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Arizona Fall League (AFL): News, Notes, and Where to Watch

 Daniel Fox - World Baseball Network  |    Nov 1st, 2024 10:00pm EDT

As the Arizona Fall League (AFL) enters the final stretch, here is some news and notes on  Major League Baseball’s best prospects.   

Niko Kavadas Continues Huge Fall 

After a whirlwind regular season that saw him go from the Red Sox Triple-A affiliate in Worcester to the starting first baseman for the Angels, Kavadas has settled into a groove in the Arizona Fall League. In 13 games for the Mesa Solar Sox, Kavadas has blasted six home runs and drawn an impressive 15 walks, leading to a .533 on-base percentage and a .881 slugging percentage. Thursday was undoubtedly his best game of the season, as the lefty slugger went 4-5 with a pair of home runs and 6 RBI. After struggling in his brief stint with the Angels, Kavadas is beginning to display the elite power/patience combination the team believed in when they acquired him.  

Nick Kurtz Finishes Homer Shy of Cycle 

Kavadas wasn’t the only Solar Sox who put together a massive game on Thursday. Batting one spot higher in the lineup, Kurtz went 4-5 with 4 RBIs to raise his AFL average to a staggering .471. The former Wake Forest Demon Deacon has been everything the Athletics could have hoped for after selecting him with the fourth overall pick in the 2024 draft. Kurtz slashed .368/.520/.763 with four home runs in a brief 12-game sample at the end of the regular season and has picked up right where he left off in the AFL. With a patient eye and a plus hit-tool, the 22-year-old is a prime candidate to move quickly through the Athletics system.  

Leodalis De Vries Joins Elite Homer Company 

At 18 years old, De Vries is four years younger than the average AFL player, but he has held his own this fall. The Padres shortstop prospect has posted a respectable .708 OPS and has gotten better as the season has progressed. The improvement was especially evident on Thursday when he became the youngest player since Bryce Harper to homer in an AFL game when he smoked a Zak Kent pitch a projected 415 feet. Being in the same company as a future Hall of Famer is never a bad thing, and even if the comparisons to a two-time MVP are a bit premature, it looks like the Padres have another star on their hands.  

Jac Caglianone Has Career-Best Game 

After an underwhelming first few months in the minor leagues and a slow start in the AFL season, Caglianone finally put his elite power on display. The Royals first-round pick posted his first multi-home-run game of his professional career as part of a 3-for-5 day for the Surprise Saguaros. The monster afternoon helped raise Calgianone’s line to a respectable .258/.299/.452, helping him build momentum heading into his first full minor league season. 

Andrew Painter Sharp Again 

The biggest story among pitcher prospects this fall has been the dominance of Painter. The former top pitching prospect in baseball has looked like his old self in his first professional innings in two years, and his latest start may have been his best. The Phillies farmhand shut out the Saguaros for three innings on Thursday, striking out three and, perhaps most importantly, not walking a batter. Painter has now posted a 2.70 ERA through four starts, striking out ten and walking just one. It may not offset the sting of getting upset by the Mets in the NLDS, but Phillies fans can take solace in the fact that their prized prospect is once again dominating opposing hitters.  

Alejandro Osuna and Carter Jansen Lead Hit Barrage 

The Saguaro’s 14-run attack on Tuesday saw not one but two players tally five-hit games. Rangers’ outfielder Alejandro Osuna went 5-for-6 with a homer out of the leadoff spot, raising his OPS to an astounding 1.146. Amazingly, that total isn’t even the best of his team, as the Royals’ Carter Jansen matched Osuna by going 5-for-6 with a home run of his own to raise his OPS to 1.371. With such strong performances this fall, both Jansen and Osuna are making strong cases to move up their team’s prospect list, where they rank fifth and 16th, respectively.  

Fans can stream the Arizona Fall League all season on mlb.com.  

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Photo Credit: Andrew Painter #76 of the Philadelphia Phillies pitches during a spring training game. (Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images)

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