As we head into All-Star weekend, here’s a look at the top news and notes from around the Arizona Fall League (AFL).
Josue Briceno Continues League-Leading Pace
If there was any question about whether Briceno was ready for this week’s home run derby, he provided a resounding answer on Tuesday. The Tiger’s prospect hit his league-leading eighth home run to raise his OPS to an amazing 1.322. Briceno has now quadrupled his home run total from the regular season in only half the games.
Another AFL homer for Josue Briceño!
The @tigers' No. 9 prospect leads the @MLBazFallLeague with:
8 HR
28 H
12 XBH
58 TB pic.twitter.com/229impNSjZ— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) November 6, 2024
Jake Miller Overpowers Javelina Hitters
In his fifth appearance of the season, Miller finally flashed the electric stuff that helped him post a 1.85 ERA during the regular season. The Tigers left-hander allowed just one baserunner over four scoreless innings while setting a new AFL standard with eight strikeouts. The performance only lowered his ERA to 9.43 on the fall, but it was an encouraging sign as the end of the AFL season approaches.
Jake Miller knows how to deliver.
The @Tigers southpaw prospect strikes out 8 over 4 innings, the most K's in an outing this @MLBazFallLeague campaign: pic.twitter.com/MkeOtDd55z
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) November 7, 2024
Andrew Painter Gears Up for All-Star Game Start
After a shaky beginning to the season, Painter has arguably been the best pitcher in the AFL over the past two weeks. The Phillies right-hander turned in yet another dominant outing on Tuesday, tossing three more hitless innings and punching out a pair. The former number-one pitching prospect has a 2.08 ERA on the season and was rewarded with the starting role in Saturday’s All-Star game.
Andrew Painter has eye-popping stuff.
– Fastball that touches 101
– Potential plus slider
– Developing changeup + curvbeallAnd he ties it all together with 70-grade command. https://t.co/V0wLxPT50d pic.twitter.com/7x70yHiuiC
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) November 7, 2024
Jac Caglianone Heating Up
Like Painter, Caglianone has also caught fire after a slow start to the AFL. The Royals sixth overall pick hit his fourth home run of the season, a blast that traveled 418 feet and left the bat at 113.1 innings. Caglianone is now slashing a solid .247/.314/.442 on the season, providing much-needed momentum heading into 2025.
Small sample size theatre here, but an entirely unsurprising correlation between chase and production for Jac Caglianone in the AFL.
First 9 games: 41% chase, 621 OPS, 26.2 K%
Last 9 games: 28% chase, .890 OPS, 13.6 K% pic.twitter.com/fxaK9wjsN6— Aram Leighton (@AramLeighton8) November 8, 2024
Fans can stream the Arizona Fall League all season mlb.com.
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