Arizona Fall League 2022

[Stokes1931]

The Arizona Fall League has begun.

I will be there from the 12th to the 16th this year. Can't wait.

After three games:

The best news for the Giants' prospects is that Luis Matos (of) is hitting .357 with 1 double, one triple, 2 homers and 9 RBI's! Wow! What a start!

Will Bednar (rhp)

Spencer Bivens (rhp)

Hunter Dula (rhp) 1.1 innings, 0 BB, 1 K, 0.00 ERA

Tyler Myrick (rhp) 1.0 inning, 0.00 ERA

Adrian Sugastey (c) is hitting .400

Andy Thomas (c) .333 with two walks

Carson Whisenhunt (lhp) has not pitched

Logan Wyatt (1b) is hitting .286

 

[LHG]

The Arizona Fall League has begun.

I will be there from the 12th to the 16th this year. Can't wait.

After three games:

The best news for the Giants' prospects is that Luis Matos (of) is hitting .357 with 1 double, one triple, 2 homers and 9 RBI's! Wow! What a start!

Will Bednar (rhp)

Spencer Bivens (rhp)

Hunter Dula (rhp) 1.1 innings, 0 BB, 1 K, 0.00 ERA

Tyler Myrick (rhp) 1.0 inning, 0.00 ERA

Adrian Sugastey (c) is hitting .400

Andy Thomas (c) .333 with two walks

Carson Whisenhunt (lhp) has not pitched

Logan Wyatt (1b) is hitting .286

There is always at least one "what is he doing there" player in the group. This year, that player is Spencer Bivens. He is a bit of a feel good story. Undrafted out of college, he went to play in the French (!) baseball league in 2019 before all of 2020 and 2021 in American indy ball. He started 2022 there as well before being signed by the Giants in early May. Already a bit old for a guy coming out of the college ranks in 2019 (he turned 25 just after going to France. His last year of college he was 24), he spent most of 2022 with the Giants' org in low A San Jose. He did pitch well there but lost a bit of the season to injuries. He did pitch in 6 games with Sacramento but was only brought on 3 or 4 separate occasions to briefly fill in a roster spot while other pitchers were being transitioned. The fact that the Giants didn't think about moving him up, when they moved countless pitchers up a low (or 2 or sometimes even 3) may or may not say something about him. I don't know if he played ball before college but BBRef only lists stats for 2 years on the college level. He may still be learning the craft. If he does well in the fall league and in spring, I wouldn't be surprised if he starts 2023 in Sacramento.

 

[Stokes1931]

Thursday, 10/6

Matos went 1-4 today with a run scored and is hitting .333

Myrick pitched two scoreless innings with a 0 hits, 1 walk, 1 K, and got the save

 

[Stokes1931]

Friday, 10/7

Matos went 1-4 today with a run scored and is hitting .318

Wyatt went 0-0 with 4 walks and a run scored, hitting .286

Thomas was 0-4 with an RBI, hitting .143

Sugastey went 1-4 with a run and RBI, hitting .333

Bednar started, went 1.1 innings, gave up 3 hits, 4 ER, 0 BB, 1 K. To be fair, 2 of those runners were inherited and allowed to score, making his day worse.

Dula pitched 0.2 innings with a hit, walk, K, and one ER

Bivens pitched a scoreless inning with a hit and a walk

 

[MarcoPolo]

There is always at least one "what is he doing there" player in the group. This year, that player is Spencer Bivens. He is a bit of a feel good story. Undrafted out of college, he went to play in the French (!) baseball league in 2019 before all of 2020 and 2021 in American indy ball. He started 2022 there as well before being signed by the Giants in early May. Already a bit old for a guy coming out of the college ranks in 2019 (he turned 25 just after going to France. His last year of college he was 24), he spent most of 2022 with the Giants' org in low A San Jose. He did pitch well there but lost a bit of the season to injuries. He did pitch in 6 games with Sacramento but was only brought on 3 or 4 separate occasions to briefly fill in a roster spot while other pitchers were being transitioned. The fact that the Giants didn't think about moving him up, when they moved countless pitchers up a low (or 2 or sometimes even 3) may or may not say something about him. I don't know if he played ball before college but BBRef only lists stats for 2 years on the college level. He may still be learning the craft. If he does well in the fall league and in spring, I wouldn't be surprised if he starts 2023 in Sacramento.

I think what is says is more about the Giants' prudence. Along the lines of "lets not move a guy we've had for less than 4 months onto the 40-man before we see what he's got. Let's toss him into the AFL and see what happens."

 

[Stokes1931]

I think what is says is more about the Giants' prudence. Along the lines of "lets not move a guy we've had for less than 4 months onto the 40-man before we see what he's got. Let's toss him into the AFL and see what happens."

Good to see you, Marco!

 

[LHG]

I think what is says is more about the Giants' prudence. Along the lines of "lets not move a guy we've had for less than 4 months onto the 40-man before we see what he's got. Let's toss him into the AFL and see what happens."

I wasn't advocating for a move to the 40 man roster. I was thinking more about how weird he wasn't moved to Eugene or Richmond considering his age and his performance in San Jose. He was used in Sacramento merely as a filler.

By the way, you are the most likely to know the answer to this. Since this is his first season in affiliated ball, does his 6 year clock toward minor league free agency and his 4 year clock toward Rule 5 eligibility start in 2022?

 

[MarcoPolo]

LHG said :
By the way, you are the most likely to know the answer to this. Since this is his first season in affiliated ball, does his 6 year clock toward minor league free agency and his 4 year clock toward Rule 5 eligibility start in 2022?

It starts from when he was signed. There's an exception (well, there used to be at least ) if he doesn't spend 90 days on a minor league roster in any season (say, rookie league) which isn't the case I don't think. (injured counts as being on the roster, BTW).

 

[LHG]

LHG said :
By the way, you are the most likely to know the answer to this. Since this is his first season in affiliated ball, does his 6 year clock toward minor league free agency and his 4 year clock toward Rule 5 eligibility start in 2022?

It starts from when he was signed. There's an exception (well, there used to be at least ) if he doesn't spend 90 days on a minor league roster in any season (say, rookie league) which isn't the case I don't think. (injured counts as being on the roster, BTW).

I do understand that. I didn't know, with the way MLB is working with "independent" leagues now, if time there counts toward the clock for Rule 5 and minor league free agency.

 

[tzill]

Keith Law reporting from the AFL:

I was looking forward to seeing more of Giants outfielder Luis Matos, who had a very rough year in High A at age 20, hitting .211/.275/.344 for Eugene, although in the end, I think I saw what he was all year. Matos is a hell of a center fielder, with speed and good jumps, but he’s so undersized that he isn’t able to do much at the plate right now, drawing some walks while I saw him but otherwise striking out or making weak contact.

 

[tzill]

FWIW they’re using the pitch clock in the AFL and the game time today was 2 hours and 29 minutes. 10 runs in total were scored.

 

[LHG]

FWIW they’re using the pitch clock in the AFL and the game time today was 2 hours and 29 minutes. 10 runs in total were scored.

That is impressive. I assume that was a full 9 inning game. Do you know what the average game time in the AFL was before the pitch clock? Is this the typical length this season with the pitch clock?

 

[tzill]

That is impressive. I assume that was a full 9 inning game. Do you know what the average game time in the AFL was before the pitch clock? Is this the typical length this season with the pitch clock?

I believe I read somewhere that the average game was pretty close to three hours.

 

[LHG]

I believe I read somewhere that the average game was pretty close to three hours.

I am surprised that the pitch clock shaves off that much time. I haven't heard what the average game time was for the minor leagues this year. Didn't they all use the pitch clock this past season?

 

[Stokes1931]

Today was the final game of the AFL for the Giants' related Scottsdale Scorpions. The playoffs begin tomorrow. All the teams were pretty even, except for Surprise (19-11). Scottsdale (13-16-1), Peoria (14-14-2), Mesa (13-15-2), Glendale (15-13-2), and Salt River (12-18)

1) Luis Matos was a disappointment .241/.289/.373. After driving in 10 runs in his first four games, he wound up the 30 game schedule with only 13 RBI's. He was very good in the field, but looked both lost and anxious at the plate. He has very little plate discipline.

2) Logan Wyatt was a plate discipline machine, .306/.500/.373. In 16 games he had 17 walks and only 7 K's. For a guy who is 6' 4", he has absolutely no power at all, hitting only two doubles. During the week I was there, he got on base 10 straight times over four games.

3) Andy Thomas hit .182/.372/.212 in 12 games. He was decent defensively. But like Wyatt, had good plate discipline and no power, hitting only one double in 12 games.

4) Adrian Sugastey made the most of his limited appearances, playing in only seven games. He hit .391/.440/.435. Only one double, two walks, and only one K in 23 at bats. Played decently behind the plate.

5) Will Bednar appeared in only two games, and went 3.1 innings with a 16.20 ERA.

6) Hunter Dula appeared in 9 games, threw 9.1 innings, 6 walks, 10 K's, and had an ERA of 4.82

7) Spencer Bivens appeared in 7 games, threw 10 innings, 5 walks, 11 K's, and had an ERA of 0.87. He threw hard and looked pretty comfortable on the mount.

8) Tyler Myrick appeared in 9 games, threw 11 innings, 3 walks, 9 K's, and had an ERA of 0.82. He was 3-3 in save opportunities, and was the Giants best pitcher in the AFL.

9) Carson Whisenhunt was a late addition (replacing Bednar) and only appeared in 2 games, 3.2 innings, 2 walks, 7 K's with an ERA of 4.91

I went to one game that had 15 walks (either the pitchers were wild or the strike zone was the size of a postage stamp). The score, if I recall, was something like 14-8 and the game was 3.09.

The game the next day had no walks, was a 2-0 score, and lasted less than two hours.

If you can get away for a few days, I highly recommend the AFL. Good baseball. Inexpensive. Not crowded. And AZ is lovely in Oct-Nov.