A Full Breakdown of the Surprise Saguaros Roster in the Arizona Fall League

durstockd
Oct 8, 2025
35 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 Surprise Saguaros this fall. The team will consist of players from the Milwaukee Brewers, Cleveland Guardians, Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers, and the Kansas City Royals.

Milwaukee Brewers:

Jesus Broca LHP: Since signing with the Brewers out of Mexico in 2023 Broca barely played his first two years in the organization, only throwing 33.1 total innings. This season he’s quickly been promoted going from Low-A all the way to AA by the end of the season. He pitched a total of 78.1 innings in 2025 all out of the bullpen with the ability to go multiple innings multiple times this year he went more than 3. He pitched 61 of his innings in High–A pitching to a 2.95 ERA but 4.42 FIP. Unlike every other stop along the way his strikeout rate dropped in High-A to only 17.8%. In the past two seasons and in Low-A and AA this season his strikeout rate has been around 30% so definitely a weird drop. He also had a 12.3% walk rate between the 3 levels this season showing below average command. There’s been no public data from Broca ever so looking at the video he seems to throw a fastball that sits around 95 mph and gets a good amount of whiffs when thrown in the top of the zone. He also has a curveball that seems to have great late movement. I also think he throws a changeup at times when he was able to command work really well against right handed hitters. If he can keep his fastball in the top of the zone he’ll be really good in the upper levels. I’m excited to see what his pitch shapes are this fall so I can tell the full story.

Anthony Flores LHP: After spending his first two years in the Brewers organization as a starter in the Dominican Summer League Flores finally came to the states last season and between the Complex League and Low-A threw 69.2 innings to a 5.17 ERA. He showed the ability to get strikeouts with a 27.3% rate and kept his walk rate to a respectable 8.7% even with the high ERA. This led to his FIP being down to 4.04. This season he spent it all in High-A throwing 91 innings to a 3.86 ERA. Flores had a great end to the season with a 1.55 ERA in 29 innings since the start of July. He showed his strikeout stuff again even though it did drop off a bit with a 22.8% rate but his walk rate jumped to 11.9%. Like Broca there is no public data of Flores and it was hard to find video from his outings. From what I can tell he has a fastball like Broca in the mid to low 90s and a nasty slider that gets a lot of swings when located at right handed hitters back foot.

Michael Fowler RHP: After jumping from multiple colleges Fowler ended his college career at Southern Miss before going undrafted in the 2025 draft. He signed with the Mississippi Mud Monsters of the independent Frontier League and after impressing in his first 7 games to a 1.93 ERA he was signed by the Brewers in July. He pitched a bit in Low-A throwing 8.1 innings to a 1.08 ERA. After his first 3 outings in Low-A he was promoted to AAA Nashville and gave up 2 runs in 1 innings and was demoted back down to Low-A where he continued to dominate out of the bullpen. He has a fastball that sits in the mid 90s with pretty good shape with a 16.2” induced vertical break and 3.6” horizontal break. He throws a curveball off of it that sits around 80 mph and has big movement. He was able to command them well in Low-A but walked 3 in his AAA outing. He’ll look to get more innings this fall.

Edwin Jimenez RHP: Being signed by the Brewers from the 2018 International class at 17 years old Jimenez has been in the system for awhile. He had two straight seasons of over 100 innings in 2022 and 2023 pitching to about a 4 ERA both seasons. In 2024 he pitched 43 innings in High-A before being shut down and having to get Tommy John surgery and hasn’t been able to pitch since. He’s always been a solid starter in the Brewers system, eating innings and pitching around a 4 ERA in nearly every season going back to Complex ball in 2021. Jimenez doesn’t get a ton of strikeouts but keeps his walk rates down to limit damage. Before the injury he only sat in the high 80s to low 90s with his fastball but his calling card was his curveball. It had a great shape and got a lot of chase. He also had a changeup that played well off of the curveball. He has a solid frame standing at 6’3” and is able to throw for strikes so he has the chance to stay a starter the rest of his career but there’s no telling what will happen after he comes back from Tommy John this fall.

Brett Wichrowski RHP: Drafted in the 13th round of the 2023 draft out of Bryant University Wichrowski broke onto the scene in 2024 after a Spring Training where he was touching 100 mph. After some injuries he usually has settled in the mid 90s but is able to reach back for that 100 whenever. In 2024 he made 4 dominant starts in High-A and was quickly moved up to AA where he threw 74.1 innings to a 4.12 ERA. He continued to stay in AA this season after a delayed start and threw 99.1 innings to a 3.44 ERA. One concerning aspect of his 2025 season is that his strikeout stuff disappeared. He also struggled to get strikeouts in AA last season and even with some electric stuff he had a strikeout rate of 18.8% in 2024 and 16.7% in 2025. He really struggled to throw strikes this season with only a 24.3% CSW% and a 10.2% walk rate. As I said before his fastball can touch 100 mph and has good riding life. He also throws a bullet slider that sits in the upper 80s. His other two secondaries, a curveball in the low 80s and a changeup in the mid 80s are farther behind than his other two pitches. He has until next offseason when he’s Rule 5 eligible to figure it out as a starter. He has length and a four pitch mix means he can easily stay in the rotation but if he can’t figure out his control or can’t get enough whiffs I’d guess the Brewers try him in the bullpen and hope his velocity stays in the 100s for an inning.

Marco Dinges C: After some health scares at a Florida JUCO Dinges spent his last season at FSU and was drafted in the 4th round of the 2024 draft by the Brewers. In his first professional season between Low-A and High-A he hit .300/.416/.514 for a 161 wRC+. He only played in 77 total games this season though due to a hamstring injury that caused him to miss the whole month of July. He has solid raw power mostly coming from his elite bat speed as he swings with all his effort at every pitch. That hasn’t affected his strikeout numbers yet as he only did at a 19.2% rate but likely will as he gets more at bats against better arms. He only was able to make contact on 71.8% of swings but that didn’t slow him down. He also added 13 homers and 12 doubles to his stat line. Behind the plate he has good and bad times. His arm is really good and he has a great pop time but his receiving isn’t great. He’s undersized for a catcher only standing at 5’11” which makes it hard for pitchers to hit his glove and for Dinges to frame without more movement than most catchers. He might develop more into a corner outfielder as he continues to develop but is a fun bat in the Brewers system.

Josh Adamczewski 2B: In my opinion Adamczewski is a very weird prospect. He was drafted out of high school in the 15th round of 2023 and has destroyed Low-A pitching. After a few games in 2024 he started in Low-A this season playing 46 games after missing two months early in the season after a back injury. Still he hit .350/.459/.569 for a 187 wRC+. Even with some concerning contact rates he put up some unbelievable numbers and was promoted for the last month to High-A where he struggled only hitting .196/.292/.250 for a 59 wRC+ in 16 games. The left handed hitter has great hands in the box and turns on any pitch thrown inside to him. He’s shown good raw power with some plus exit velocities for his age but that’s yet to turn into game power as he only hit 5 homers this season. As I said before the hit tool is also a question as he only made 74.2% of contact on his swings this season. He does have a good knowledge of the zone chasing at a below average rate and walking 14% of the time this year. Defensively his glove is also a question. He’s able to get to balls at second base but doesn’t have a strong enough arm to play anywhere else and has poor hands that caused him to drop a few balls this season. Not sure how to project Adamczewski’s future to be honest, he’s only 20 years old and has played well in the Complex League and Low-A but has a lot of red flags in his game. It’ll be good to see him against a lot of older pitchers this fall and if he continues to hit he’ll move up prospect lists fast.

Luke Adams 1B: After being drafted in the 12th round of the 2022 draft all Adams has done is hit. He’s had at least a 130 wRC+ at every level since entering the organization. This season he made his AA debut and hit well for the first 2.5 months hitting .241/.422/.477 with 11 homers but went down with a shoulder contusion in mid June and missed more than 2 months after a short stint in High-A to rehab he was back in the A lineup for the 7 games to end the season. He ended the season to hit .232/.409/.450 for a 160 wRC+ in 64 games at AA. Adams broke onto the prospect scene in 2023 when he hit for a 130 wRC+ in Low-A at only 19 years old. He showed above average exit velocities and hard hit rate for his age as well as a great knowledge of the zone. Since then he’s basically stayed the same hitter at every level as he ages. Evaluators are scared he isn’t developing into his once plus raw power as his exit velocities have basically plateaued for the last two seasons. He still has a great knowledge of the zone walking 16.5% of the time this season and doesn’t strikeout as much, only 20.3% this year. He’s been increasing his contact rates too over the years. After some testing at third base the past few seasons it seems Adams will settle into a first base role going forward. He’s not your average first basemen since he doesn’t hit for much power, only 11 homers every season the last 3 years, but he is a great contact and on base hitter who can play at the next level.

Cleveland Guardians:

Trenton Denholm RHP: Picked in the 14th round back in the 2021 draft Denholm has slowly been climbing the ranks throughout the years and pitched most of this season in AA. He threw 126.2 innings to a 3.77 ERA. That’s been about where he’s been at every level showing off his elite control, rarely walking anybody and having a 4.9% walk rate this season. He actually started his season in AAA making one start where he went 3.1 innings giving up 3 hits and 3 runs before being demoted back down to AA where he spent the end of the 2024 season. Denholm doesn’t have overpowering stuff sitting around 20% strikeout rates in every season but with his ability to throw strikes he has been able to get lower level hitters out. He has a full four pitch mix starting with a fastball that only sits in the low 90s with very little spin. He also throws a cutter in the mid 80s that gets most of his weak contact. His two secondaries, a high 70s curveball and low 80s changeup are his best pitches but still aren't elite stuff wise. The Guardians will have to make a decision on Denholm soon as he became Rule 5 eligible last season and he’ll likely be tested in AAA next year.

Daniel Espino RHP: Probably the best story heading into the Fall League Espino was the Guardians number one prospect heading into the 2022 season due to his electric arm. After 4 starts in AA pitching 18.1 innings to a 2.45 ERA he was shut down with a knee injury and ended up developing shoulder soreness while rehabbing his knee. He tried making a return in 2023 Spring Training but ended up having to get surgery on his shoulder before the season started. He again tried to return in 2024 Spring Training but again got shoulder surgery on the same shoulder. Finally he made his return on September 20th in AAA pitching for the first time since April of 2022. He gave up 3 runs in 0.2 of an inning of work but his stuff was still there. Before the injury his fastball sat in the high 90s while touching 103 mph and he absolutely blew hitters away. In his rehab outing he sat 98 mph with elite movement. He threw a power slider/cutter with great spin and he was able to repeat that in his outing. His mid 70s curveball and mid 80s changeup aren’t as electric as hit top two pitches but are still good pitches. As he was climbing the ranks he continued to work on his command and his walk rates were improving every season. He of course was striking out a ton of hitters with a 51.5% strike out rate in his last 4 starts in 2022. He’s a total wild card for the Guardians organization and if he pitches well this fall and next spring he could be on the Major League roster on Opening Day next season.

Matt Jachec RHP: An underwhelming four year career at Indiana State he was drafted by the Guards in the 18th round in 2023 only signing for $50,000 but broke onto the scene out of the bullpen in Low-A and High-A in 2024. He threw 72 total innings out of the bullpen and struck out 34.1% of batters while only walking 5.9% dropping his FIP to 2.72. He has one of the best breaking balls in the Guardians system with a slider that has big depth and can be a swing and miss pitch against both sides of the plate. His fastball of course isn’t as good as his slider but he commands it well. He spent the start of the season on the injured list with an undisclosed injury and returned on a rehab assignment to the Complex League in late June. He made his AA debut in early July and made 19 appearances out of the bullpen this season throwing 23.2 innings to a 2.66 ERA. It seems something's been up with his pitches because his strikeout rate dropped to 19.2% but his command is still there, walking 6.7% of batters this year. It’ll be interesting to see what’s been going on with his strikeouts this fall since AA has no public data.

Rorik Maltrud RHP: After spending two years at New Mexico State Maltrud transferred to Missouri and pitched out of their bullpen and had big strikeout numbers. He ended up going undrafted and was picked up by the Guardians before the 2024 season. He spent the 2024 season between the Low-A and High-A rotation pitching 104.2 total innings. He dominated Low-A with a 2.38 ERA and 29.8% strikeout rate but struggled a bit after being promoted to High-A with a 4.53 ERA. His strikeout rate also dropped and his walk rate jumped up to 9.6%. This season even after struggling in High-A he’s spent the entire year in AA. He ended up going on the injured list at the end of May and missed basically the whole month of June but still threw 63.2 innings this season. He had a 4.38 ERA and 3.93 FIP. His strikeout rate stayed around what it was in High-A at 25.2% but his walk rate jumped again to 11.1%. He has no public data at any level but from the video I have seen it looks like Maltrud has a fastball with some life at the top of the zone and a slider that seems to really work when located against right handed hitters. I also think he throws a changeup and maybe curveball but I’ve not seen him throw it that much. A very interesting arm that could be another Guards starter to come out of nowhere. One of the pitchers I’ll be watching closely this fall.

Zane Morehouse RHP: Drafted in the 14th round of the 2023 draft after spending two seasons in the Texas bullpen Morehouse had a great first full pro season between High-A and AA he had a 2.96 ERA across 51.2 innings out of the bullpen. He showed the strikeout stuff he had at Texas with a 27.9% strikeout rate but also showed his command problems with a walk rate of 9.3%. This season he spent entirely in AA and was significantly worse. He threw 48 innings out of the bullpen to a 6.00 ERA. His strikeout rate dropped to 23.8% and his walk rate jumped dramatically to 14.8%. Like Maltrud he has no public data but what I can get from video Morehouse has at least a three pitch mix with a fastball in the mid 90s, a changeup in the high 80s, and a mid 80s slider with some late bite. He seems to have some good stuff. It will be great to get some data on him this fall.

Juan Benjamin INF: Being signed out of the DR in the 2019 International Class Benjamin has been in the lower minors for the Guardians for a long time. He spent the 2023 and 2024 entirely in Low-A hitting about league average but the Guardians challenged him this season by promoting Benjamin to High-A where he’s been able to hit well, slashing .276/.365/.385 for a 116 wRC+. Benjamin made a big jump in his contact rates this season going from the mid to low 70s in contact rate to 79.2% this season and has whiff on less pitches. He’s a typical 5’8” infielder he can’t hit for much power but has decent speed and this year showed the ability to make contact. He’s played all over the infield in the past but has spent most of the last couple seasons at third and second and seems to be alright there.

Wuilfredo Antunez RF: I’m not sure where the hype is for Antunez currently. He was a part of the Guardians 2019 International Class out of Venezuela and has done nothing but hit. He’s been slowly climbing the minors and spent the first ⅔ of this season in High-A where he hit .263/.336/.517 for a 135 wRC+. His plus raw power finally was able to break out as he hit 14 homers in 70 games. Antunez was rightfully promoted to AA where he hit .301/.333/.529 to a 146 wRC+. He kept up hitting for power and continued to excel. Antunez 'worst season since 2022 he hasn’t hit below a 120 wRC+. He swings a lot and makes an average amount of contact. With those swings comes a good amount of chase leading to some strikeout issues and a below average walk rate but he’s hit the ball hard this season. He also has decent speed stealing 16 bases this year and plays a decent right field.

Chase DeLauter OF: A weird one to talk about. DeLauter was announced to be going to Arizona this fall but he just made his MLB debut in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series for the Guardians so not sure what the plan is for him right now. I would guess he’ll probably get some at bats though. DeLauter was the 16th overall pick in the 2022 draft and has been amazing when healthy ever since. Since being drafted he’s played 57 games in 2023, 39 in 2024, and 42 this season, he just can’t stay on the field. In 2023 before the season he had a surgery on his toe and didn’t make his organization debut until early June. He was great in 2023 making it up to AA hitting .355/.417/.529 to a 160 wRC+ between three levels. In 2025 he battled through a hamstring injury and hit .261/.341/.500 to a 132 wRC+ and played a few games in AAA. This year again started bad as he had surgery on his core in Spring Training. After coming back he hit .278/.383/.476 to a 131 wRC+ in 34 games at AAA but went down again in July where he had surgery for a hamate fracture and only came back to play in the recent playoff series. When he’s on the field DeLauter is elite at the plate and one of the best hitters on any minor league team. He has plus raw power and great contact numbers as well. He is already a big league player and will be in the Cleveland outfield next season. Like I said I’m not sure if he’ll play in the fall league but he’s been announced so I’ll put him in here.

Philadelphia Phillies:

Eiberson Castellano RHP: After multiple years of injuries mostly back spasms Castellano broke out in 2024 throwing a combined 103.2 innings between High-A and AA. He pitched to a 3.99 ERA while striking out 31.3% of batters and dropping his walk rate down to 6.7%. Before the season the Minnesota Twins actually ended up taking Castellano in the Rule 5 Draft with the hope he could keep up those numbers in Spring Training and could pitch in the Twins bullpen. He did not pitch well, walking 19.2% of batters in 10.2 innings. He was returned to the Phillies and spent the season back in AA getting off to a decent start in four games throwing to a 3.60 ERA in 15 innings but was put on the injured list and didn’t return to the AA roster for a month and after just an innings was put on the injured list again and missed another month. He spent the rest of the season pitching out of the bullpen unlike past seasons where he mostly started. He didn’t pitch well out of the bullpen to a 6.30 ERA after his return. He’s got some great stuff thrown with a four seam fastball and sinker combo that sit in the mid to high 90s. His best secondary is his curveball which sits in the low 80s and had a 49% whiff rate in 2024. He also throws a changeup that’s in the high 90s. If he’s coming out of the bullpen he should be an electric arm if he can throw strikes.

Jack Dallas RHP: After five years at Lamar University Dallas went undrafted in the 2022 draft and was scooped up by the Phillies. He’s slowly climbed through the minors throughout the years pitching very well out of the bullpen making it to AA in 2024 and pitching the entire 2025 in the AA bullpen. He’s a reliever who’s able to go multiple innings and pitched 49.1 innings in 31 games this season to a 3.47 ERA. He gets a decent amount of strikeouts to a 23.3% rate this season and keeps his walks down to 6.7%. Dallas doesn’t have the highest velocity with his fastball only sitting around 93 mph but he has great pitch shapes on all his pitches and he has elite spin rates. He throws a slider with 15.7” of horizontal break that is his chase pitch as well as a cutter in the high 80s. Can definitely be a mid inning reliever in the big leagues.

Jaydenn Estanista RHP: Being signed out of Curacao in 2019 Estanista has been pitching for both the Phillies minor league teams and for the Netherlands national team the past few years. He has electric stuff and has struck out hitters at a high level his entire career. In 2024 between Low-A and High-A he struck out 31.1% of batters. This season his rate dropped to 24.5% though. His biggest problem is an inconsistent release that causes him to not throw strikes often and walk a lot of batters. This year he walked 15.6%. He stands at 6’3” with great athleticism that gives him the ability to throw in the mid 90s with great ride. He also has a plus slider with great depth. Not sure what happened to his strike outs this season with two plus pitches out of the bullpen will be great to see his pitches this fall. If he can actually get command of his pitches Estanista is easily one of the top reliever prospects in the Phillies system but currently he can’t be with some of the worst command in the system.

Daniel Harper RHP: Drafted back in the 17th round of the 2022 draft out of Kentucky Harper has climbed all the way up to AAA this season pitching out of the bullpen. In 2024 between High-A and AA he threw 51 innings to a 2.82 ERA and 3.14 FIP while striking out 29.3%. This season the plan was to start Harper back in AA but after his first appearance out of the bullpen he was put on the injured list. After making four rehab appearances in Low-A Harper returned to the AA roster in mid June. He pitched in five games and only gave up 2 hits and a walk so was immediately promoted to AA. He made four appearances before being put back on the injured list and missing a little less than a month. He pitched the rest of the season uninjured but had mixed results. In total he pitched in 15.1 innings in AAA to a 10.57 ERA. It was weird for Harper as he was either throwing blow up innings where he’d give up multiple runs or throw an inning of no runs. He even had a two game stretch where he gave up 10 runs. His walk problems that were an issue in 2023 jumped back in AAA to a 12% rate and his strikeout rate which was still high in AA this year dropped to only 17.3%. Harper doesn’t have monster stuff but his fastball sits in the mid 90s and got great chase and whiff rates in AAA but had a xwOBA con of 0.471. He struggled to throw his cutter for a strike and could rarely get any whiffs on it. He also has a high 80s changeup that has great fade but he struggled to throw for strikes and hitters laid off it. It’ll be interesting to see what changes Harper will make to get hitters out in the AFL.

Tommy McCollum RHP: A year spent between three different levels McCollum started the year in High-A and eventually made it AAA by the end of the year. After spending the entire 2024 season in AA I’m not sure why he was in High-A to start the year with no injury or anything in Spring. After a great 8 innings pitching to a 1.13 ERA he was promoted to AA where he spent most of the year throwing 45 innings to a 3.20 ERA and 2.89 FIP. He was then promoted to AAA for the end of the year and threw 2.2 bad innings. He’s got a good amount of strikeouts with a 25.5% rate this season and his walk rate dropped from 12.4% in 2024 to 6.9% this season. He has some pretty good stuff with a mid 90s fastball, a changeup in the mid 80s that has late drop, and a high 80s cutter. Could fight for a bullpen spot next Spring but is already Rule 5 eligible and teams will probably want to see more from him than just a good 45 innings this year.

Carson DeMartini 3B: The 4th round pick for the Phillies in the 2024 draft out of Virginia Tech. DeMartini had a great start to his career in High-A this season hitting .284/.402/.474 for a 162 wRC+ in 53 games before being promoted. Even with the great numbers he still struggled with contact and strikeouts which was his major problem in college, he struck out 27.9% in High-A. After the promotion he really struggled in AA only hitting .202/.291/.288 for a 69 wRC+. His contact rates went up and his strikeouts went down but so did his walks and he didn’t hit for any power. DeMartini has shown plus raw power with some high exit velocities on pitches on the inner plate but didn’t show it at all in AA. Even with not showing top of the line speed he stole 45 bases this year and showed great knowledge of pitcher timing. He mostly played third base this season but had a few games at shortstop and 3 at second in 2024. Surprisingly he looked great defensively this season at third which was seen as a negative of him in college.

Aidan Miller SS: The top Phillies prospect continued to excel this season as he reached the upper levels of the minors. Being drafted with the 27th overall pick out of high school in 2023 he rose through 3 levels in his first full season in 2024 hitting .261/.366/.446 for a 133 wRC+ between Low-A, High-A, and 5 games in AA. This season he spent most of his time in AA playing 108 games hitting .250/.382/.427 for a 134 wRC+ with 13 homers, 25 doubles, and 52 steals. He was promoted to AAA for the end of the season and in only 8 games really impressed. He hit .333/.514/.519 for a 184 wRC+ with a homer and stole 7 bases. Miller has big raw power for a 21 year old shortstop and has improved on a questionable hit tool this season making contact on 77.1% of swings. He also showed his patience at the plate, only swinging at 39.4% of total pitches he saw. Miller has super quick hands and great bat that are able to lift the ball well he had a 36.9% flyball rate compared to a 39.2% groundball rate so unlike most of his peers he’s been able to pull the ball in the air well. Plus power combined with a great approach and swing creates a top prospect for any team. Coming out of high school and still in recent reports people believe Miller should move to third but all the Phillies have done is play him at shortstop so far in his career. He has a great arm and the athleticism to play the position but tends to have a slow exchange which has caused errors. With Turner at short in Philly for the near future and Miller likely making his debut next season it’ll be interesting if he gets some time at third and second this fall.

Dante Nori CF: The 2024 first round pick for the Phillies got off to a great start this season. Nori spent most of it in Low-A playing in 109 games hitting .262/.363/.381 for a 110 wRC+. Drafted out of high school Nori has a great approach and he showed it off walking in 13% of his at bats this season while only striking out 14.7% of the time. He made great contact too with a 83% contact rate and rarely whiffing. He has some raw power hitting some balls around 100 mph exit velocity but that will have to be developed in the future. His biggest calling card even though he has elite contact skills is his speed. Maybe some of the fastest times out of the draft last season and he stole 52 bases last season. He was called up for the last 11 games of the High-A season and hit well in only 53 at bats. The Phillies wanted him to get more plate appearances so he was called up for the end of the 2025 season to AA where he struggled in only 22 at bats but figured it out in his last game going 3/4 with a triple. He’s old for being drafted out of high school at already 20 years old but with the advanced approach he could jump through the levels quickly.

Texas Rangers:

Jose Corniell RHP: Originally signed out of DR by the Mariners in 2019 Corniell was traded into the Rangers system after the 2020 season for Rafael Montero. He made his organizational debut in the Complex League during the 2021 season and has slowly climbed the minors throughout the years. He had a stellar 2023 with 101.2 innings split between Low-A and High-A pitching to a 2.92 ERA white having a 29.8% strikeout rate compared to a 7.8% walk rate. He was sidelined with an elbow injury to start 2024 and ended up not pitching a game after having Tommy John in July. He only returned to pitching in games in early July where he made four starts in the Complex League before making his AA debut in mid July. He made 6 starts throwing 20 innings and was great with a 0.45 ERA and 1.75 FIP. Corniell struck out 30.3% of batters and only walked 1.5% or only 1 batter in his second start. He was called up to AAA to make 3 starts for 12.1 innings to a 3.65 ERA but walked 11.1% of batters which was weird for him. Then he finally made his MLB debut on September 28th, the last day of the season where he gave up 3 earned runs in 1.2 innings. Corniell isn’t a big stuff guy but has elite command. He has a fastball that sits in the mid 90s but below average movement. His ability to constantly throw it for strikes makes it a solid offering though. He also throws a cutter in the low 90s that’s pretty solid against left handed pitching. His best pitch is his sweeper that has 11” of horizontal break sitting in the low 80s and he can command it anywhere over the plate. His last pitch is a changeup with great fade that he also gets whiffs on in the zone. Not the most flashy pitcher but a starter that can pitch great in the back of a rotation for a long time.

Kolton Curtis RHP: A weird route to the Rangers by Curtis as he went undrafted in the 2022 draft but unlike other high schoolers he signed with the Rangers as an undrafted free agent for $125,000. He only pitched 6.2 innings in the Complex League in his first season in 2023 after the Rangers sat him to fix his command. He had a little breakout in Low-A in 2024 throwing 82 innings to a 2.85 ERA and 4.42 FIP. This season he’s spent it entirely in High-A throwing 66 innings to a 5.18 ERA and 4.18 FIP. Curtis doesn’t come at hitters with a very repeatable delivery and some solid secondaries that have great whiff rates so far. His low 80s changeup with some good fade had a 56% whiff rate in Low-A last season while his low 80s slider is tight and will get chases but he struggled to throw it for a strike. He also has an upper 70s curveball that he also struggled to throw in the zone. His fastball only sits in the low 90s most of the time and tops out at 96 mph. With his repeatable delivery and ability to throw a decent amount of strikes it’s expected Curtis develops plus command but a 12.2% walk rate in 2024 and a 15.2% in 2025 don’t show great signs so far. He does stand at 6’4” and is only 170 lbs so he could hit second gear if he can build into his frame more. For now Curtis still has a long way to go to be in the higher level rotations.

Joey Danielson RHP: A very interesting career so far for Danielson. He came into college at North Dakota State as a catcher but was only able to get 9 plate appearances over his first 2 years. In his second season he switched to pitching and slowly improved every year enough for the Rangers to draft him in the 17th round of the 2024 draft. In his first full season in the organization he spent most of it in High-A posting a 3.70 ERA and 3.49 FIP. He earned a promotion to AA and threw 14.2 innings out of the bullpen to a 6.14 ERA and 5.50 FIP. The ERA might look bad but it was mostly two outings he had at the end of August where he gave up 7 runs in 0.2 innings. Other than that he gave up 10 runs in 14 innings. He has big strikeout stuff with a 26.4% rate between both levels this season but wasn’t able to control it at times with an 11.4% walk rate, especially in AA where he walked 20% of batters. Danielson has a mid 90s fastball with some carry and a mid 80s slider with some good movement. Danielson is already about to turn 25 years old and will be facing the most experienced hitters he’s ever faced this fall so it’ll be important for him to continue getting strikeouts against them.

Winston Santos RHP: A limited season for one of the Rangers top prospects Santos dealt with a back injury after 2 starts in AA and returned to start 3 more games in AA and 1 in AAA before being shut down again. Before this season though Santos was seen as a very durable starter throwing at least 98 innings in each of the last 3 years. In his last full season in 2024 he threw 110.1 innings between High-A and AA to a 3.67 ERA and 3.43 FIP. Santos has shown the ability to get strikeouts, at a 30.1% rate in 2024 and a 33.3% rate in his short outings this season. He also has above average command with a usual walk rate somewhere around 7%. Santos has been in the Rangers organization for awhile starting in the Dominican Summer League during the 2021 season and has already made the 40 Man Roster. His fastball sits in the mid 90s around 96 mph and topping out at 98 mph with some natural cut. His secondaries are what is holding him back from being considered a big pitching prospect. He has a mid 80s changeup and mid 80s slider that if aren’t located in the zone play down. If they are located though they play like plus offerings so mostly depends on the night. Still a very good prospect who will look to get some innings under him before competing for a roster spot next Spring.

Emiliano Teodo RHP: One of my favorite pitching prospects in all of baseball, Teodo is a stuff monster. After being added to the 40 Man Roster before this season he was moved from the rotation to the bullpen and really struggled to handle his command. His stuff has also ticked down which could be due to two injured list stints he experienced this season. The first a shoulder injury that kept him out a month and the second was after some back issues that held him out for over two months. It also seemed Teodo was experimenting with a new arm slot. This all caused a down year throwing a combined 30 innings between AA and AAA to a 7.20 ERA and 6.24 FIP. His strikeout rate dropped from 30.7% as a starter in AA to 25.5% this season and his walk rate, which was never great, jumped more than 5% to 19.5%. Even with down stuff he still has some nasty pitches starting with a sinker that sits in the upper 90s and can top out at 102 mph. His slider dropped a few mph to the mid 80s but has sat in the upper 90s in the past and had a 58% whiff rate in 2024. That was still there in AAA where he had a 59.6% whiff rate but struggled to throw it for a strike even 40% of the time and hitters laid off of it for the most part. His changeup has solid fade and depth but sits in the low 90s and almost works as a slower changeup. He struggled to throw his changeup for a strike the most, only throwing it in the zone 29% of the time. This will be a big fall for him to see if the stuff is still plus and if he can throw more strikes.

Malcolm Moore C: The Rangers 1st round pick in last year’s draft has gotten off to a slow start to his career. He got the season off to a great start though hitting .267/.463/.467 in his first 9 High-A games but broke his finger on a foul tip and didn’t return to the High-A lineup for more than two months. Since then he really badly struggled hitting .197/.266/.249 in his 52 games to end the season. In total he hit .195/.300/.276 for a 77 wRC+ in his 57 games during the High-A season. Moore has put up good contact rates with a 75.8% rate but has gotten under a ton of balls with a lot of weak pop ups. His swing is a quick uppercut that’s likely causing this problem but unlike in college he’s just not hitting the ball hard. He was an extra base hit machine during his Stanford days but was only able to hit 9 doubles and muscle out 2 homers at the High-A level this season. Moore also has questions defensively as he’s been projected to move away from catcher ever since his high school days. He has an average arm but tends to have a slow exchange and only threw out 21% of runners this season. He also is a below average blocker and an average to below average receiver. He could end up a first baseman but it seems the Rangers are going to try him at catcher for a bit.

Sebastian Walcott SS: One of the youngest players in all of AA Walcott is only 19 years old and spent the entire season hitting well in AA. He slashed .255/.355/.386 for a 111 wRC+. Obviously being 19 Walcott isn’t all the way developed and was struggling in the DSL and Complex League just two years ago but broke out in 2024 when he slashed .261/.342/.443 for a 124 wRC+ as an 18 year old in High-A. He has some of the best bat speed by any prospect in baseball and has already put up above average MLB exit velocities. Walcott has shown the ability to adjust and cut his strikeout rate by 6% this season dropping it to 19.6% and had the highest walk rate of his career at 12.7%. This was due to him cutting down his aggression and chase rate to about MLB average this season. He also made the most contact of any season in his career at a 73.9% rate. To all those plus tools he added 13 homers the most out of any season in his career and his most stolen bases with 32. In the field it’s still a question of where Walcott will play as he of course has a monster arm but growing to 6’4” he’s almost gotten too big to play short and made 42 errors there this season. He’ll likely settle into third base over the next couple seasons where he played 17 games this season. Walcott is the reason to tune into Surprise games this fall he’s going to put up monster exit velocities and remember somehow he’s only 19 years old.

Dylan Dreiling CF: The Rangers 2nd round pick out of Tennessee in last year’s draft, Dreiling played alright in his first full season. He played 110 games in High-A and slashed .226/.319/.381 for a 107 wRC+. He added 12 homers and 15 steals as well. Despite his low average Dreiling was able to make great contact at a 85.5% rate this year but was too selective, only swinging at 38.7% swings. This didn’t really help his walk rate as it sat at only 12%. He’s struggled against fastballs mainly and hasn’t really shown much in game power that he was able to show at Tennessee where he hit 23 homers in his last season. He’s hit the ball hard and has plus raw power especially to his pull side but he was getting under too many balls this season. So far he’s mostly played center in High-A but had some time in left and right this season and likely will grow into a left fielder with more time out there. Still a high risk player who has a lot to work through in the future.

Kansas City Royals:

A.J. Causey RHP: The Royals 5th round pick out of Tennessee in last year’s draft has gotten out to a quick start in the minors. After a solid year at Tennessee being their swingman out of the bullpen for most of the season. He continued being able to go multiple innings out of the bullpen for the Royals High-A and AA teams this season. Starting in High-A Causey threw 40.1 innings to a 1.56 ERA and 2.19 FIP. He obviously earned a promotion to AA where he threw 33 innings to a 1.91 ERA and 2.39 FIP there. He has a quick release with a low arm slot. His fastball only sits in the high 80s to low 90s but it doesn’t matter because his secondaries are so good. His changeup is his best pitch sitting in the low 80s. It has a big tailing action and sink. His slider is in the mid to high 70s and is very hard to hit from his arm angle. He’s able to command all his pitches really well and only had a 6.4% walk rate this season. The changeup works well against both sides but especially left handed hitters while the slider is the exact opposite. This is the reason he had a 26.5% strikeout rate this season. Causey will look to continue to dominate this fall.

Dennis Colleran RHP: Another 2024 pick by the Royals Colleran was drafted in the 7th round out of Northeastern. This season he’s already climbed to AA like Causey but it was only for a game at the end of the season. Colleran started the season in Low-A where he showed some promise throwing 31 innings to a 4.96 ERA and 3.31 FIP out of the bullpen. He struck out 29.8% of batters but walked 14.5%. He was promoted to High-A in late June and threw 34.1 innings to a 1.83 ERA and 4.37 FIP. His strikeout rate dropped a bit to 25% but so did his walk rate to a respectable 10.6%. He was promoted to AA where he threw one clean inning. Colleran has an upper 90s fastball that has topped out at almost 102 mph but his fastball is his only plus pitch. He struggles to throw either of his secondaries for a strike. His slider hasn’t found the depth to work off his fastball well and even though his changeup at times can be a plus pitch he can’t locate it at all. Colleran is only 21 years old and has multiple years to figure out his secondaries. It’ll be interesting to see how the Royals try to develop him.

L.P. Langevin RHP: Continuing the trend Langevin is another Royals 2024 pick drafted in the 4th round. He hasn’t moved as quickly as the others but that was mostly due to a lat strain that kept him on the injured list until throwing 6.1 rehab innings in the Complex League in early July and finally making his High-A debut in late July. Even though he was a multiple inning reliever in college the Royals were careful with Langevin over the last two months of the season and he only threw 15 innings to a 7.20 ERA and 4.07 FIP. He showed some great strikeout stuff with a 32.5% rate but had no control walking 22.1% of hitters. He throws his fastball in the mid 90s with some rising action and it generated a 40% whiff rate in college. He has the same problem as Colleran though as his slider and changeup are both currently not great pitches. His mid 80s changeup has some great fade to it but he struggles to throw it for a strike. His slider is not as good and very inconsistent in the zone. With very bad command and secondaries he’s another project reliever headed to Arizona for the Royals.

Logan Martin RHP: An older pitcher in this group of Royals, Martin was drafted in the 2023 draft out of Kentucky in the 12th round and has had two straight solid seasons. He spent the entire 2024 season in Low-A throwing 102 innings to a 3.62 ERA and 3.57 FIP. He continued that success into High-A this season throwing 91.1 innings to a 3.45 ERA and 3.79 FIP. He hasn’t shown an above average ability to get strikeouts with only a 20.6% rate this season and has shown good command at times with a 7.5% walk rate in 2024 and 9.5% this season. There is no public data on Martin since he got to the Majors but looking at a bullpen he threw last offseason his fastball sat in the mid 90s. He has an upper 80s changeup and slider but his upper 70s curveball seemed to be his best pitch. Martin will be starting the second game for the Saguaros this Wednesday.

Hunter Owen LHP: Another pick in the 2023 draft Owen was drafted in the 4th round out of Vanderbilt. In his first full season in 2024 he threw 102 innings in High-A to a 4.24 ERA and 4.16 FIP. In 2025 he made a big jump to AA and threw 94.2 innings to a 3.80 ERA and 4.02 FIP. The big jump was with his strikeouts which jumped from 18.9% in 2024 to 25.9% this season. Even though his walk rate also jumped to 9.7% he was throwing more strikes than 2024. Owen is big on the mount at 6’6” 260 lbs from the left side. His fastball sits in the low 90s and Owen is able to command it especially at the top of the zone really. He also has three secondaries: a high 80s slider that might be categorized as a cutter, a mid 70s curveball, and a mid 80s changeup that has solid movement. He’s not the most exciting starter but is big and can absolutely eat innings at the next level. All these pitches are coming from his 2024 season so I’m interested in what changed for him to jump 7% in strikeout rate and we’ll see this fall.

Blake Mitchell C: The 8th overall pick in the 2023 draft out of high school Mitchell looked great at the plate in his first full season playing 106 games in Low-A slashing .238/.376/.439 for a 135 wRC+. He showed off his plus raw power with 18 homers and had great patience at the plate with a 17% walk rate. He also had some wheels with 25 stolen bases. His worst tool is his contact ability as he only had a 71.2% contact rate and struck out 30.5% of the time. Mitchell had multiple setbacks to start the season as he dealt with a wrist injury. He went on a rehab assignment in early May but was shut back down until Late June and finally made his season debut in High-A in early July. In total he played in 49 games and hit .207/.372/.296 for a 103 wRC+. He continued his trends from 2024 with a 20.8% walk rate and 32.9% strikeout rate but lost some of his raw power hitting only 2 homers in High-A and his contact rate dropped to 66.7%. Behind the plate Mitchell has a monster arm that used to hit 97 mph when he would pitch. Still he struggled to throw out runners in 2024 only catching 17%. This season even though he had less chances he was much better throwing out 46%. He’s not a great blocker or framer but is reportedly getting better. If he can’t figure it out though, the Royals have Carter Jensen, their top prospect who just made his MLB debut behind the plate. Mitchell has a ton of time though as he isn’t Rule 5 eligible until after the 2027 season.

Daniel Vazquez SS: The top international signing by the Royals in 2021 Vazquez has been stuck in the lower levels of the minors for a long time. He spent the entire 2022, 2023, and 2024 seasons being the starting shortstop in Low-A but made his High-A debut this year. He had his best season at the plate hitting .260/.336/.349 for a 98 wRC+ and even played 5 games in AA to end the season but only hit .190. Vazquez has slowly been improving his ability to make contact and hit line drives but stagnated at both this season. His jump in wRC+ can be attributed to him hitting more extra base hits into the gap. He had 23 doubles and 5 triples. Vazquez will never be able to be a player who can hit home runs as he only has 6 total since starting with the Royals in 2021 but he can use his speed to be valuable. He stole his most bases since 2023 this year with 26. Vazquez is known mostly for his glove though playing shortstop where he’s very agile and athletic. He’s already eligible for the Rule 5 Draft but I don’t expect Vazquez to be put on the 40 Man Roster this offseason.

Carson Roccaforte CF: Drafted in the compensation round after the 2nd round Roccaforte was the 66th overall pick in the 2023 draft and after a disappointing first season he’s broken out this year. In his first full season in High-A Roccaforte slashed .208/.292/.342 for a 87 wRC+. This season with 82 games in High-A and 45 in AA he has slashed .258/.373/.470 for a 138 wRC+ with 18 homers and 43 stolen bases. He dropped his contact approach at the plate to add more power leading his ISO to jump from .134 to .212 and 18 more extra base hits including 8 more homers. He also upped his walk rate going from 10.5% in 2024 to 14.9% this year. Even though his strikeout rate did jump 3.4% to 29.4% it didn’t matter because he was hitting the ball hard. Roccaforte was thought to be a Gold Glove defender in centerfield coming out of the draft with enough athleticism to have some potential at the plate but he’s shown a lot with the bat already while still being elite in center. I’m expecting Roccaforte to jump up Royals prospect lists this offseason especially if he can carry over his success into the AFL.