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The Arizona Sky: The AFL in 2018

Edgy MD Aug 30 2018 04:47 PM

Big news for all them Arizona Fall League Fans: The Mets will be represented by the best of the best. Yes, this year's Scottsdale Scorpions (featuring Mets prospects as well as peers from the Phillies, Giants, Astros, and Reds) will include the likes of Andres Gimenez and Peter Alonso. Heading to the desert? Check out the action! And don't get bitten by an actual scorpion. That shit happens and it sucks! Gimenez, likely to be one of the league's youngest players, has gone .286 / .349 / .418 // .767 for St. Lucie and Binghamton. With over 70% of that action coming at the A+ level, this shows the Mets pushing the young'n hard. Alonso, as youse all know, has blossomed into a minor league slugging dynamo this season, going .279 / .394 / .564 // .957 between AA and AAA. Alonso is coming down the home stretch having slugged 33 homers, second in all the minors to only to Reds prospect Ibandel Isabel, who hit 36 at high A between the Dodgers and Reds organization. His 112 RBI were second to nobody. NOBODY!! Gerson Bautista, who we briefly saw in the Mets bullpen merry-go-round this year, will be joining them. Gers struck out a LOT of people in 2018 — 64 in 46 minor league innings. He leapfrogged AAA to join the Mets, and promptly had his head handed to him, yielding a 12.46 ERA at the big-league level. I can't say he looked all bad doing it, but double digits is double digits. Clearly the Mets would still very like to establish GB and his 100-MPH heater as a big league threat. Also getting the call will be centerfielder Desmond Lindsay. Athletic and nerdy, Lindsay has missed a lot of time since the Mets took him in round 2 in 2015. He was able to get 88 games or so in this summer, but he still hasn't caught up to his peers, still looking like the player the Mets drafted, but just not turning a corner in any particular aspect of his offensive game, going .220 / .316 / .325 // .641, mostly for St. Lucie. Holding his hand will be Eric Hanhold. Handsy, who came over to the Mets last season in the Neil Walker trade, missed about 40% of the season, but enjoyed a lot of effectiveness (lots o' K's, few walks or homers) at Bingo, not so much in Vegas. Maybe his hand jive will play better in the Arizona desert than the Nevada desert. You know who might have an opinion about that? Catcher Ali Sanchez might. Ali has produced some decent batting averages for a minor league catcher, but that's about 75% of his offensive value, as the power and walks still haven't quite made an appearance. Still, the Mets have enough faith to push him to the AFL after spending 2018 in Columbia and St. Lucie, so they clearly think there's some value that can still emerge. And since he's caught 46.9% of would-be base-stealers over his career, any offensive value makes him a legit prospect. Also throwing to Ali will be Matt Blackham. Black Celebration has been around since 2014, but he missed half a short season in 2015 and all of 2016 with surgery. Since then, you can call him Peter Wolf, because he's been LIGHTS OUT! In Columbia in 2017, he put up a 1.43 ERA, yielding a .185 batting average and striking out (sit down for this one) 13 batters per nine innings. If that doesn't make things dance around in your pants, he went to St. Lucie this year and his ERA ballooned to 1.90, but his batting average against fell to 1.45. Well, the Mets knew they couldn't keep Mulleted Matt down, and after 17 appearances promoted him to Bingo. His strikeouts stayed high there, but his walks were up, and his ERA returned to something like sea level at 3.86. So what? It happens when you get pushed. He'll catch up in the desert. Our last pitcher is Stephen Nogosek, who you may remember from such trades as REED TO THE RED SOX FOR CALLAHAN, BAUTISTA, AND NOGOSEK. No-Go is the only asset from the deal who hasn't appeared in the big leagues yet, but the righthander had an effective year for St. Lucie (3.06 ERA) before going WALK CRAZY following his promotion to Binghamton (20 in 18 innings). Will he find his center again? Only the desert knows. But one guy that aims to help the Scorps, if not Nogosek in particular, is Mets minor league batting coordinator Ryan Ellis. Catch the Scorpions! They'll rock you like a hurricane!!

MFS62 Aug 30 2018 05:46 PM Re: The Arizona Sky: The AFL in 2018

I predict that in that dry desert air against some pitchers who played in A ball this year, Alonso will hit at least one home run that will not only make your TV screen but also radar screens at NASA. Later

bmfc1 Aug 30 2018 09:09 PM Re: The Arizona Sky: The AFL in 2018

Great report, Edgy!

John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 09 2018 11:18 AM Re: The Arizona Sky: The AFL in 2018

opening night today.

bmfc1 Oct 09 2018 07:18 PM Re: The Arizona Sky: The AFL in 2018

I wish that MLBN had a AFL Game of the Day but they are too busy showing those 2 dopes in the afternoon and reruns of The Sandlot.

Edgy MD Oct 09 2018 08:05 PM Re: The Arizona Sky: The AFL in 2018

Scottsdale pitcher Forrest "Fire" Whitley just struck out the first seven Solar Sox. No hits for either squad through 2 1/2.

bmfc1 Oct 10 2018 07:13 AM Re: The Arizona Sky: The AFL in 2018

http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp ... 1&sid=l119 Peter Alonso went 2 for 4, Gerson Bautista gave up the winning run.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 10 2018 09:22 AM Re: The Arizona Sky: The AFL in 2018

That's our Gerson.

bmfc1 Oct 10 2018 12:19 PM Re: The Arizona Sky: The AFL in 2018

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: That's our Gerson. Wasn't that a '70's sitcom? "That's Our Gerson!"

Lefty Specialist Oct 10 2018 01:05 PM Re: The Arizona Sky: The AFL in 2018

10 points for the J.Geils reference.

bmfc1 Oct 21 2018 06:37 AM Re: The Arizona Sky: The AFL in 2018

This will make you feel old: Mike Cameron's son, Daz, is playing in the AFL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daz_Cameron

MFS62 Oct 21 2018 08:06 AM Re: The Arizona Sky: The AFL in 2018

bmfc1 wrote: This will make you feel old: Mike Cameron's son, Daz, is playing in the AFL: I felt old when I saw Ray Boone's sons play in the majors. https://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... ra01.shtml And then the grandkids ... Later

Frayed Knot Oct 21 2018 08:35 AM Re: The Arizona Sky: The AFL in 2018

And wouldn't Bret (age 49) or Aaron (45) have kids who'd be getting about old enough to play right around now? Daz (Dazmon Jaroid) Cameron was a 1st round (39th overall) draft pick out of HS in 2015 by the Astros and made some top prospect lists a year later based mainly on that potential. Has kind of muddled along in the minors since then showing more speed than power -- 92 steals vs just 24 HR in some 1,200+ minor lg ABs -- although won't turn 22 until January Was dealt to the Tigers org as part of the Justin Verlander deal at last year's trading deadline and split 2018 between A+ Lakeland and AA Erie with a taste of AAA Toledo thrown in at the end.

MFS62 Oct 21 2018 02:17 PM Re: The Arizona Sky: The AFL in 2018

Frayed Knot wrote: And wouldn't Bret (age 49) or Aaron (45) have kids who'd be getting about old enough to play right around now? Thanks a lot. I feel ancient enough. :( Later

Edgy MD Oct 21 2018 08:55 PM Re: The Arizona Sky: The AFL in 2018

More importantly, Scottsdale is now 6-4 and tied for first, with Desmond Lindsay (.364 / .417 / 1.000 // 1.417) and Peter Alonso (.306 / .390 / .611 // 1.001) among their leading hitters. Stephen Nogosek has given up no runs and one hit in 3 2/3 innings over three appearances.