Beyond the raw variability you normally get in Arizona Fall League performances thanks to prospects from different levels and varying levels of fatigue meeting in the desert, Keith Law said it's worth keeping an eye on the new rules Major League Baseball implemented in order to test them during real competition.
From what Law saw, it's rough out there.
The Saturday night game at Salt River Fields, the spring home of the Diamondbacks and Rockies, exemplifies the entire problem. The game used the automated strike zone, a variable pitch clock and a ban on shifts. The result was a game that was called after seven and a half innings over three excruciating hours because the teams ran out of pitchers. Why did they run out of pitchers in just seven and a half innings, you ask? Because the pitchers they did use walked 22 guys.
The robot ump is only in place at Salt River Fields, so this shouldn't affect the White Sox prospects with the Glendale Desert Dogs all too often. In the game played back on Friday, nothing looked out of the ordinary, for better (nine walks between the teams) or worse (25 strikeouts).
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AFL Report
The Desert Dogs are a respectable 6-4, but White Sox prospects haven't contributed much to the efforts so far, except for one big swing. We'll get it to it in a bit.
YOELQUI CÉSPEDES
| Date | AB | R | H | RBI | XBH | BB/K | SB/CS | Etc. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct. 18 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0/2 | 1/0 | -- |
| Oct. 19 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0/1 | -- | -- |
| Oct. 20 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Oct. 21 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | -- | 0/1 | -- | -- |
| Oct. 22 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Oct. 23 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -- | 0/1 | HBP | |
| Total | 26 | 3 | 6 | 1 | -- | 0/8 | 1/0 | .231/.310/.269 |
Céspedes got plunked by another pitch, giving him three HBPs over 29 plate appearances. The bruises help offset the lack of walks, if nothing else. Otherwise, it seems like Céspedes battle with controlling the strike zone and getting the ball in the air are going to be a fall-long pursuit.
Friend of the Podcast Jim Callis talked to Céspedes through an interpreter about his first stateside season after two years off, with Callis also sprinkling in his scouting report.
Céspedes' bat speed and strength create well above-average power, though some international scouts wondered how well it would play against more advanced pitching. He can get overly aggressive at the plate, and his right-handed stroke can get too long and uphill. He hit just .287/.351/.415 in four seasons in Cuba and only .253/.343/.316 in 27 games during two years in the Can-Am League. [...]
"In Cuba, the velocity wasn't the velocity that we have here in the States," said Céspedes, who went 3-for-18 (.167) with a double and a steal in his first week with the Glendale Desert Dogs. "It was a big adjustment for me and another stepping stone for me. The velocity as well as the sharpness of the breaking balls were the two biggest adjustments I needed to make."
YOLBERT SÁNCHEZ
| Date | AB | R | H | RBI | XBH | BB/K | SB/CS | Etc. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct. 18 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Oct. 19 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Oct. 20 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Oct. 21 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Oct. 22 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Oct. 23 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2B | 1/0 | -- | -- |
| Total | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | -- | 2/0 | 0/0 | .250/.400/.375 |
Sánchez nearly went the entire week without an appearance, but he started Saturday's game at second base to get him an entry in the game log. He connected for this double:
Sánchez also drew a walk. He has two in 10 plate appearances, compared to one over 41 plate appearances between Céspedes and ...
JOSE RODRIGUEZ
| Date | AB | R | H | RBI | XBH | BB/K | SB/CS | Etc. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct. 18 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4 | HR | -- | -- | -- |
| Oct. 19 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Oct. 20 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -- | 1/0 | -- | -- |
| Oct. 21 | 5 | -- | 1 | 2 | -- | 0/2 | -- | -- |
| Oct. 22 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Oct. 23 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Total | 21 | 1 | 5 | 7 | -- | 1/3 | 0/0 | .238/.273/.381 |
... who saw plenty of playing time. He's making contact, but he's still figuring out how to make impact contact on a regular basis. He did his a grand slam to start the week, so there's no reason he can't do it again.
After the game, MLB Pipeline interviewed him, with Danny Farquhar serving as translator. While a lot of the answers were boilerplate, he did say that his success this year was built on turning around fastballs, and that he's trying to work on selectivity in the AFL.
PITCHERS
| Pitcher | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dominguez | 2.1 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Olson | 5.2 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Moore | 3.1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| Freeman | 3.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
It was an ugly week for this group, starting with Johan Dominguez. He recorded just one out while giving up two homers in a five-run first back on Oct. 18, which cause his ERA to swell to 23.14.
Meanwhile, Caleb Freeman and McKinley Moore are hanging in there despite strikeout-to-walk ratios they'd prefer to reverse. Both players did enough during the season that some wobbles during the AFL aren't automatically troublesome, but the memories of Tyler Johnson's sudden strike-zone issues are a little too fresh, with a poor fall the start of his troubles.
(Photo by Dru Bloomfield via CC license 2.0)
