The Arizona Fall League opens Saturday with Glendale hosting Salt River at 12:30 p.m. local time, 3:30 p.m. ET, and the usual prospect spotlight will be waiting in the desert. Sebastian Walcott, Aidan Miller and Angeibel Gomez may bring the Top 100 buzz, but every organization also arrives with a player outside its own Top 30 list and a chance to force a new conversation before the calendar turns.
This is the league’s useful little corner: pitchers coming back from surgery, hitters searching for a cleaner swing decision, former independent-ball lifers, draft picks getting their first real look, and players who have enough of one tool to make a scout put down the coffee. All 30 clubs will be watching closely.
American League names worth following
Toronto catcher Aaron Parker already showed the power, belting 19 homers in 87 Double-A New Hampshire games after being selected in the sixth round in 2024. That total tied him for third among Double-A catchers, though his strikeout rate climbed from 19.6 percent at High-A in 2025 to 32.3 percent this season. Parker also made three late appearances in left field, a small but notable effort to broaden his defensive menu.
Baltimore right-hander Patrick Reilly brings a live arm back to the mound after Tommy John surgery limited him in 2025. Acquired from Pittsburgh for Billy Cook at the 2024 Trade Deadline, Reilly once ranked as high as No. 10 in the Orioles’ system. He returned for 53 innings in 2026, striking out 11.9 hitters per nine with a fastball that can reach 97 mph, plus a slider and cutter. The issue has long been strike throwing; if he finds enough of the plate, he can be difficult company in the Fall League.
Tampa Bay lefty Yereny Teus is listed at 5-foot-10 but had a towering season in relief at Single-A Charleston: a 2.00 ERA, a .122 opponents’ average and 80 strikeouts over 54 innings. His 38.1 percent strikeout rate ranked 15th among 1,382 Minor Leaguers who logged at least 50 innings. Teus works at 90-93 mph, but the changeup at 82-85 mph and his low-80s breaking ball each generated whiff rates of at least 60 percent. Arizona will offer a higher-grade test than the one he handled in Class A.
Boston infielder Antonio Anderson finally turned a corner at High-A Greenville, hitting .273/.373/.453 with nine home runs and a 113 wRC+ in 85 games. The 2023 third-rounder signed for $1.5 million rather than attend Georgia Tech and had spent his professional time in the lower levels. His contact rate rose from 65.6 percent in 2025 to 71.5 percent this year, an encouraging development for a switch-hitter who did more damage batting right-handed.
The Yankees’ Antonio Gomez is a pitcher now, which makes sense once one remembers the strength of his throwing arm as a catcher. Gomez appeared on New York’s preseason prospect list as a backstop as recently as 2022, but never advanced beyond Double-A at that position. In only 10 Single-A appearances on the mound, he flashed a four-seam fastball that reached 100.7 mph on Aug. 8 and paired it with a short slider in the upper 80s.
Cleveland’s Aidan Major has already had an eventful return from Tommy John rehabilitation. The 2024 fifth-round pick missed all of 2025, then was struck in the head by a comebacker on May 26 while with Single-A Hill City. He returned two months later, made three more starts there and moved on to High-A Lake County. Across 63 1/3 innings, Major posted a 4.55 ERA with 57 strikeouts. His fastball sits 91-93 mph, with a slider, changeup and curveball supplying the rest of the mix.
Kansas City shortstop Austin Charles, a 6-foot-5 former 20th-rounder who signed for $429,500 in 2022, played only 45 games at High-A Quad Cities because of a core injury that shelved him for three months. He still produced a .285/.353/.491 line, seven homers, 10 steals and a 115 wRC+. His 75.3 percent contact rate was his best yet, important progress for an infielder whose power ceiling remains attractive.
Detroit right-hander Maddox Long has worn a lot of uniforms this year. He began with the Frontier League’s Washington Wild Things, signed with the Tigers in June and worked across the Florida Complex League, Single-A Lakeland and High-A West Michigan. The 25-year-old posted a 3.74 ERA, a 1.16 WHIP and 44 strikeouts in 33 2/3 innings before joining Scottsdale, his fifth stop of 2026. His primary weapon is an 82-85 mph, high-spin slider that drew a 40 percent whiff rate in full-season ball, backed by two low-90s fastballs, a cutter and changeup.
Minnesota outfielder Jacob McCombs is a left-handed hitter with a contact-oriented approach, some developing pop and the ability to cover all three outfield positions. The Twins drafted the UC-Irvine product in the seventh round in 2025. His first full professional campaign included just 67 games at High-A Cedar Rapids, so the extra at-bats will matter as much as any stat line.
Chicago White Sox righty Garrett Wright climbed from Single-A through Double-A this season after totaling only 16 2/3 innings during his first two professional years. The 2023 20th-round TCU product finished with a 4.20 ERA, a .181 average against and 77 strikeouts in 55 2/3 innings. Working from an over-the-top slot, Wright sits at 95-98 mph and gets plenty of empty swings with an 87-90 mph slider. This is also a key 40-man roster decision year for him.
Angels righty Peyton Olejnik will be hard to miss at 6-foot-11. The Mesa pitcher threw 106 2/3 innings at High-A Tri-City, recording a 4.47 ERA and 9.4 strikeouts per nine, but his 8.3 walks per nine left too many innings unsettled. He does not rely on overwhelming velocity, so better in-zone command is central to his next step.
Houston’s Juan Bello has not thrown competitively since July 2025, when an elbow injury led to Tommy John surgery. The Astros acquired the 22-year-old from the Cubs in January 2025 in the Ryan Pressly trade after Chicago had originally signed him for $10,000 in 2022. Bello owns a four-pitch repertoire, led by a curveball with real swing-and-miss potential. The immediate assignment is clearing the rust and building toward a possible Double-A move in 2027.
Athletics reliever Jay Dill moved from Single-A Stockton to Double-A Midland in his first full campaign, after signing for $100,000 as an 18th-round selection out of Troy in 2025. The former college closer struck out 10.7 per nine innings and ran a 30 percent overall whiff rate. His 5.6 walks per nine will determine whether the powerful arsenal becomes a workable big league bullpen profile.
Seattle right-hander Ty Cummings has been traded twice and is now back where he began. Drafted in the seventh round in 2023 after relieving at Campbell University, Cummings was developed as a starter by the Mariners, sent to Tampa Bay as the player to be named later in the Randy Arozarena deal, reached Triple-A in 2025, and returned to Seattle in April. Back in relief at Double-A Arkansas, he posted a 6.04 ERA but regularly worked around 95 mph and showed an intriguing east-west shape to his game.
Texas righty Jesus Gamez is one of the desert’s purest volatility plays. At High-A Hub City, he struck out 69 in 43 1/3 innings but also issued 47 walks. Gamez can reach the upper 90s with the fastball, while both his slider and splitter produced whiff rates above 67 percent. The ingredients for trouble are plain to see; the missing element is enough control or chase to let them matter consistently.
Atlanta’s Tyler LaPorte arrives as the oldest Fall Leaguer at 29, following a long road from college infielder to affiliated bullpen arm. He first pitched in the Draft League as a 24-year-old in 2021, then spent four years in the Atlantic and Frontier Leagues before the Braves signed him before the 2025 season. LaPorte worked at Double-A in 2026 and delivered a 1.84 ERA, 13.4 strikeouts per nine and 10 saves. His fastball can reach 97 mph, and his 84-85 mph slider produced a 47 percent miss rate.
National League sleepers bring power, recovery stories and fresh starts
Miami infielder Carter Johnson received $2.8 million as an over-slot second-round signing in 2024, $1.2 million above the value assigned to his selection. His .536 OPS in his first full season was a rough introduction, but improved pitch selection and added strength helped him reach High-A in 2026. Johnson will continue to work across the infield while trying to attack more favorable pitches in better counts.
Mets right-hander Peyton Prescott was a fifth-round gamble on power stuff after tearing the UCL in his right elbow while pitching at Florida State in 2025. He had touched 100 mph before surgery, and his first organizational appearance came this year in one inning for Single-A St. Lucie. In an 18-pitch outing, Prescott operated from 94.5 to 96.5 mph with his four-seamer and mixed cutters, sliders, changeups and curveballs. His slider and changeup both missed bats as an amateur, but innings and durability are the priority now.
Washington’s Jorgelys Mota has already shown what his athletic ceiling can look like. During Grapefruit League play last spring, he recorded the highest exit velocity by a Nationals player at 115.0 mph and the club’s longest home run at 434 feet. He has speed to match that power, but hit-tool concerns remain after he appeared in only 23 High-A Wilmington games and made contact on just 57.1 percent of his swings. Salt River will also give him more work in center field, where his athleticism may play best.
Philadelphia catcher-first baseman Kehden Hettiger hit .191/.317/.348 in 61 games at Double-A Reading and owns a .676 career OPS, so the surface line does not sell the story. Still, the 22-year-old left-handed hitter has raw power, rarely chases pitches beyond the zone and does useful damage when he pulls the ball in the air. His need to reduce misses on strikes is obvious, but his defensive marks behind the plate are strong.
Milwaukee’s Matt Wood may have been overshadowed on a loaded Double-A Biloxi club, yet his 95-game season included a .398 on-base percentage, 18 home runs and a 52-strikeout, 71-walk ledger. The left-handed hitter made more productive contact in the air without giving away his disciplined approach. He went unprotected in the previous Rule 5 Draft, and a good Scottsdale run could improve his 40-man roster case.
St. Louis catcher-first baseman Sammy Hernandez emerged once Rainiel Rodriguez moved from High-A Peoria to Double-A Springfield. Hernandez, a 5-foot-9 right-handed hitter, finished with a .279/.411/.529 line, 11 homers, 21 steals and a 140 wRC+ in 65 Midwest League contests. Only Rodriguez, at 150, and Miguel Hernández, at 146, ranked ahead of him within the organization. A pronounced pull hitter, Hernandez eased off some of his former aggression and nearly doubled his previous high of six home runs.
Cubs outfielder Kade Snell took the long route to this point. He began at Auburn as a left-handed pitcher, redshirted in 2021 because of injuries, then became the national junior college player of the year as a two-way performer at Wallace-Dothan in 2023. After another transfer to Alabama and a final season focused entirely on the outfield, Chicago selected him in the fifth round in 2025 as a cost-saving senior sign. A broken wrist limited him to 81 games at High-A South Bend, but Snell offers barrel control, sound swing choices, understated power, speed and the ability to play every outfield spot, though left field may fit best.
Pittsburgh righty Zander Mueth remains a fascinating raw-arm project. The Pirates paid $1.8 million to sign the 6-foot-6 Illinois high schooler in the second round of the 2023 Draft, but he has not advanced beyond Single-A Bradenton. His fastball reached 99 mph this season, while his command has gone in the wrong direction: 9.2 walks per nine in the zone and 8.7 walks per nine outside it. Pittsburgh plans to use him from the bullpen in Arizona without giving him advance notice of his appearances, hoping the simpler routine allows him to stop overthinking and let the arm work.
Cincinnati reliever Victor Diaz signed as an undrafted free agent out of Seminole State Junior College in August 2024. After a quiet 2025, he found another gear in High-A Dayton’s bullpen, posting a 3.33 ERA and 13.3 strikeouts per nine before earning a Double-A promotion. Diaz’s fastball can touch 99 mph and generated a 30 percent miss rate, though his 6.5 walks per nine remain a necessary repair job.
Arizona left-hander Joe Ariola led all 2,402 Minor Leaguers with at least 30 innings in strikeout rate this season, fanning 45.7 percent of the hitters he faced. The 2025 seventh-round pick from Wake Forest worked 34 2/3 innings across four levels, from the Arizona Complex League through Double-A, and recorded a 1.56 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in 21 appearances. Ariola uses a high-release 93-96 mph fastball and a 79-81 mph curveball that gets elite swing-and-miss results, with a slider and changeup available when needed.
Dodgers right-hander Sam Horn will make his professional debut after a college career largely interrupted by injury. He threw only 15 innings over two seasons at Missouri, missed 2024 after Tommy John surgery and also saw his quarterback career derailed, including a broken tibia suffered on his lone play under center for the Tigers. Los Angeles nevertheless signed him for nearly $500,000 as a 17th-round pick in 2025. His first appearance will bring an immediate look at a fastball that reached 98 mph in 2025 and an 82-86 mph sweeper.
San Francisco infielder Dalton Wentz is one of two 2026 draftees in the league. At Wake Forest, he hit 18 home runs and produced an OPS above 1.000 last spring before the Giants signed him for nearly $585,000 in the 16th round. Wentz played 13 games at High-A Eugene and brings a power-over-contact profile, particularly against fastballs. His next work is dialing down the aggression against softer pitches while handling both second and third base.
San Diego utilityman Justin DeCriscio gave the Padres 121 games, 13 homers, 22 steals and a .270/.358/.425 slash line in his first full season after being chosen in the 10th round in 2025. The former NC State senior signed for $15,000 and showed dependable contact skills at Single-A, High-A and Double-A. Though he was used mainly at shortstop, he played five positions and is building the sort of bat-first versatility that can create a useful bench role.
Colorado catcher-first baseman Jack O’Dowd finally found an affiliated opportunity with the organization once run by his father, former Rockies general manager and longtime MLB Network analyst Dan O’Dowd. After hitting above .300 in the Draft League in 2024 and spending a year in the independent Pioneer League, O’Dowd signed with Colorado in January. He began at Single-A, moved to High-A after 22 games and reached Double-A just 34 games later. Though production cooled at Hartford, he ended the year at .307/.383/.564 with 23 homers and 91 RBIs.
The headliners will draw the first crowd, as they always do. But the Fall League has room for Parker’s power, Reilly’s return, Ariola’s strikeouts, LaPorte’s long climb, Horn’s first professional inning and every other player arriving with a loose thread in his game. In Arizona, a few good weeks can turn that thread into a handle.
