The Arizona Fall League (AFL) experience is unique. You get to see advanced prospects teamed up from MLB minor league affiliates from five different MLB teams of eight players each that each team will send. All of that adds up to a total of 40 players per AFL team. They utilize six of the Arizona stadiums from the Cactus League Spring Training sites in Scottsdale, Surprise, Glendale, Salt River, Peoria and Mesa.
There are 15 MLB teams that call the Cactus League their home during Spring Training. There are 10 teams that share their complexes, and five have stadium complexes to themselves making it 10 stadiums altogether. Only six are chosen as Arizona Fall League stadiums. What is different from Grapefruit League stadiums in Florida is that those venues are spread out over hundreds of miles while Cactus League stadiums are in all in close proximity near Phoenix.
Here are the stadiums that host the AFL teams:
- Camelback Ranch: Glendale (home of the Glendale Desert Dogs) Spring Training home of the Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers
- Peoria Sports Complex: Peoria (home of the Peoria Javelinas) Spring Training home of the San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners
- Salt River Fields at Talking Stick: Scottsdale (home of the Salt River Rafters) Spring Training home of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies
- Scottsdale Stadium: Scottsdale (home of the Scottsdale Scorpions) Spring Training home of the San Francisco Giants
- Sloan Park: Mesa (home of the Mesa Solar Sox) Spring Training home of the Chicago Cubs
- Surprise Stadium: Surprise (home of the Surprise Saguaros) Spring Training home of the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers
My personal favorite in the AFL is Salt River Fields. That complex inspired the site design for Cacti Park of the Palm Beaches used by the Washington Nationals and the Houston Astros.
While Phoenix is considered a desert city, it got a lot of rain last week which cancelled games. They played doubleheaders at each stadium yesterday in the AFL. It was also the first game for Wilson Ramos as part of his one-week training in the MLB coaches program. That made it for a good time to head to Arizona and see the players. The doubleheader also allowed me to see a marathon of baseball in two 7-inning games. Ethan Petry played both ends of the doubleheader and Seaver King and Sam Petersen played in the nightcap only. The temps were 90 degrees with no humidity. But that kept the fans away. The scouts were there in the dozens.
These games feel like one of those closed stadium types of games in a showcase game of young hopefuls. I say that because the energy level is over the top. Players want to impress and they shout out to their teammates that they got the ball as well as you clearly hear the dugout chatter and the banter that goes on. Clearly, the guys have their own code-speak between themselves.
In the first game of the doubleheader, King was the batboy, and he sprinted to do his job. Also of note, starting pitchers who aren’t scheduled to pitch that day are allowed to stay away from the ballpark if they don’t have a side-session to throw. Remember, some starting pitchers might pitch in relief. On this day, LHP Jake Bennett wasn’t there. We did get to see LHP reliever, Jared Simpson, pitch two impressive scoreless innings.
Due to the 14-innings of combined baseball, we got to see a lot of Petry. The man is built like an NFL tight end where you might think he could catch some TD passes. While he might not be dating Taylor Swift like Travis Kelce, you could see athleticism that Petry has for a big man, similar to Kelce who also played baseball throughout his youth in Ohio. Petry made a diving catch Web Gem, stole a base, beat out a groundball that was ruled an error, and took multiple walks, and wore a hit-by-pitch. Oh, and he hit a bases loaded single to get his team on the board in the afternoon game — and had a 2 RBI single in the nightcap to get comfortably over the Mendoza mark.
In today’s game against the Surprise Saguaros, Petry got the day-off, and both King and Peterson were in the game.
The Nats’ player rankings per MLB Pipeline on the Top-30 prospects are:
№7 Seaver King
№8 Ethan Petry
№11 Jake Bennett
№15 Sean Paul Liñan
№25 Sam Petersen
Maybe the coolest thing we saw (besides talking extensively with Wilson Ramos) was that the stadiums utilize the full complement of ball/strike challenges as well as check swing technology. I was not quick on the video. But it was incredible to watch it in-person as one of the players had a called strike on a check-swing and challenged and won.
Look closely and you can see the challenge on the scoreboard:
We noticed close bonds being formed between players as you can imagine. As discussed a few times on TalkNats, the №2 prospect in all of baseball, Kevin McGonigle, from the Tigers system gave King some sage advice on how to approach his at-bats. King said, “I was trying to figure out the swing and everything else, but at the end of the day, like Kevin McGonigle told me: ‘It’s never the swing. It’s always pitches and timing and all those things.’ So he kind of simplified it for me — and you know, it worked.”
For those who want a unique experience that gives you something off the beaten path, the AFL might be your answer. And if you’re a golfer and/or someone who loves spas, there are some of the finest venues in the world for you in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area. Plus, this time of year, you can catch an Arizona Cardinals home game and even the Phoenix Suns. Time it right, and you might fill your bucket list.
