MLB in October: More Than Just the Postseason

I get it, the Major League Baseball playoffs are a big deal. This is what every player dreams of, fighting for the chance to win a World Series. However, there are many more teams whose seasons have concluded and are now focusing on 2025. For those fans who love baseball but just can’t bear to watch the postseason without their favorite team, there is still competitive baseball being played. In fact, even the teams still left in the playoffs have a vested interest in this “other” baseball currently in action.

The Arizona Fall League was formed in 1992 with the purpose of giving all Major League organizations a chance to take a longer look at a certain group of prospects. The AFL consists of six teams, with MLB clubs sending seven (or more) prospects each to form the league. Play for 2024 began on October 7th and will wrap up the season with a championship game on November 16th. It also features a Home Run Derby on November 8th and an All Star Game on November 9th. The list of players to play in the AFL reads like a laundry list of All-Stars and even some Hall of Famers like Derek Jeter. Prominent current players from our respective teams that have participated include Aaron Judge, Austin Wells, Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, Bryson Stott and Alec Bohm.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the players from each of our teams who are getting extended paying time in Arizona. Team names of the respective AFL squads are in parenthesis.

New York Yankees (Salt River Rafters): Harrison Cohen (RHP), Jackson Fristoe (LHP), Ryan Harvey (RHP), Carlos Lagrange (RHP), Luis Pacheco (RHP), Rafael Flores (C), Caleb Durbin (SS), and Garrett Martin (RF)

Cohen was 5-0 with a 1.35 ERA at three Minor League levels, finishing up by dominating at High Class A Hudson Valley. Fristoe started 12 games at Hudson Valley, pitching to a 3/79 ERA and holding opponents to a .201 batting average. Harvey signed as an undrafted free agent and started 12 games for Class A Tampa. Lagrange is 21 and is 6-7, pitching nine games total at Rookie ball and Tampa. Pacheco pitched at three different levels in 2024, finishing at Double A Somerset. Flores is only 17 and stole 19 bases 49 Rookie ball games. Durbin spent much of the year at Triple A Scranton-Wilkes Barre, posting a .394 on base percentage. Martin slugged 12 home runs at Hudson Valley.

New York Mets (Scottsdale Scorpions) : Noah Hall (RHP), Jonathan Pintaro (RHP), Jawilme Ramirez (RHP), Dylan Ross (RHP), Jett Williams (SS), and Drew Gilbert (CF)

Hall started the season with High Class A Brooklyn but was injured early and did not pitch after April 26. Pintaro, who finished with a 2.68 ERA, worked his way up the ladder in 2024, landing at Triple A Syracuse for his final start of the year. Ramirez also ended up in Syracuse at season’s end, recording a 3.58 ERA. Ross had his season wrecked by injury, pitching in only one game. Williams, the Mets’ #1 pick in 2022, hit .364 in 22 at-bats at Syracuse. Gilbert, the #2 organizational prospect, hit .205 at Syracuse.

PS-Jeff McNeil is also on the AFL roster, presumably to get at bats in anticipation of being added to the NLCS roster.

Philadelphia Phillies (Glendale Desert Dogs): Tristan Garnett (LHP), Griff McGarry (LHP), Christian McGowan (RHP), Wesley Moore (LHP), Andrew Painter (RHP), Wen-Hui Pan (RHP), Jordan Dissin (C), Otto Kemp (3B), Bryan Rincon (SS), and Gabriel Rincones, Jr. (OF)

The 6-6 Garnett climbed the ladder, ending at Triple A Lehigh Valley, and struck out 56 batters in 41 innings. McGary recorded 40 strikeouts in 30 2/3 innings at Lehigh Valley. McGowan was injured off and on, pitching in 11 games at Double A Reading. In two Minor League seasons, Moore has posted a 2.33 ERA in 70 games. Painter, the Phillies’ #1 prospect missed all of 2023 and 2024 with Tommy John surgery. Pan registered a 1.29 ERA in 14 games at High Class A Jersey Shore. Dissin registered .354 OBP between Single A and Double A. Kemp played at four different levels in 2024, with 16 home runs and a .392 OBP. Rincon struggled in 2024, spending ten weeks on the injured list. Rincones, Jr has 26 home runs in 188 Minor League games.

I will be periodically checking in on these players until the AFL seasons ends.