break and around 2500 RPM. He throws a sweeper to pair with it that sits in the mid 80s and has 14” of sweep and around 2900 RPM. He mixes in a sinker, regular slider, and curveball at times too. He has absolutely nasty stuff and the pitch mix to be built up as a starter. He walked 11.8% of batters this year but kept his walks down for the most part in college. A really exciting arm in the Padres system that I’ll be watching closely this fall.

Ethan Salas C: After breaking onto the scene in 2023 after playing in a Spring Training game at 16 years old Salas followed that up with a solid 48 games in Low-A hitting .267/.350/.487 for a 123 wRC+ but struggled at both High-A and AA that season after being promoted late. He started the 2024 season as one of the highest ranked prospects in baseball but really badly struggled at High-A slashing .206/.288/.311 for a 75 wRC+ in 111 games. Even with that he continued to climb and in his 19 year old season in 2025 started on the AA roster. He was only able to play in 10 games before he suffered a lower back stress reaction. In those 10 games he again struggled slashing .188/.325/.219 for a 75 wRC+. Even though he’s been cleared to play for the past month the Padres have held Salas back to working out at the Arizona complex to get him ready for his fall league appearance. He played in the fall league last season as well hitting .228/.327/.424 with 4 homers. I’ll say I’m lower on Salas than most. He has a very weird swing that tends to get under a lot of fastballs and he doesn’t make a lot of contact as some hoped. I can see the upside with his power though as he can grow more into his frame with more muscles and show the potential for big raw power but he hasn’t shown it often enough in my opinion to be as highly rated as he is. His defense is very good though he has an above average arm and great pop time to throw out runners. He is already a solid framer and could become one of the best in baseball with more time. His blocking though was really bad in 2024 but seemed to improve in his limited games in 2025. Most publications have Salas making his debut towards the end of next season but I still see him as a project whose swing needs to be molded a bit more. It’ll be interesting to see what adjustments he’s done with coaches while rehabbing.

Ryan Jackson INF: The 17th round pick out of USC just last season has already climbed up to AA this season. After a few games in Low-A last season after the draft Jackson started there this season playing in 62 games hitting .298/.442/.418 for a 147 wRC+. He walked more than striking out as well at 19.2% of the time. He was rightfully promoted to High-A where he was worse hitting .234/.357/.287 for a 85 wRC+ in 48 games. He was still walking a lot and his strikeout rate actually dropped from Low-A but even with a high contact percentage his hits weren’t finding the grass and his BABIP dropped from .368 in Low-A to .279 in High-A. He was promoted to AA for 19 games at the end of the season and really struggled there hitting .194/.270/.224 for a 52 wRC+. In the small sample size he only made contact on 70.5% of pitches and his strikeout rate jumped to 24.3%. Jackson’s never going to be a power hitter standing at 5’10” 180 lbs but has shown a great knowledge of the zone and decent contact ability. He’s jumped all over the infield defensively playing games at second, third, and shortstop as well as 8 games in left field. It seems like the Padres are turning Jackson into a contact bat who can play anywhere.

Braedon Karpathios OF: After playing only one season at Junior College Harford Community College Karpathios was draft eligible and went undrafted in the 2022 draft. He was picked up by the Padres and has slowly climbed the ranks, eventually landing in AA for the last month of the season this year. This season in High-A he hit .254/.370/.410 for a 125 wRC+. He has a great knowledge of the zone rarely ever chasing especially at breaking balls but struggles with contact especially in the zone. This season between High-A and AA he only has a 72.9% contact rate and whiffs almost 40% of the time. With that advanced knowledge of the zone he walked 14% of the time this year but struck out 28%. He has some power in his bat too hitting 15 homers this year and 40 extra base hits. After being promoted to AA he struggled a bit in 21 games. He hit .225/.295/.425 for a 107 wRC+ still good but he was walking less and striking out more. His bat has potential if he can get the whiff rates down. His defense is solid at all outfield positions. He doesn’t have the speed to play center at the next level but after being a pitcher at his JUCO he has a big arm and can easily be a solid right fielder. I’m excited to see what he can do against the talented players in the AFL this year.

Cincinnati Reds:

Johnathan Harmon RHP: The former 13th round pick by the Reds in the 2022 draft Harmon had a great 1st season in professional games in 2023. Between Low-A and one start in High-A he had a 3.90 ERA while striking out 24.3% of batters. Starting 2024 in High-A he made his first 10 starts pitching to a 4.30 ERA but was shut down and had to get Tommy John surgery. This kept him out until July this year where he made 3 starts in the Complex League to not great results before being called back up to High-A for the last month of the season. He looked great in High-A starting 5 games and pitching 22.2 innings to a 1.59 ERA. He didn’t get as many strike outs as before the injury with a 20.4% rate but he kept his walk rate down to 7.5%. Looking at his last public data from 2023 he leans heavily on his curveball that he is able to throw for a strike well. He has a sinker and 4-seam fastball that both sit in the low 90s. He struggles to throw them for strikes and it seems he left them over the zone too much. His fastball has a decent shape but not for 92 mph where it sat. I will note that he has said he can throw in the upper 90s now. It seems now that he’s figured out his command, dropping his walk rate this season.

Luke Hayden RHP: The Reds 8th round pick in last year’s draft bursted onto the scene during the draft combine where he upped his velocity to 96 mph instead of the 93 he’d been clocked around during his time at Indiana St. This season for his first full professional one he spent it all in High-A Dayton where he started 24 games pitching 101.1 innings. He looked alright pitching to 4.09 ERA and a 5.21 FIP. His walks which haunted him in college and seemed to be under more control in his limited time in Low-A after the draft came back after Hayden walked 16% of batters this season. He was expected to strike out a good amount of hitters but only struck out 17.6% in High-A. He has a very solid pitch mix already with the fastball in the mid 90s as his main pitch. He has put more emphasis on his cutter that sits in the low 90s and has pretty good movement especially off his 4-seam. His main strikeout pitch is his slider which gets 13 inches of horizontal break and had a 45% whiff rate in college. He also has a changeup which is alright but he can throw for strikes better than his slider. It seems he wasn’t getting as many whiffs on the slider as some expected and his fastball wasn’t being thrown for that many strikes as he only had a 24.8% CSW%. He’ll look to try and clean up his command this fall.

Trevor Kuncl RHP: After going undrafted in the 2021 draft, Kuncl went right into independent ball with Lake Erie in the Frontier League. After 3 years pitching there he spent a winter in the Mexican league and was signed by the Reds last offseason. His first season in organized ball he spent at AA Chattanooga where he pitched 50 innings out of the bullpen to a 2.34 ERA and was named as an All Star. He spent the last two years working at Driveline in the offseason and worked on his electric fastball. His fastball was clocked more than 100 mph multiple times in Indy ball. He adds that to a cutter in the low-mid 90s and a slider with great late break. He was able to get a 25.6% strikeout rate as the AA closer this year and kept his walk rate down to 8.5%. He’s able to command his pitches pretty well and fills up the zone. Could be a guy making his Major League debut in a year or two if all things go well especially if they do in the fall league.

Alfredo Duno C: One of my favorite prospects in all of baseball since the Reds signed the catcher out of Venezuela in the 2023 international signing class. He played in the Dominican Summer League in 2023 as a 17 year old and dominated with a 152 wRC+. In 2024 in his 1st season in the states Duno again hit well in Low-A with a .267/.367/.422 slash line for a 127 wRC+ but his season was cut short at 32 games after suffering a rib injury. This season during his age 19 season he again played in Low-A and dominated hitting .287/.430/.518 for a 164 wRC+. He ended up winning the Florida State League MVP just a week ago. He wasn’t just walking at a 19.2% rate compared to his 18.4% strikeout rate he was smashing balls. He had a 49.7% hard hit rate with a 91.1 mph average exit velocity. He even hit 111.2 mph at one point. The one thing that he struggles with is contact with a 30.9% whiff rate and only making contact on 71.1% of swings. He also rarely swung, only swinging at 39.4% of pitches and had the eye to rarely chase too. He’s still learning to play behind the plate because he barely played there since signing with the Reds. In the DSL he only played DH because of a hurt elbow and he only caught in 21 games in 2024 and then went down with his rib injury so this is really the first season he’s caught since he was 16 years old in Venezuela. He’s shown some potential framing and blocking but he has a great arm throwing out 25% of runners this season. He also isn’t slow around the bases like other catchers which just shows how athletic he is. In my opinion Duno has some of the best tools in minor leagues and should be ranked in at least the top 20 on prospects rankings in all of baseball. I can’t wait to see him face older competition in the fall and be in High-A next season.

Leo Balcazar SS: After being signed in the 2021 international class Balcazar broke onto the scene in 2022 where he hit for a 139 wRC+ in the Complex League. He again started hot in 2023 in Low-A hitting for a 147 wRC+ before going down with a torn ACL. In 2024 he moved up to High-A Dayton and struggled once recovering from his ACL injury but had a good last month of the season to finish hitting .263/.295/.354 for a 85 wRC+ in 102 games in 2024. This season he again started in High-A and bounced back to almost what he was hitting before the injury, slashing .262/.333/.413 for a 110 wRC+ in 75 games. He was then promoted to AA where he still hit well, slashing .263/.349/.328 for a 100 wRC+. The one thing that didn’t return from the low minors was his ability to read the strike zone. In both his 2024 and 2025 season his walk rate that was sitting above 10% his first 3 years dropped to 3.4% in 2024 and 9.3% in 2025. He has dropped his strikeout rate significantly this season. It’s been above 22% in the past but he was able to drop it to just 13.4% this season mostly due to more contact. He was only making around 60% contact in the lower minor levels but made contact on 79.4% of swings this year. His bat isn’t what Balcazar is known for as he’s had one of the best gloves in baseball since being signed. He’s mostly played shortstop throughout his career but mostly spent AA playing second base because it seemed he was losing a bit of his quick first step after the injury. A very underrated prospect in the Reds system.

Cam Collier 1B: Taking the Bryce Harper route to the draft Collier graduated high school early to play at a JUCO and be drafted at 17 years old in the 1st round by the Reds. After starting the season on the injured list after getting surgery on his thumb Collier has looked alright. He spent 21 games rehabbing in the Complex League and High-A before being promoted to AA where he was one of the youngest players in the league at 20. In 74 games played Collier hit .263/.377/.347 for a 114 wRC+. He was able to increase his walk rate a bit but lost what made him a top prospect. In 2024 in High-A he hit 20 homers and had 42 extra base hits, this season in his 74 games in AA with 200 less at bats Collier only hit 2 homers and had 18 extra base hits. That's a significant drop for a player that has shown above average raw power in the past especially if that player is making below average contact which Collier was this season. He also has mostly been moved from third base where he had a great arm but questionable range over to first. He’s still a good hitter but it would be great for Collier to show some more power this fall in a league that usually is a great home run hitting environment.

Minnesota Twins:

Miguelangel Boadas RHP: Signed in the 2019 international class out of Venezuela Boadas has been unimpressive ERA wise at every level. Making his Twins organization debut in the Dominican Summer league at 18 years old he put up a 3.63 ERA in 34.2 innings. He moved to the Complex League the next year and rose a level the next two seasons. In High-A during the 2024 season Boadas pitched 30.1 innings before being shut down in early June and having Tommy John surgery. Before the injury he pitched to a 6.23 ERA and 3.90 FIP while showing his strike out ability with a 26.7% strikeout rate. He has yet to pitch since his June 8th start as he rehabs from surgery. Still only 22 years old Boadas has shown he has decent stuff with a full five pitch mix. He throws a low 90s fastball and a cutter that sits around 84 mph and got a 46.2% whiff rate in 2023. He has a changeup, slider, and curveball that have gotten some good whiffs. Definitely a pitcher who can develop as a starter with some more velocity.

Jakob Hall RHP: Being drafted in the 8th round of last year’s draft out of Oral Roberts, Hall had a shaky first professional season in Low-A this year. Starting the year as a multiple inning guy out of the bullpen with a few starts mixed in, Hall became a two inning max guy out of the bullpen for the last two months of the season. In total he pitched 54 innings to a 6.83 ERA and 4.59 FIP. Throughout college Hall was known as a pitcher with great command but didn’t show that in Low-A walking 8.9% of hitters and only having a 24.9% CSW%. He doesn’t have the best stuff striking out 18.2%. He has a whole six pitch mix with a 4-seamer, sinker, cutter, slider, changeup, and curveball which keeps hitters guessing. Both his changeup and curveball got very little chase but gave the weakest contact out of any pitch. His slider did not perform well this year, getting hit very hard when in the zone.

Hunter Hoopes RHP: After a long college career between UNC Asheville and Alabama Hoopes was not drafted in the 2023 draft. After his college season in 2023 he made 8 starts in the Frontier League to end the season. At one point he was even a Tread Performance Coach at Driveline. He was signed by the Twins in last year’s summer but didn’t make an appearance in the Twins organization until the start of this season. He spent the 2025 season pitching out of the bullpen and climbing the ranks going from Low-A to AA by the end of the season. He dominated the lower ranked first throwing 21 innings in Low-A to a 2.14 ERA and striking out 37.6% of batters. He then was promoted to High-A and pitched 17.1 innings to a 1.56 ERA and striking out 30.8%. Once getting promoted to AA it was a different story. He pitched 14 innings to a 7.07 ERA and his strikeout rate dropped to 19.7%. He has a very good fastball even with only throwing in the mid to low 90s. His fastball has 19.7 inches of induced vertical break but struggled to find the zone at times. He has a slider with pretty solid movement and it has good swing and miss and chase in Low-A. He also throws a changeup that’s in the low 90s and got a 52.2% whiff rate in Low-A. A great story who put together a great year and will look to face better competition this fall.

Dylan Questad RHP: The 20 year old was drafted out of high school in the 5th round of the 2023 draft. He spent his first professional season getting his feet wet in the Complex League in 2024 where he pitched 28.1 innings to a 10.48 ERA. This year he spent the season in Low-A Fort Myers where he again struggled pitching in 74.2 innings to a 6.87 ERA. Both years he showed the ability to get strikeouts but struggled with walks. Questad walked 19.2% of batters in the Complex and 17.7% in Low-A. His pitch mix has potential starting with a fastball with 17.1 inches of induced vertical break but it only sits around 93 mph and doesn’t have the best spin yet. He also throws a cutter that sits in the mid 80s but had a 33.6% chase rate this season. His secondaries are a curveball with below average movement and a splitter he developed in the middle of the season which worked well with a 43.5% whiff rate. His problem is he wasn’t able to throw any of these for a strike even his fastball and cutter only were thrown in the zone 43% of the time.

Zander Sechrist LHP: Going undrafted in the 2024 draft after four years at Tennessee the Twins quickly picked up Sechrist. He didn’t pitch last season and made his Twins organization debut in Low-A this season. Sechrist pitched 69 innings out of the bullpen to a 3.00 ERA and 3.29 FIP. He struck out 19.9% and kept his walks to 6.9%. He doesn’t have overpowering stuff but all of his pitches are able to get weak contact when they’re commanded well. He has very little velocity but a funky delivery and good pitch mix keeps him useful. His sinker which he throws 46% of the time only sits around 86 mph but got a xwOBA of 0.282 this season. He throws a slider that sits around 70 mph but he’s able to throw it in the zone and get 35% chase on it when it’s outside. His cutter only sits around 78 mph but gets the same amount of weak contact as the sinker. His changeup only sits in the high 79s but he throws for strike really well. A very interesting pitcher who’s able to get outs without big stuff.

Billy Amick 1B/3B: After a breakout season at Tennessee where he hit 23 homers Amick was taken in the 2nd round of the 2024 draft. His first professional season has been derailed by an oblique injury which caused him to go on the injured list twice and only play 54 games in High-A. In those 54 games Amick slashed .310/.419/.455 for a 152 wRC+. He showed off his plus raw power at times hitting 20 extra base hits including 4 homers. His biggest problem has been a lack of contact only hitting the ball on 70.5% of swings. What's really concerning is his contact in the zone whiff 25% of the time especially on fastballs. He has the size to grow into a big power threat from the right side. He also is likely to be moved off third base where he mainly played in college. He already has played more games this season at first than third and that trend will likely continue.

Brandon Winokur UTL: The 6’6” 210 lbs high schooler was taken in the 3rd round of the 2023 draft. He’s climbed the ranks the last two years going from Low-A in 2024 to High-A in 2025. He has some of the best tools in the minor leagues and showed that off in 2024 hitting .249/.327/.434 for a 118 wRC+ with 14 homers and 23 stolen bases. He struggled in High-A this season hitting .226/.304/.388 for a 97 wRC+ in 122 games. He also hit 17 homers and stole 26 bases. He makes very below average contact only making it on 67.8% of swings this season and striking out 24.7% of the time. He’s shown off his elite raw power having exit velocities above 111 mph. If the contact even in the zone can grow he’ll be an elite prospect. The Twins have tried him all over the field using his speed to play center field and shortstop mostly. He’s still not great anywhere but has been better at every position.

Hendry Mendez LF: Originally signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Brewers. Mendez was traded to the Phillies in the 2023 offseason to the Phillies for Oliver Moore. Mendez was then traded to the Twins at this year’s deadline for Harrison Bader. The last two seasons moving into the Phillies organization he’s excelled at the plate hitting .284/.386/.434 for a 131 wRC+ for the High-A Phillies team in 2024. This season he spent the first half in the Phillies AA where he hit .290/.374/.434 for a 130 wRC+ and after being traded he somehow hit even better in the Twins AA slashing .243/.461/.450 for a 160 wRC+. Mendez has great bat to ball skills making contact 86% of the time this season. He has decent raw power and slugged over .400 for the first time since 2021 this year but his swing makes it hard to imagine turning that raw power into real game power as he hits the ball on the ground a ton. Most seasons he’s been around 60% ground ball rate. This season he’s down to 54% but in his time with the Twins he was back up to 57.8%. He still could be a great backup outfielder in the Majors especially if he can play better in left field where he’s been downright bad.