Feature Photo of James Triantos by Rich Biesterfeld
The Surprise Saguaros defeated the Peoria Javelinas on Saturday November 11th to win the Arizona Fall League championship. The game marked the stateside completion of the 2023 schedule for professional minor league baseball. This means no game action for the next few months, but on a positive note, I usually begin to see players on the field in January working out to get a jump start to the new season so the off-season isn’t THAT long.
The Mesa Solar Sox ended the season with a record of 14-16 and in a tie for 4th place, but only the top 3 teams have a spot in the playoffs. The Solar Sox couldn’t overcome a 6 game losing streak during the second week of the short season but played very well as the league drew to a close.
Cubs in the AFL:
- James Triantos was recognized prior to the championship game as the AFL Offensive Player of the Year. His .417 average was second in the league, while leading the league in triples (5) and placing second in slugging (.679), OPS (1.144) hits (35) and total bases (57). On defense, James moved around the diamond playing second, third, center field, left field and even 4 innings at shortstop. At the plate and on the bases, he was aggressive in his approach. The AFL is always a heavily scouted league as each organization has the opportunity to see a lot of prospects at once. I’ve heard from multiple sources that there were quite a few scouts keeping a close eye on James and with the rumblings that the Cubs will be active in the trade market this off-season, we will have to wait and see if he is still in the organization by Opening Day 2024.
- Kevin Alcantara completed his AFL season with a .256 average, featuring 22 hits, including 7 doubles and 5 home runs. He was 3-4 in stolen bases but did strike out 30 times in 21 games. On defense, he played both right and center field. Overall, it was a good campaign for Kevin and he was selected to the Fall Stars game. I think it also showed more of the skills Kevin will need to work on when he most likely begins the season in AA. He had flashes where he was electric and demonstrated easy power, but pitch recognition and more consistency are also needed as he continues his journey towards the major leagues.
- Carter Trice was on the taxi squad for Mesa, so he was only eligible to play 1-2 games per week. He spent the majority of his time in the bullpen warming up pitchers during the game and catching pre-game bullpen sessions for pitchers who weren’t ‘live’ for the game that day. Since Carter only played in the Arizona Complex League after he was drafted in July, most of the pitchers he faced were more experienced and he had some struggles at the plate. But in his final game of the season, he had much better swings and took one deep for his first AFL home run. The dugout exploded and he did a little celebration dance in the dugout after circling the bases. He did point to the bullpen as he rounded second – his explanation was that he felt he had to do that since he spent most of the season there.
- Nick Hull worked as a starting pitcher during the AFL and threw 17.1 innings across 5 starts. He was able to eat a lot of innings for Mesa, even if the results were not as strong as he would have hoped for. Opponents hit .301 against him but he kept his team in most games in which he pitched. Nick had pitched in Low-A most of the year, so this was a pretty good jump in competition and I’m confident he will take lessons learned from this experience and build upon it in 2024.
- Adam Laskey flew under the radar but had a very strong AFL season. He pitched 9.0 innings over 9 games with a 1.00 ERA and 15 strikeouts. Batters hit .182 against him and his WHIP was 0.89. Adam’s season reminds me a lot of Bailey Horn in the 2022 AFL – and Bailey parlayed that success into pitching well at Tennessee and Iowa before being added to the 40 man roster this offseason. Hopefully Adam can follow a similar path!
- Jose Romero also had a successful season with a 1.68 ERA over 10.2 innings across 8 games. He held batters to a .091 average while pitching around 8 walks. Considering Jose pitched in Low-A in 2023, most of the competition was more experienced, so he did well in holding his own.
- Chris Kachmar appeared in 6 games throwing 10 innings and collecting 10 strikeouts. He held opponents to a .171 batting average while posting a 5.40 ERA for the season. Chris missed the majority of August while on the IL, so part of the reason for his assignment to the AFL was making up for missed time.
- Tyler Santana worked primarily as a starter in the AFL, but did make a few relief appearances. He compiled a 3-0 record with a 2.45 ERA while keeping batters to a .172 average. He pitched 18.1 innings across 6 games. While in the camera well by the opposing team’s dugout one night, I overheard a player asking a teammate what they saw in their first AB against Tyler. They stated that all of his pitches were good and he knows how to pitch.
Other AFL Items:
- It was great to get to see former Cub DJ Herz in action during the AFL this fall. (DJ was traded to the Washington Nationals on 7/31 in the Jeimer Candelario trade.) DJ pitched well for the Scottsdale Scorpions and was selected to the Fall Stars Game where he was reunited with his former teammates James Triantos and Kevin Alcantara.
- During unofficial games, such as on the back fields during ST or Extended Spring Training games, the rules are more lax because the focus is on development and not on results. If a pitcher is struggling or reaching their max pitch count in an inning, you often hear ‘roll it’ yelled by the manager which means they just end the inning. During a game in Scottsdale, Tyler Santana was on the mound and he was throwing really well and hadn’t given up a hit through 3.1 innings. Shortly after he gave up his first hit, someone in the crowd yelled ‘roll it’. The players in the dugout heard it and were noticeably laughing and the game went on. The rest of the story is that I learned after the game that the person who said it was from the Cubs organization and they didn’t intend to say it loud enough or for most of the stadium audience to hear.