A Full Breakdown of the Salt River Rafters Roster in the Arizona Fall League

durstockd
Oct 7, 2025
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 Salt River Rafters this fall. The team will consist of players from the Los Angeles Angels, Arizona Diamondbacks, Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Red Sox, and Colorado Rockies.

Los Angeles Angels:

Ryan Costeiu RHP: After being drafted in 2021 out of Arkansas, Costeiu has slowly climbed the ranks throughout the years. He missed the 2023 season with an elbow injury but bounced back quickly in 2024 pitching 73 innings in High-A to a 2.84 ERA. This season hasn’t been as good for Costeiu as he started in AA Rocket City and really struggled throwing 14 innings in 5 games to a 6.43 ERA. His strikeout rate stayed at his career average at 22.4% but his walk rate jumped to 16.4%. He was getting hit hard giving up 3 homers and 16 total hits in the 14 innings. He was demoted and again was in High-A where he spent his last 2 healthy seasons. He struggled throwing 104.2 innings to a 5.07 ERA and 4.18 FIP. He was able to keep his strikeouts at the same level striking out 24.8% of batters and actually dropped his walk rate to 9.7%. Hitters made more contact off of him and 10% of his flyballs went out of the park. With no public data at all I’m not sure what Costeiu has been throwing especially recently but in the past he has been clocked around 95 mph with one of the best changeups in the Angels system.

Brandon Dufault RHP: Another 2021 draft pick by the Angels Dufault was drafted in the 16th round out of Northeastern and was climbing the minor league ranks getting all the way up to AA in 2023 before being shut down and having Tommy John surgery. He missed the entire 2024 season and played a bit in the Fall League last season. In 2025 Dufault started his season down in the Complex League where he made 6 appearances pitching 10.1 innings. After giving up 5 runs through an innings in his first outing Dufault only gave up 3 runs through his last 9.1 innings. He then was promoted to Low-A where he hadn’t been since after the 2021 draft and pitched the rest of the season there pitching in 16 games and in 59.2 innings. He pitched to a 4.53 ERA and 5.44 FIP striking out 16.7% of batters and walking 14.5%. He really struggled to throw strikes; the same thing happened last year in the Fall league. Something clicked for him at the end of the season. In his last 48.1 innings he threw to a 3.48 ERA striking out 38 and walking 29. Still with a walk problem but he was able to limit hard contact more. He has pretty good stuff with a fastball that sits in the mid 90s and a sinker around 90 mph. HIs slider and changeup are really good if he’s able to command his fastballs, The changeup had 18.7 inches of horizontal break in the Fall League. Dufault is definitely a pitcher who needs more work this fall.

Will Gervase LHP: Drafted out of Wake Forest in the 16th round of last year’s draft Gervase made his Angels organizational debut in the Complex league. He looked great in 5.1 innings throwing to a 3.38 ERA but his command was bad with a 20.8% walk rate. He was moved up to Low-A and continued that trend, walking 36.5% of batters. This goes back to college where he walked 38.7% of batters in 2024. With no public data this season I took a look at his Syngery from Wake Forest. Even though Gervase stands at 6’9” his fastball only sat in the low 90s and was a ball 59% of the time. He also throws a cutter, slider, and changeup that all sit in the low 80s and were thrown as balls over 70% of the time. He definitely still has a lot to work on.

Fulton Lockhart RHP: Drafted in the 13th round of last year’s draft Lockhart went to Low-A after the draft and looked great pitching 13 innings to a 2.77 ERA. He did walk 16.1% of batters but was able to leave runners on base. He started the 2025 season in Low-A again but after throwing 10.1 innings to a 10.45 ERA he went down with an undisclosed injury. He didn’t return from the injured list until July where he spent a month pitching in the Complex League as he worked to get back. He ended up pitching 6.1 innings there to a 8.53 ERA. He returned for the last month of the season and pitched 10.1 innings to a 7.84 ERA. In those 10 outings, if you take out an outing on August 14th where Lockhart gave up 5 runs in 0.2 innings, then he had 9.2 innings of a 3.91 ERA. He again struggled with walks throughout the year he walked 25.3% of batters but showed his big stuff striking out 29.2%. His fastball has been tracked up to 101 mph but with how fast his arm action is he has no control. His best secondary is an upper 70s curveball. He also throws a mid 80s slider and an upper 80s changeup that he hasn’t unlocked yet. Lockhart hasn’t pitched a ton throughout college and his injury caused hom to miss some crucial innings. There’s hope he can control some of his pitches eventually because the arm is electric.

Najer Victor RHP: One of the only players in organized baseball from the US Virgin Islands Victor was drafted in the 14th round of last year’s draft as he has quickly impressed. Starting the season in Low-A he worked 20 innings out of the bullpen for a 5.40 ERA but he struck out 33% of hitters. At High-A it was the same thing he threw 20.2 innings to a 4.35 ERA and struck out 36.7% of hitters. His main knock is his command. He walked 16.5% in Low-A but dropped it down to 11.1% in High-A which caused his FIP to drop to 2.96. His fastball sits in the upper 90s topping out around 99 mph this year and he adds a plus slider to it. Victor easily has the workings to be an elite reliever in the Angels bullpen but he’ll have to keep his command to at least what he was doing in High-A this season. I’m excited to see his data this fall.

Juan Flores C: Signed out of Venezuela in the 2023 international class Flores has already moved up to High-A this season. His main skill is his glove. He has a plus arm and one of the quickest exchanges in all of the minor leagues. This has allowed him to throw out 37% of runners since coming to the states last season. He struggled this season though only throwing out 23% of runners. His ability as a receiver has already been getting better and is very advanced for a 19 year old. His bat is lagging behind though. In 80 games in High-A this season he slashed .207/.283/.341 for a 78 wRC+. He has shown some poolside power hitting 10 homers this year but is not very patient and chases a lot of pitches out of the zone. This has created a strikeout problem as Flores struck out 27.5% of the time this year. The Angels really like Flores as he’s been invited to Spring Training each of the last 2 years and will get more time against older players this fall.

David Mershon UTL: After being drafted in the 2024 draft in the 18th round the Angels have been very aggressive with Mershon. After the draft he played 29 games in AA before the end of the season. This season he started on the injured list before playing a few rehab games in the Complex League. Instead of being put back in AA he was promoted from the Complex to AAA at the end of May and struggled badly at the plate. Mershon played 14 games and hit .111/.232/.162 for a 2 wRC+ in AAA. He struggled to hit the ball hard and massively struggled with making contact in the zone which led to a 33.3% strikeout rate and a 31.1% whiff rate. Merson was then demoted back to AA where he continued to struggle. In 69 AA games he slashed .156/.307/.204 for a 69 wRC+. He was not swinging a lot which led to a 17.3% walk rate and he cut down on his chase but he wasn’t swinging because he was making little contact and whiff still on 30% of his swings. For a hitter that only stands at 5’7” with very little power his contact rate won’t play in the Majors. What he was known for in college at Mississippi was his speed and he showed it off a bit this year stealing 27 bags in 91 games between all three levels. He still hasn’t found a home defensively. He played shortstop in college and jumped between there and second so far but has a tendency to lose the ball on glove transfers causing him to have 15 errors this season most of them coming at shortstop. He’s also tried centerfield and third base a bit and will likely play them all this fall.

Raudi Rodriguez OF: Being drafted in the 19th round of the 2023 draft out of high school Rodriguez has taken it slow, only playing 41 games in the Complex League between 2023 and 2024. This season he was promoted to Low-A and broke onto the scene hitting .281/.372/.470 for a 130 wRC+. He showed off his power hitting 14 homers and 49 extra base hits including 14 triples. He also showed his speed stealing 38 bags. This was good enough to win the Angels Minor League Player of the Year from Baseball America. He is very patient, only swinging at 48% of pitches and walking 11.3% of the time but struggles to make contact only doing it on 70.8% of swings. Still when he is able to, Rodriguez is able to do damage. He’ll shoot up draft rankings this offseason especially if he can do damage against older pitchers this fall.

Arizona Diamondbacks:

Kyle Amendt RHP: One of the most unique relievers in the minor leagues, Amendt has a very over the top delivery that’s able to hide the ball super well. He was drafted in the 9th round of the 2023 draft and in his first full season in 2024 he shot up from High-A to AAA quickly. He ended the year with a 2.86 ERA between the levels striking out 40.3% of batters and walking 12.9%. He started the 2025 season in AA again and got off to a hot start with a 3.66 ERA striking out 28 batters in 19.2 innings before being put on the injured list in late May. He made his return on August 29th and pitched 10 innings in the last month of the season to a 1.80 ERA with 14 strikeouts. He still has walk troubles with a 14.4% walk rate but his unique ability to get strikeouts even with only throwing in the low 90s makes him very valuable. He throws his fastball more than half the time and it has 16.5 inches of induced vertical break and some natural cut which made it get whiffs on 34.1% of swings this season. He throws a slider that he’s able to throw for a strike really well. His best secondary though is a curveball with 10 inches of vertical break that gets a 39.6% whiff rate. One of the craziest relievers in the minors and will look to continue his success this fall and hopefully ride it into competing for a Major League spot next spring.

Yordin Chalas RHP: The Diamondbacks have been aggressively moving Chalas through the minors every season. He started in the Dominican Summer League in 2023 and was quickly moved to the states and pitched in the Complex League. In 2024 he started the season in Low-A and got out to a hot start pitching 22.2 innings to a 3.18 ERA and 34% strikeout rate. He was promoted to High-A and pitched about the same in 28 innings pitching to a 4.82 ERA and a 30.7% strikeout rate. This season he started again in High-A and has looked much worse as the Diamondbacks have been trying to transition him into a starter role. In 21 outings he threw 65 innings to a 5.54 ERA. His strikeout rate dropped to 21.4% while his walk rate stayed around his career average at 10.2%. He went back to the bullpen after a short injury list stint and pitched 6.1 innings to a 0.00 ERA while striking out 8. He was then moved up to AA where he has struggled throwing 6.1 innings to a 11.37 ERA. He’s not striking batters out and is walking 23% of the batters he’s faced. I’m interested to get some data on him this fall to see what’s been going wrong. In past seasons Chalas had one of the best fastballs in the organization that would consistently sit in the upper 90s. He also threw a slider that was still being worked on and sat in the mid to low 80s but struggled to get left handed hitters out. He’s been trying to work on a splitter but it hasn’t gone well this season. Still a very high ceiling prospect.

David Hagaman RHP: Drafted in the 4th round in last year’s draft by the Rangers Hagaman was traded at this year’s deadline for Merrill Kelly and has barely pitched this year. He’s been recovering from an elbow surgery he had a few months before the draft and was able to make 8 starts between the Rangers Complex League and Low-A and made 5 starts after being traded to the Diamondbacks organization in High-A. In the 42.1 innings he threw to a 2.98 ERA striking out 33.7% of batters. His main problem in college at West Virginia was control but this season he only walked 6.1% of batters and only 5.3% in his 5 games in High-A. He has a great fastball that has sat in the mid to low 90s in his starts but got up to 98 mph in college. His best pitch is a tight slider in the mid 80s that got big whiffs this season. He’s also thrown a mid 80s changeup that has good fade and has flashed as another plus pitch. Standing at 6’4” and still having a lot of development ahead I would guess he can use his athleticism to get even more velocity and become a great starter. Will be a very fun arm to watch this fall.

Drey Jameson RHP: One of the only players in the AFL with MLB experience Jameson made 4 starts in 2022 for the Diamondbacks and pitched in 15 games for 40.2 innings in 2023 but was shut down for the and underwent Tommy John surgery and missed the rest of the season and the entire 2024 season. This season he made his long awaited return pitching great in spring and pitching 3 innings for the Diamondbacks after starting the season in AAA. He was sent back down to AAA and continued to pitch until mid May where he was put on the injured list with elbow inflammation in the same one he had Tommy John surgery on. He tried to make two rehab outings in the Complex League in late June but was put back on the injured list and didn’t pitch for the rest of the season. Jameson has a great pitch mix with his fastball that sits in the high 90s and has touched 101 mph. It doesn’t have great shape and can get hit hard at times but he’s able to throw it for a strike. He also throws a sinker that sits around 96 mph with 15 inches of horizontal break. His two secondaries, a slider and changeup, are his best pitches. His slider sits around 87 mph with great movement and spin. This season in 12.2 innings at AAA it had a 40% chase rate and 49% whiff rate. His changeup sits around 90 mph with 14.6 inches of horizontal break. It had a 52.9% whiff rate this season. During spring training I thought Jameson would pitch some big innings for the Diamondbacks this season and believe he likely will next season especially if he gets back to his usual arm talent this fall and next spring.

Jacob Steinmetz RHP: After being drafted in the 3rd round of the 2021 draft Steinmetz has very slowly climbed the ranks of the minor leagues he spent the 2023 and 2024 season mostly in Low-A where he really struggled in 2023 with a 6.19 ERA but stepped up in 2024 with a 3.60 ERA. He was promoted in the middle of the 2024 season to High-A and pitched 57.2 innings to a 4.37 ERA. He significantly cut his walk rate down in 2024 and upped his strikeout rate to 23.8%. He has not pitched at all in 2025 with an undisclosed injury. Steinmetz doesn’t have great stuff, mostly throwing a slider and curveball combo that get a good amount of chase when they’re commanded well. His fastball is below average and so is his changeup. If he can keep the command he found in 2024 then he has the potential to be a starter in the back end of the rotation and stay in the league for a while.

Kenny Castillo C: Starting the season on the injured list with an undisclosed injury he made his High-A debut in June. He struggled this season at the plate before his season ended early with another injury at the end of August. In 64 games he slashed .222/.267/.348 for a 64 wRC+. He swings often at 55.5% of pitches but makes good contact. He also chases pitches a lot and led to him having a 20.7% strikeout rate. His bat though isn’t what he’s known for as he’s a great receiver and framer. His arm and ability to throw runners out is right around average and he currently is a below average blocker but his ability to frame is some of the best in the Diamondbacks system. He’l look to work on his defense this fall with older pitchers.

Jansel Luis INF: One of the higher ceiling prospects in the Diamondbacks system, the 6’0” switch hitter only turned 20 years old before getting into High-A this season. He hit .304/.342/.422 for a 106 wRC+ this season and cut down his strikeouts by 4% to 16.3%. This was due to his increase in contact especially in the zone cutting down on his whiff rate. He was still swinging often and chasing but his ability to move his bat around the zone from both sides led to him making contact on 71% of swings outside the zone. He also showed off his above average speed with 22 stolen bases. Everything with Luis is still projecting as he hasn’t shown great raw power so far but the expectation is he had to his 170 lbs currently with 10-20 more pounds of muscle and bulk up to hit the ball harder. His big bat speed shows he has more than he’s currently shown as he only hit 5 homers this season. He’s moved all around the infield throughout his career spending most of this season at second base but also some time at shortstop and third base. He missed most of June with an injury and is looking to get more at bats this season especially against older talent.

Jack Hurley CF: An absolutely disastrous season for Hurley as he made his AA debut and hit .218/.273/.370 for a 63 wRC+. Not awful numbers but his strikeout rate which had been a concern in his past seasons at the lower levels jumped up to 41% in AA. He also dropped his walk rate to the worst of his career 5.4%. Hurley has always had a bad hit tool with very low contact percentages but this season was the worst of his career at only 60.1% of swings he made contact while swinging at 55% of pitches. He has a tendency to swing through a lot of pitches in the zone with only a 66.1% contact rate in the zone while chasing 46% of pitches out of the zone. He has shown pretty average raw power and stole 14 bases in 2024 but only stole 1 this season. He has pretty good defense at all outfield positions and a big arm which led to him mostly playing center field the last two seasons. He has to figure out his contact problems to be a prospect and have any floor.

Pittsburgh Pirates:

Derek Diamond RHP: The 6th round pick out of Ole Miss in 2022, Diamond has slowly climbed the minor leagues the past couple of seasons. After a pretty solid 2023 that saw him pitch 118.2 innings to a 4.74 ERA between Low-A and High-A Diamond spent the entire season in High-A pitching to 95.2 to a 4.80 ERA. He has great control only walking 4.6% last season and pretty good stuff striking out 20.3%. This season he has struggled through injuries all year starting the year in AA Altoona where he pitched in 9.2 innings to a 16.78 ERA giving up 18 runs before being put on the injured list with an undisclosed injury. Diamond didn’t pitch until the middle of August where he had 2 rehab appearances in Low-A and another 2 in High-A. He returned to the AA roster for the end of the season pitching 4.1 innings out of the bullpen. He looked good in his first two outings but gave up 5 runs in 1.1 innings in his last appearance of the season ending his 2025 in AA pitching a total of 14 innings to a 14.79 ERA. He has a full pitch mix already with a sinker that sits in the mid 90s, a slider in the mid 80s, a low 80s changeup, and a mid 70s curveball. He changes speeds a lot and all his pitches have pretty solid movement. He doesn’t get a ton of whiffs in the zone but he gets good chase on his breaking stuff.

Joshua Loeschorn RHP: Drafted in the 20th round of the 2022 draft, Loeschorn had a pretty good first season in pro ball in 2023 where he pitched in Low-A and High-A in 68 innings to a 3.97 ERA. He was able to strike out 32.6% of batters while only walking 7.3%. He had Tommy John surgery in 2024 and he finally started back on his rehab this June. After pitching 4 games in the Complex League and 2 in Low-A he was back in High-A in early July. He pitched in 19 games out of the bullpen in 20.1 innings. He pitched great to a 2.66 ERA and 2.80 FIP. He lowered his walk rate to 4.1% but his strikeout rate dropped to 23%. He was promoted to AA right before the end of the season and made one appearance out of the bullpen for 1.2 innings. He gave up 4 hits and 2 walks but all 4 of his runs were unearned. Loeschorn doesn’t have big velocity but a sinker in the low 90s and a cutter in the high 80s get very weak contact. His secondaries are a high 70s slider and curveball plus a changeup in the low 80s. His slider and curveball have great movement and spin even with the lower velocity and get a good amount of chase from batters.

Dominic Perachi LHP: Drafted out of Salve Regina University a Division III school in the 11th round of the 2022 draft Perachi has had a good career so far for the Pirates organization. He pitched 90.2 innings in Low-A in 2023 to a 4.76 ERA but broke out in 2024 High-A pitching to a 2.08 ERA in 73.2 innings. He was moved up to AA that season but struggled in 41 innings to a 6.15 ERA. He dealt with an injury this season and started his rehab in early July. He was back with the AA team on August 1st and pitched the last month and a half there pitching 35 innings to a 4.89 ERA. He struggled to get strikeouts and his walk rate rose to 9.7%. Perachi doesn’t have the best fastball as it only sits around 92 mph but he’s able to hide it well. His slider is his best pitch sitting in the low 80s with sharp movement. He also throws the occasional curveball and changeup at times. He’ll look to bring back his 2024 self this fall.

Carlson Reed RHP: Drafted in the 4th round of the 2023 draft Reed broke out in 2024 pitching 108.2 innings in 23 starts to a 1.99 ERA at only 21 years old between Low-A and High-A. This season he started late due to a back injury only making his first start in High-A in early June but he ended up pitching 63 innings in 16 starts to a 4.14 ERA. His walk rate jumped from 11.7% in 2024 to 18.2% this season in High-A while his strikeout rate dropped from 29.7% to 22.2% this season. His fastball is pretty below average, only sitting around 94 mph and he doesn’t control it well throwing it in the zone less than half of his pitches. His secondary stuff, a slider with 11.7 inches of horizontal break and a changeup are easily plus pitches were above a 51% whiff rate each in 2024. Not sure what happened this season with no Statcast data but his long delivery points towards little control in the future and he likely couldn’t throw strikes. It’ll be interesting to see what he’s been working on this fall.

Jaden Woods LHP: Spending his last season at Georgia as their Friday night starter Woods has transitioned to the bullpen since being drafted in the 7th round by the Pirates in 2023. He’ll usually go more than an inning pitching in at least 60 innings the last two innings. He was great in 25.1 innings in High-A last season with a 2.13 ERA but has struggled at the AA level in 2024 and 2025 where he spent the entire season. This year he’s thrown 62 innings to a 5.81 ERA and 4.23 FIP. Woods generates a lot of strikeouts but he has gotten less this season going from 27.8% in 2024 to 22.7% this year. He also walked 11.4% of batters this season and had his lowest strike rate of his career. Woods has a fastball that sits in the mid to low 90s with around 18 inches of induced vertical break as well as a low 80s slider. He also sometimes mixes in a changeup which is much worse than the other two pitches. He needs to work on that changeup because he’s been getting killed by right handed batters. It’ll be interesting to get some public data on Woods to see how he’s developing with more control. He has the potential to be a mid innings reliever for the Pirates soon.

Tony Blanco Jr. 1B: One of the most fun bats headed to the Fall League Blanco Jr. is the son of Tony Blanco who spent 17 years playing everywhere from organized ball to Japan and playing in one Major League season for the Nationals in 2005. Blanco Jr. is huge standing at 6’7” 240 lbs at only 20 years old and has some of the biggest power in professional baseball. He hit a homer this year at 119.8 mph exit velocity which would rank him 4th in MLB by max exit velocity. After spending the last 3 seasons in the Dominican Summer League or the Complex League he was preparing to start in Low-A but was put on the injured list with a leg injury and didn’t make his Low-A debut until mid July. Even though he only played 28 games and got 125 plate appearances he excelled hitting .264/.368/.491 for a 135 wRC+ with 7 homers. He had an average exit velocity of 93.3 mph but that was when he made contact. He had some of the lowest contact percentages in Low-A. He only made contact in the zone 67.4% of the time. He chased at 35.1% of pitches out of the zone and had a whiff rate of 43.2%. He was able to walk 14.4% of the time but he struck out 33.6%. This has been his biggest problem since playing in the DR. He was signed as a first baseman and outfielder but has dealt with injuries every season and only played first or DH for the Pirates. The raw power has a chance to make Blanco Jr. a special hitter but his contact ability makes his floor really low especially without being able to really play defense so far. It’ll be interesting where he plays this fall.

Esmerlyn Valdez 1B/OF: Another hitter with the same makeup as Blanco Jr. but with slightly more contact Valdez broke onto the scene in Low-A in the 2024 season. He hit .226/.352/.464 for a 130 wRC+. He showed his big raw power potential with 22 homer runs but struck out 30.6% of the time and whiffed on 33.6% of pitches he swung at. In 2025 Valdez made big strides starting in High-A where he hit .303/.385/.592 for a 176 wRC+ and 20 homers. He was then promoted to AA where he hit .260/.363/.409 for a 126 wRC+ in 51 games at only 21 years old. He cut down on his strikeouts to 24.6% and even though his walk rate dropped 3% he made the most contact of his career and his whiff rate dropped to 28%. He pulls the ball really well to left field and hits the ball hard. Not a great fielder in mostly right field or first base but the bat will carry him to the league. He’s one of the most underrated players in the Pirates system and could be up in AAA next season.

Will Taylor CF: The 5th round pick by the Pirates in last year’s draft out of Clemson has looked great in his first full season. Originally going to Clemson for both football and baseball he was on the Clemson roster as a quarterback, wide receiver, and punt returner before ending his football days in 2024. He dealt with a bunch of injuries throughout college but had a mostly healthy season this year playing 93 games. He started in Low-A hitting .333/.424/.569 for a 172 wRC+ in his first 29 games adding 4 homers and 8 steals. He was rightfully promoted to High-A and hit .231/.351/.410 for a 123 wRC+ adding 10 homers and 15 steals. Taylor doesn’t hit the ball hard but has great knowledge of the zone and makes good swing decisions. He walked at a 12.3% rate this season but struggled with contact despite making good swing decisions; he struck out 26.6% of the time and only made contact on 67.3% of swings. He’s shown good pull side power and his speed helped him play a good center field this year but he’ll need to fix his swing and make more contact to get more recognition.

Boston Red Sox:

Jonathan Brand RHP: A weird season for the 2022 8th round pick starting in AA he was promoted and demoted multiple times. After 4 appearances in AA he made one in AAA and gave up 4 runs leading to his demotion back to AA. After 10.2 innings in AA where he had a 1.69 ERA he went down to High-A for two outings before being promoted back up to AA. He was then promoted back to AA where he had 12.2 more innings to a 3.55 ERA. But then was demoted back down to High-A pitching there for a little over a month in 13.2 innings to a 0.66 ERA. He was then promoted back up to AA in September and pitched 3 outings to end the season. In total he pitched 51.1 innings out of the bullpen, 20.1 in High-A and 31 in AA. He finished the year with a 3.16 ERA between all levels while striking out 27.1% of batters and walking 9.2%. A very weird but successful year for Brand who’s had two good seasons since being drafted. Brand has a fastball that only sits in the low 90s but has 16.8” of induced vertical break and which makes it hard to hit up in the zone. His secondaries, a low 80s changeup, a mid 70s curveball, and mid 80s slider all have good movement and work well when commanded well. I’m not sure Brand has the upside of a late inning reliever but he can definitely work in the role of a multi inning guy out of the bullpen that he’s been doing his whole Red Sox career.

Jojo Ingrassia LHP: After being drafted out of Cal State Fullerton in the 14th round in 2023 Ingrassia broke out in Low-A during his first pro season in 2024 pitching 58.1 to a 1.85 ERA. He showed big stuff striking out 39.6% of batters while walking 8.5%. This season though he was plagued with injuries just like was in college. During his time at San Diego State and Cal Fullerton he dealt with a torn rotator cuff, shoulder swelling, and elbow inflammation. This year after 4 games out of the bullpen for 17 innings he was shut down with a shoulder injury and hasn’t pitched since. Still there was a lot to love with Ingrassia in what we did see from him this year. He sat in the upper 80s with his fastball in college and in 2024 he climbed to the low 90s. This season he was sitting at 95 mph with some hitting 97 mph. He also throws a changeup that has great late fade and is a big strikeout pitch against right handed hitters. He will throw a cutter at times early in counts that sits in the high 80s. Lastly his sweeper has a long break and it has really worked against left handed hitters. A very underrated lefty in the Red Sox organization who could easily develop into a multi inning swingman with great upside.

Brandon Neely RHP: The 3rd round pick by the Red Sox in the 2024 draft has yet to make his Red Sox organizational debut after dealing with forearm stiffness during spring. I’m not sure what exact injury shut him down for so long but it’ll be exciting to see his debut in the AFL. At Florida Neely worked out of the bullpen mostly pitching 79 innings his last season to a 5.13 ERA but striking out 31.5% of batters and only walking 8.2%. Even with the not great ERA Neely showed great stuff to be drafted in the 3rd round. His fastball sat in the mid 90s with very good movement. HIs changeup sits in the high 80s and has 14” of fade. And he has a very good slider in the mid 80s. I’m excited to see what the Red Sox have been cooking with Neely as he has reportedly been working as a starter.

Luis Perales RHP: The best pitcher the Red Sox are sending to Arizona has spent most of the past two seasons down with Tommy John surgery. Perales has only been able to throw 2.1 innings this year while he works his way back. He has electric stuff with a fastball that sits in the high 90s and touches 100 mph. It also had elite movement with 19” of induced vertical break to 5” of horizontal break. He’s been working on a cutter that helps him get ahead when located and can work as a slider when located in the bottom of the zone but a cutter in the upper zone. He also has a splitter that works well off his fastball when he can locate both pitches. In the past he’s mostly worked as a starter and has gotten big strikeout numbers usually striking out around 30% of batters but he walks over 12%. Most outlets believe he’ll likely move to the bullpen as he works towards the Red Sox next season and has the potential to be an amazing back end of the bullpen reliever.

Isaac Stebens RHP: A breakout season for the 2023 16th round pick Stebens threw 50.1 innings out of the High-A bullpen to a 2.15 ERA. He was able to strike out 27.4% of batters but walked 13.5%. His first professional season was also good in 2024 starting in Low-A where he got off to a hit 11 innings to a 0.82 ERA. Stebens was then promoted to High-A where he struggled more in 51.1 innings pitching to a 3.68 ERA. He has a really interesting delivery, almost a side arm delivery and he hides the ball really well. He mainly throws a low 90s sinker that had a 28% whiff rate in college to go along with a slider in the high 70s that had a 29% whiff rate and 26% chase rate. He also occasionally throws a changeup but mostly sticks with his two pitches at least he did in college. He has had no public data since getting into organized ball and it’ll be interesting to see what his pitches look like this fall.

Johanfran Garcia C: The older brother of Jhostynxon Garcia who recently made his MLB debut for the Red Sox Johanfran has spent the last two years recovering from a ligament and his right knee blowing out in 2024. After getting surgery last season it cut his Low-A season to only 14 games. This season he spent the first part of it recovering and rehabbing and was promoted to High-A in June. He hit pretty well there slashing .249/.327/.428 for a 121 wRC+. He has plus raw power hitting 9 homers in just 46 games this year. Even though he’s hit for a high average in the past he has a below average hit tool. He only made contact on 63.6% of swings this season. He has a long swing and chases a lot of pitches down and away. He chased 33.4% of pitches this year. He also whiffs a lot with a big leg kick that causes Garcia to not time up pitches all that well. He’s alright behind the plate and has gotten better throughout the years as a receiver. He’s basically lost 2 seasons of his career and is only 20 years old so he’ll have plenty of time to work on his hit tool and unlock his raw power.

Nelly Taylor CF: A left handed hitter with great tools. He was promoted to High-A for this season and hit .216/.355/.349 for a 113 wRC+. He was able to walk 17.1% of the time but that mostly came from only swinging at 39.1% of pitches. He has a big whiff problem because of a slow leg kick and struck out 28.1% of the time. He has shown plus raw power especially for a 5’11” 180 lbs outfielder getting high exit velocities and upping his bat speed every season. He hasn’t been able to turn that into in game power yet with only 7 homers this season. He also has plus speed stealing 29 bases this season. In the outfield he has a huge arm and because of his speed he’s able to play an average centerfield currently but his routes currently still need work. He definitely still has a while to go and is only 22 years old in High-A but he has the tools and potential to be a Major League centerfielder in the future. I’m not sure what the Red Sox plan with Taylor is as he’s eligible for the Rule 5 draft after next season but definitely a solid prospect in their system currently.

Stanley Tucker UTL: The 19th round pick in the 2023 draft by the Red Sox has been injured all season with an injury since the end of August in 2024 and been out all of the 2025 season. In his mostly full first season in 2024 he struggled in Low-A hitting .195/.314/.267 wRC+ for a 77 wRC+. His main calling card is his speed getting drafted mainly for a breakout MLB Draft League where he stole 15 bases in 18 games. In 2024 he stole 23 bags in Low-A. He plays all over the field playing every outfield position, third base, and second base all in 2024. He’s a player that could carve out a career as a utility bench bat if he can make more contact. He only made contact on 73.7% of swings in 2024.

Colorado Rockies:

Cade Denton RHP: After dominating at Oral Roberts the Rockies took Denton in the 6th round of the 2023 draft. He had a great first full season in Low-A in 2024 pitching 28.1 innings out of the bullpen to a 2.86 ERA. He struggled once being promoted to High-A in 2024 pitching 7.1 innings to a 7.36 ERA. This season in High-A he’s been great throwing 50.2 innings out of the bullpen to a 3.73 ERA. His strikeout rate went from 19.3% in 2024 all the way up to 28.1% this season. His walk rate also jumped 2.5% though as he became more wild. There is no public data for this season so I’m not sure what Denton did to male that much of a jump in strikeouts but using his last data Denton is a low slot reliever with a fastball that sits in the mid 90s. One guess I’d make to his stuff jumping is his slider added more depth which it had been lacking in the past. It’s very interesting what the Rockies did with Denton and we’ll see this fall.

Welinton Herrera LHP: After spending three seasons in the Dominican Summer League or the Complex League Herrera broke out in 2024 playing half his season in Low-A and half in High-A throwing a combined 62.1 innings out of the bullpen to a 3.47 ERA, 2.68 FIP, and only 1.19 WHIP. He has big strikeout stuff with a 35.4% strikeout rate in 2024 and kept his walk rate down to 8.8%. This season he started back in HIgh-A where he pitched 18.1 innings to a 0.49 ERA so he was obviously promoted to AA for the rest of the season. He continued to pitch well throwing 46.1 innings to a 3.50 ERA and 2.32 FIP. He struck out 34.2% and walked 9.3% basically what he’s done at every level the past two seasons. He has a great fastball that sits around 95 mph and touches 98 mph with great rise from quick delivery. His two secondaries leave a lot to be desired. His slider sits in the high 80s but doesn’t have enough depth as it needs to work off his fastball. He also has a changeup in the high 80s that he doesn’t command well and gets hit hard at times. I’m not really sure why Herrera is in the fall league as he’s eligible for the Rule 5 draft this offseason and I feel he’ll be added and should be added before he pitches this fall.

Jack Mahoney RHP: After being drafted in the 3rd round in 2023 he immediately had a big inning season in 2024 pitching 120 innings. He was pretty good in Low-A pitching to a 3.52 ERA but struggled in his 25.1 innings in High-A with a 5.33 ERA. Even with the struggle he was promoted right up to AA this season and has pitched 104.2 innings to a 5.93 ERA. He doesn’t have the best stuff but has shown in the past great command. His strikeout rate was at 23.1% in 2024 but dropped to 17.1% in AA. His control which was seen as some of the best in the Rockies system wasn’t good this season as his walk rate jumped to 9.7%. His fastball sits in the mid 90s with some sink and he adds a mid 80s slider and alright changeup with good fade. Last season he was able to command his fastball and slider well but was inconsistent this year. He’s super athletic playing quarterback in high school and hitting for South Carolina in college and will have to use that to develop his pitches better in the future.

Ben Shields LHP: Acquired at this year’s deadline from the Yankees in exchange for Jake Bird, Shields has only pitched about half this season after dealing with a couple injured list stints, mainly one at the start of the season making him miss the first month. Shields was signed as an undrafted player after playing at George Mason his last year in college. In his first professional he was great climbing from High-A all the way up to making a start in AAA. He ended the season throwing 106 innings to a 3.48 ERA total. He struck out 31.1% of batters while only walking 7.5%. Definitely not a starter who should’ve gone undrafted. This season he’s only been able to make 10 starts back in AA between the Yankees and Rockies. Ending the season with the Rockies he pitched 19.1 innings to a 2.33 ERA while staying around the same strike out and walk rate. The Yankees were able to unlock shields by dropping his release height and upping his fastball velocity to sitting around 93 mph and topping at 96 mph. His secondaries though are his two best pitches. His plus curveball sits in the low 80s with great drop and his slider is also in the low 80s and has some nasty depth to it. I’m not sure if Shields can continue to be a starter but if they decide to switch him to the bullpen he’ll be a great left handed hitter specialist for a long time.

Austin Smith RHP: The Rockies traded reliever Tyler Kinley to the Braves before this year’s deadline for Smith. Before the trade he had a great first 11.1 innings in High-A for the Braves and was promoted to AA where he struggled in 20 innings with a 5.40 ERA. Once he was traded to the Rockies organization he was great in 16 innings in their AA pitching to a 1.69 ERA. He gets a good amount of strike outs sitting around 25% in his career but his control has been a question. In 2024 he walked 17.8% of batters but cut it down to 10.8% this season. He’s a fastball and slider type of reliever. His fastball is a plus pitch already sitting around 95 mph while touching the upper 90s often. His slider is more of an average pitch but he can locate it better than his fastball. A really good return for Kinley who before the trade had a 5.66 ERA with the Rockies but has since broken out in Atlanta with a 0.72 ERA. Smith can be a solid bullpen arm as soon as next season and the Rockies will have to make a decision soon as he’s currently Rule 5 Draft eligible.

Braylen Wimmer UTL: A very interesting profile for the 2023 8th round pick as Wimer broke onto the scene in his first full season in Low-A last year hitting .285/.362/.435 for a 116 wRC+. The expectation was he’d take a step back after moving through the minors mainly because he wasn’t making as much contact as would be expected for those numbers and he was already 23 years old playing in Low-A. This season he continued his success though hitting .296/.336/.466 for a 125 wRC+ between High-A and AA. He still isn’t making enough contact in the zone and is chasing too many pitches but so far it’s working. He has solid raw power and has been able to turn that into game power so far hitting 17 homers this year to go along with 30 doubles. He doesn’t walk a ton at only a 7.7% rate this season but has kept his strikeout rate to 22.3% this season and it was consistent between High-A and AA. He also has good speed stealing 37 bases this year and 34 last year. The Rockies have played him all across the field getting time at every outfield position and every infield position except first base. A player that I don’t expect to continue his climb through the ranks as easy as it’s been but could develop into a nice utility player for the Rockies.

Charlie Condon 1B: The 3rd overall pick in last year's draft has gotten often to a weird start to his Rockies career after suffering a broken wrist during Spring Training and missing basically the first month of the season but since then has been as good as advertised. He started in High-A playing 35 games where he hit .312/.431/.420 for a 134 wRC+ and continued this in AA playing in 55 games hitting .235/.342/.465 for a 133 wRC+. He’s known for his big power after a breakout 2024 season at Georgia where he won the Golden Spikes Award and hit 37 homers and showed it off at times this season with 14 homers. He doesn’t have a great hit tool though with a stiff swing that can generate power but tends to miss pitches especially breaking balls. He showed that in AA striking out 28.3% of the time with a 33% whiff rate. He chased about at an average rate and walked 12% of the time this year. He has the potential at the plate to be a special power hitter even with a questionable swing. In the field it’s a different story. At Georgia he played third base mostly but played all outfield spots as well and actually looked not bad out there. After his wrist injury it seems like the Rockies have slowed his time in the outfield down as he only played leftfield 8 times in High-A and didn’t play there in AA. He played third 5 total times and spent most of his time as the first basemen for High-A and AA. If he is going to stick at first then his potential value drops dramatically. We’ll see what the Rockies do with him this fall.

Jared Thomas OF: The outfielder is quickly rising in prospects lists after breaking out this season hitting .330/.427/.495 for a 146 wRC+ in High-A and .245/.347/.374 for a 114 wRC+ in AA. Thomas was the Rockies’ 2nd round pick in 2024 who has hit since college at Texas. He has above average power and has the ability to keep it growing as he grows into his 6’2” frame. He is actually a lot like Condon, a hitter with raw power but who has struggled to make contact at times and that showed in AA where he only made contact on 66.4% of swings. He whiffs a lot more than Condon but can turn on pitches inside well. He has a good knowledge of the zone chasing and walked 13.1% of the time this year but he struggled with strikeouts especially at AA where he did 34.6% of his at bats. Unlike Condon, Thomas has great speed stealing 33 bases and uses it to play all over the outfield. He has a below average arm though and likely will be in left field for his career.