Feature Photo of Kevin Alcantara by Rich Biesterfeld
This weekend wrapped up the 4th week of the Arizona Fall League. The AFL is comprised of 6 teams (Mesa, Scottsdale, Salt River, Glendale, Peoria and Surprise) representing all 30 franchises of the major leagues. Each AFL team has 1-2 anchor franchises who are consistently aligned to that club. This is based on the spring training home facility, so the Cubs are always part of the Mesa Solar Sox, the White Sox and Dodgers personnel are on the Glendale Desert Dogs, etc. The AFL is a great opportunity to see prospects from all of the teams, especially teams that train in Florida who normally aren’t playing in AZ during Spring Training or the Arizona Complex League.
Thoughts and Observations from the AFL:
- Kevin Alcantara got off to a bit of a slow start, but he has been making adjustments and more hits have begun to fall. He currently has 4 home runs and 16 RBI’s, as well as several epic bat flips! Kevin is someone you definitely want to pay attention to when he comes to the plate. I’ve watched Kevin play since he joined the Cubs organization in July 2021 in the Anthony Rizzo trade. At that time, he spoke very little English, so it’s been fun watching him in the AFL and seeing him singing (sometimes quite loudly) the National Anthem and conducting interviews in English. Cubs Coach Dan Puente has been there to translate questions to Spanish and to provide support if it were needed, but you can see he’s put in work off the field to become more bi-lingual.
- James Triantos is off to a great start batting .433 with 3 doubles, 5 triples and 3 home runs. He also has 10 walks versus 11 strikeouts and 7 stolen bases. James has primarily played defensively at second and third base, but has also logged some time in center and left field and even played 4 innings back at shortstop, his listed position when he was drafted. It appears James’ performance has been opening eyes of national media and his name has been mentioned in early conversations as a candidate for AFL MVP.
- Carter Trice was a 12th round draft pick out of North Carolina State in 2023, but also played at Old Dominion where the Cubs have had a long term connection. In college, he played multiple positions in the infield but soon after he was drafted, the Cubs had him begin the catcher conversion program. Carter was a late addition to the AFL roster as part of the ‘taxi squad’ which means he only plays 1-2 times per week. So far, he has only seen game action as a DH, but has been catching a lot of bullpens. Interesting fact that I learned – Carter and James Triantos faced off against one another while playing Little League.
- Christian Franklin replaced Alexander Canario on the Mesa team and appeared in 6 games collecting a pair of doubles with an OPS of .733. Christian wrapped up his season after the first 2 weeks of the AFL but no explanation was given for his departure.
- Nick Hull had some early struggles but turned in a dominating start in his most recent outing going 4 innings and didn’t allow any runs. Adam Laskey has made 7 one inning appearances with a 1.29 ERA and recorded 11 strikeouts. Jose Romero has thrown 8.1 and only allowed 2 hits with a 1.08 ERA. He is still working on his control as he has given up 6 BB’s. Chris Kachmar has thrown 8 innings and averaged 1 K/per inning.
Cubs Adjacent Connections:
- The Spence Connections – Connor Pavolony (catcher in the Orioles system) who is on the Mesa Solar Sox and Cubs farmhand Liam Spence were roommates in college at Tennessee. Mitch Neunborn (pitcher in the Phillies system) who is on the Scottsdale Scorpions is originally from South Africa but played with Liam in Australia.
- Former Cubs farmhand Bijan Rademacher is a hitting coach for the Surprise Saguaros. Bijan is a coach in the Royals organization and was with AAA Omaha Storm Chasers in 2023.