Arizona Fall League Round-Up: Week 1

The Diamondbacks players are, as usual, part of the Salt River Rafters, who lost last year's championship game to Peoria. They've started off 2-3 this season, putting the 2.5 back of the Mesa Solar Sox, who have yet to taste defeat in their five contests. The Rafters have won both their games at Salt River, but lost all three elsewhere: they're playing up the 101 in Glendale this evening, and Mrs. SnakePit and I may head out to see them, if we get the decks cleared in time. Here's a quick overview of how our prospects have performed so far.

Nick Ahmed, SS
2013 Mobile (.236/.288/.324)
1-for-10, 3 BB
Winner of the Rawlings Gold Glove for the minor-leagues at shortstop, Ahmed wasn't much known for his offense, and so we're not looking for much more here. Though as with all of these, the sample size is small, Ahmed has just the one hit in three starts, but has a decent K:BB ratio of 3:3, which has helped him cross home-plate three times.

Jake Barrett, RHRP
2013 Visalia/Mobile (52 IP, 1.21 ERA, 59:12 K:BB)
1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3:0 K:BB
#3 on John's prospect list, and looking at those stats, you can see why. Even more impressively, after promotion to Mobile, he threw 24.2 innings and allowed one earned run, with a K:BB ratio of 22:3. That has carried forward to the AFL, where he struck out three of four batters faced, in his only appearance to date..

Andrew Chafin, RHSP
2013 Visalia/Mobile (126.1 IP, 2.85 ERA, 87:41 K:BB)
2.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1:3 K:BB
Chafin has had two wobbly outings, though one wonders if being a reliever rather than being a starter makes him uncomfortable. He allowed a two-run homer to Peter O'Brien, the Yankees prospect who won the intriguing Bowman Hitting Challenge this week, then a couple of walks in his next outing, though at least that was scoreless.

Mike Freeman, 2B
2013 Mobile (.247/.345/.297)
1-for-6, 2 BB
Like Ahmed, another batter whose offensive production to date has largely been fringey - he had only one home-run all season, in 131 games at Double-A. Singled, walked and scored in his Fall League debut on Wednesday, then went 0-for-3 on Friday.

Jake Lamb, 3B
2013 Rookie/Visalia (.302/.421/.548)
3-for-14, 5 BB
One of our younger prospects, Lamb had his 23rd birthday last week. So far, he has been heavily leaning towards the "two true outcomes"; as well as the five walks, he has had seven strikeouts. He has walked in each of the four games played, and has reached base safely seven times over the last three.

Bo Schultz, RHP
2013 Mobile/Reno (104.2 IP, 3.35 ERA, 75:36 K:BB)
3.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 6:3 K:BB
Started last Tuesday for Salt River, and was hurt by the three walks and a couple of wild pitches: one scored a run, and the other moved a runner into scoring position, who then came home on a one-out single. That ended Schultz's day, though he did whiff six of the ten outs he recorded.

Matt Stites, RHRP
2013 AA San Antonio (52 IP, 2.08 ERA, 51:8 K:BB)
1.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2:1 K:BB
Our potential future closer, acquired from the Padres in the Ian Kennedy deal missed the end of the season due to a flaky appendix. He had a rough introduction to fall ball, allowing hits to the first four batterd faced, along with a walk and a wild pitch, taking the loss in the ninth. His second appearance on Friday was better, as he got through a full inning, but allowed another run on a hit and a walk.

Elsewhere in winter ball

Ender Inciarte, who was Rule 5 picked from us by the Phillies, and later returned to Arizona, has got off to a fast start in Venezuela. He has gone 8-for-18 with five runs scored in his first four games for Aguilas de Zulia. David Peralta is 2-for-13 with Bravos de Margarita. The only significant pitching action was by Mark Serrano, who started on Friday for Caribes de Anzoategui, and got a no-decision, allowing two runs over four innings, on five hits and two walks, with a trio of strikeouts.