The final Australian Baseball League playoff spot will come down to the Perth Heat and the Adelaide Giants as the ABL season comes to a close. The ABL downsized from six teams to four last season, and now only two teams make the playoffs. The Sydney Blue Sox have already clinched the top playoff seed with a record of 23-12, and the Brisbane Bandits are officially eliminated with a record of 14-21.
The Adelaide Giants are 17-17 and the Perth Heat are 15-19. The teams will play each other five times from Jan. 14 to 17. The Adelaide Giants need to win two out of the five games to make the playoffs while the Perth Heat would need to win four out of five games.
Adelaide Giants: Adelaide Giants, shortstop Jose Colmenares has taken the ABL by storm in 39 at-bats. Colmenares, 23, has eight home runs, 15 RBIs, and an OPS of 1.483.
Colmenares signed with the New York Yankees as an international free agent out of Venezuela in 2018. He made it to the Yankees Double-A team in Somerset and was released on Aug. 6, 2025.
The Philadelphia Phillies signed Colmenares, and he also played two games with the Aguilas del Zulia in Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional this winter.
Conner Greene has pitched 19 2/3 innings with 23 strikeouts and an ERA of 0.92 for the Adelaide Giants. Greene, 30, was a former MLB pitcher who was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the seventh round of the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft.
Greene never made it to the big leagues for the blue Blue Jays and ended up making his MLB debut with the Baltimore Orioles in 2021. Greene also made MLB appearances with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2021.
Greene also pitched in the Chinese Professional Baseball League with the Wei Chuan Dragons in 2025.
Perth Heat: Outfielder Drake Logan has been their most consistent hitter, and he leads the Perth Heat with seven home runs. He is also second on the team with 26 RBIs, and he had six stolen bases and a .785 OPS in 116 at-bats.
Logan, 25, was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 19th round of the 2022 MLB Draft. Logan is still in the White Sox farm system, and spent last season with the Triple-A Charlotte Knights.
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Tucker Smith led the Perth Heat with 55 1/3 innings with 38 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.44. Smith, 28, is a right-handed pitcher, and has also pitched in the Frontier League and the American Association.
Sydney Blue Sox: Outfielder Anthony Huezo has six home runs and 19 RBIs in 86 at-bats for the Sydney Blue Sox. Huezo, 20, was drafted in the 12th round of the 2023 MLB Draft by the Houston Astros.
Huezo is a left-handed hitter and made it to the Astros Triple-A Sugar Land at the end of 2025.
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Landen Bourassa led the Sydney Blue Sox pitching staff with 52 strikeouts in 57 1/3 innings and an ERA of 2.51. Bourassa, 29, is a right-handed pitcher and has pitched the last five seasons in the American Association for the Winnipeg Goldeyes.
Brisbane Bandits: Catcher Robbie Perkins led the ABL with 10 home runs and had the highest OPS of 1.054 with 121 at-bats or more. Perkins, 31, had 26 RBIs and an on-base percentage of .409, leading the ABL with a .645 slugging percentage. Perkins signed a minor league deal with the Colorado Rockies in 2012 and spent six seasons in the minor leagues.
Jon Kennedy pitched 47 1/3 innings with 38 strikeouts and an ERA of 4.18 for the Brisbane Bandits. Kennedy, 31, is a left-handed pitcher who signed with the Atlanta Braves in 2015. He pitched in the Czech Baseball Extraliga in 2022 with the Hroši Brno.
WBN Australia: https://worldbaseball.com/league/australia/
