Category: AFL

AFL Opening Day: Mesa Solar Sox at Glendale Desert Dogs 10/13/15

The 2015 Arizona Fall League is officially underway and in addition to the articles I will be writing for mlb.com and mlbpipeline.com, I’m going to be adding some additional tidbits to the blog. These will be trends/players/plays that stood out, but that didn’t make it into any articles for one reason or another. This will also be a spot where I answer questions sent to me that I don’t get to on Twitter.

Notable Performances:

– Chad Pinder, Athletics No. 7 prospect, hit a pair of homers and finished 3-for-5 with four RBIs. Oakland’s organizational hitting prospect of the year and the Texas League Player of the year hit 15 homers this season and neither of his homers were cheapies. Wednesday was a strong start to the Arizona Fall League for Pinder as he hit the ball hard all afternoon.

– Dodgers No. 24 prospect Kyle Farmer didn’t show a lot of power during the year, so it was a bit surprising to see him pop one over the 380’ sign in left-center. Farmer also had a walk-off single. You can read more about him here.

Best Play:

– Renato Nunez, the sixth ranked prospect in the A’s organization, is still developing as a defender, but showed some flash in the second inning. Nunez, playing third, dove to his left and made a great stop on a hard-hit ground ball, but then rushed and made an errant throw across the diamond.

Nunez redeemed himself a bit in the fifth as he had to back up to field a big hop behind the bag and made the long throw with ease.

Worth Mentioning:

– Phillies 16th ranked prospect Andrew Knapp was named Philadelphia’s organizational hitting prospect of the year and showed why with a booming double off the left-center field wall.

– Brian Holmes, selected in the 13th round of the 2012 Draft by the Astros, isn’t on the club’s top-prospect list, but flashed some potential in his two innings of work. The left-hander struck out 115 batters in 101.1 innings this year so he has strikeout stuff, but struggled a bit with command in his two scoreless innings Tuesday.

– Phillies top prospect J.P. Crawford went 1-for-4 and wasn’t all that impressive at the plate, but made a few athletics plays defensively. Pretty easy to see what all the hype is about.

– Corey Black, the No. 18 prospect in the Cubs organization had 101 strikeouts in 86 innings of AA this season so it’s obvious he has the stuff necessary to put hitters away. Black threw one inning Wednesday and struck out a pair.

It’s never as far as it seems

I realize now you’re never as far from the Major Leagues as you may think.

Attend an Arizona Fall League game and other than the fact that the games are held in the Spring Training homes of the Major League clubs, they don’t feel like Major League games.

There’s hardly anyone in the stands, the games can end in a tie after 10 innings and the vast, vast majority of the players are anonymous to the casual fan.

However, the 2014 Arizona Fall League offered me the opportunity to watch Addison Russell, who made his Major League debut on April 21, as well as Byron Buxton and Francisco Lindor, both of which are expected to debut today.

Russell, Lindor and Buxton were all regarded as top prospects within their organizations so looking back on it, it’s not necessarily a major surprise that they have all been called up this season.

After watching the work that the trio – along with many others — put in work under the Arizona sun, it is nice to see them rewarded, accomplishing their goals and showcasing their talents on the big stage.

The AFL may be different from the MLB, but the first half of the 2015 season has shown us that those players playing in the half full stadiums, are just one phone call away from the show.

Pitch clocks? So far…..I’m a fan

Maybe I’m in the minority, maybe I don’t have enough respect or appreciation for “the way baseball has always been played,” but so far I’m a fan of the new Pace of Play Initiatives.

For those unaware, Major League Baseball’s Pace of Game Committee is testing several time-saving measures in the Arizona Fall League this season.

Most notably, is the 20-second pitch clock and the two minute and five second clock between innings.

Three games have been played with the pitch clock in effect and the average time of those games has been two hours and 38 minutes. In fact, that time is even a bit high since one of the three games went 11 innings.

Now, the system is not perfect, the Fall League is not directly comparable to a Major League game and tweaks need to be made, but there is certainly potential and I’m a fan.

Through three games there have only been three pitch clock violations which shows me the players are capable of speeding up the game when prompted.

There have also been multiple occasions when a batter has stood in the box with 40 seconds left on the “innings-break clock” another sign that players can move faster.

I’ve also talked to multiple position players about the pitch-clocks and while they admit it is a bit strange to get used to, they also have said that they like it and can feel the game moving faster.

However, there are also some changes that may need to be made. There are some times where the pitcher, especially if he shakes off a sign or doesn’t get a sign from the catcher right away, looks rushed.

There will also be some changes in the running game as the pitcher can basically no longer simply step off the rubber. Within the allotted 20 seconds the pitcher either has to throw to the plate or throw over to the base. He can’t just step off and look at the runner – unless he hops back on the rubber real quick and throws a pitch.

I expect tweaks perhaps toward the end of the Fall League or maybe in next year’s AFL, but I would not be surprised to see pitch clocks in the MLB in the future.

And assuming they resemble what they’ve looked like thus far in the AFL, I’ll be a fan.

*The Fall League has 14 more pitch clock games scheduled so if things change or if there are any unusual occurrences as a result of the pitch-clock I will certainly write another post and let you all know.

MLB Looking To Speed Up The Game In AFL

Pace of game has been a major topic across baseball for quite some time, but throughout the 2014 season, the issue really seemed to gain some steam.

Baseball is certainly aware that games are getting longer and to combat that a Pace of Game Committee was officially announced on September 22nd.

Baseball games – especially when watching on television – sometimes can drag on, but if someone doesn’t like a three hour and 15 minute game for it’s length, I’m not sure how appealing a two hour and fifty minute game will be. Unless baseball find a way to drastically reduce the time of game, it just seems like one of those things where you either like it or you don’t.

Nevertheless, it’s hard to fault baseball for trying.

In the upcoming Arizona Fall League several new pace of game initiatives will be game tested in an effort to speed up the game and potentially make changes to the Major Leagues in the future.

“The Pace of Game Committee is eager to test various ideas – ranging from the incremental to the dramatic – in order to learn more, and we are fortunate to have a setting in which we can do exactly that,” Commissioner Bud Selig said in a press release. “We will work with the appropriate parties – including players, umpires, our partners, our fans and many other contributors to our game – to form effective pace of game recommendations that will fit the Major League level.”

So what are these new initiatives and what can fans expect to see in the Arizona Fall League?

  • Batter’s Box Rule: With the exception of foul balls, wild pitches or a time out the batter must keep at least one foot in the batter’s box throughout his at-bat.
  • No-Pitch Intentional Walks: If the manager wants to walk a player, he simply signals to the umpire and the batter is awarded first base. Personally, I love this rule and think it should have been in effect sooner. It won’t save a ton of time (how many intentional walks in an average game? 1?) but it does help.
  • 2:05 Inning Break Clock: The break between innings will be just over two minutes. If the batter takes too long the umpire can call a strike, if the pitcher takes too long the umpire can call a ball.
  • 2:30 Pitching Change Break: Teams get two and a half minutes to make a pitching change. If the first pitch isn’t thrown within 2:30, the umpire will call a ball.
  • Three “Time Outs”: Each team is only allowed three in-game conferences. Pitching change and injury-related items do not count toward this total. Where this rule will really come into effect is pitching coach visits to the mound and a third base coach talking to the batter. With just three of those allowed per game, it looks like there will be a new type of strategy that managers will have to consider.
  • The 20-Second Rule: This is seemingly the most drastic change that fans will observe in the Arizona Fall League.
    • Directly from MLB’s press release: “In the In the AFL games at Salt River, a clock will be displayed in both dugouts, behind home plate, and in the outfield. The clock will be operated by an independent operator, who is not a member of the umpire crew. A pitcher shall be allowed 20 seconds to throw each pitch. The batter must be in the box prepared for the pitch during the entire 20-second period. If the batter steps out of the box during the 20-second period, the pitcher may deliver the pitch and the umpire may call a strike, unless the batter was first granted time by the umpire.”
    • The 20-second clock will start when the pitcher is in possession of the ball and will stop when the pitcher begins his motion – not when he releases the ball.

Needless to say, not all of these rules will be flawlessly implemented into the Fall League. There will certainly be bumps in the road as everyone gets used to the changes and adjusts aspects of their routines, but it will still be fun to see the impact these changes have on the game.