How are the young D-Backs doing in the AFL?

It seems like an eternity since the Arizona Diamondbacks took the field, but in fact, it’s been only 32 days since the D-Backs beat the Cubs 5-2 at Wrigley Field to put the wraps on a disappointing 70-win season.

But it’s not the offseason for everyone in the D-Backs’ organization.

Seven players are showing their stuff in the Arizona Fall League, currently happening at a Cactus League stadium near you. The contingent of Diamondbacks are all suiting up for the Scottsdale Scorpions, who are 7-12 and tied for 2nd in the AFL East (there’s only three teams in the division.

I found myself wondering how the young Diamondbacks are doing this fall, so I thought you might be too.

Brandon Allen, 1B - This is an important fall for Allen, who is being considered for the everyday first base job in 2010 with the big club. Let’s just say that things aren’t going so well for him. In 20 games, Allen is batting just .162 (12 for 74), with one home run and 10 runs driven in. He has also struck out 20 times, but has shown the ability to draw walks, as he has 19 thus far, which leads the Arizona Fall League. But the most startling statistic on Allen’s ledger this fall has been his inability to hit left handed pitching. Allen is 0 for 18 in that category.

Bryan Augenstein, SP - Augenstein, who made 7 appearances and 2 starts for the Diamondbacks in ‘09 has also struggled in the Arizona Fall League. Augenstein has made 4 starts for Scottsdale, and is 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA. Opposing hitters are batting a robust .349 against him, and he hasn’t worked longer than three innings in any one outing. Left handed hitters are especially enjoying at bats against Augenstein; they’re hitting .417 against him.

Pedro Ciriaco, 2B/SS - Ciriaco, who enjoyed a productive year at Double-A Mobile in the Southern League with a .296 average and 38 stolen bases, is also producing this fall. The right-handed hitter from the Dominican is hitting .304 in 46 at-bats, almost all against right-handed pitching. But unlike Allen, Ciriaco hasn’t drawn walks–he’s got only 1 to his credit, and his on-base percentage of .327 is nothing to write home about, especially for a player that’s hitting in the leadoff or number two slot, like Ciriaco has for the Scorpions.

Cole Gillespie, OF - Gillespie, who was acquired from Milwaukee in the trade that sent Felipe Lopez to the Brewers, has had a very nice AFL season to this point. His .348 batting average ranks in the top 15 in the league, and his on base percentage of .455 is 5th in the league. He has one home run to his credit, but has not shown a tendency to strike out, which is a good way to break into the big club’s lineup. Gillespie has just 2 punch outs in 46 at-bats this fall.

Tom Layne, RP - The 25-year old left hander has been good in relief for the Scorpions. In 7 appearances (all out of the bullpen), Layne has allowed 7 hits in 7.1 innings, struck out 8 and only walked 3. His ERA is a respectable 2.45, and opponents are hitting just .233 against him.

Scott Maine, RP - The left-hander from the University of Miami hasn’t seen much action in the Fall League, working just 1.2 innings in relief, but he’s given up 3 earned runs (for a 16.20 ERA) in that time. Maine hasn’t pitched since October 16th.

Cesar Valdez, RP - After compiling a 7-6 record in 18 starts at Triple-A Reno in ‘09, Valdez has been coming out of the bullpen for the Scorpions in the AFL. The right hander has made 6 appearances, allowing 12 hits and 10 earned runs (11.25 ERA) in 8 innings of work. He’s struck out 10 and walked 5, while opponents have batted .324 against him. He has been better in his last 2 outings, pitching 2 or more innings in each, and allowing just 1 earned run..

The Arizona Fall League runs through November 19th.

Arizona Fall League Announces 2009 Club/Staff Assignments, Divisional Alignments

Arizona Fall League executive director Steve Cobb announced club and field (managers, pitching coaches, hitting coaches, athletic trainers) assignments and divisional alignments for the 2009 season.

Regarded throughout professional baseball as the “finishing school” for Major League Baseball’s top prospects, the Arizona Fall League begins its 18th season on Tuesday, October 13. The six-team league, owned and operated by Major League Baseball, plays six days per week (Monday-Saturday) in five Cactus League stadiums (Mesa, Peoria, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Surprise) in the Phoenix metropolitan area.

This year’s league, which is returning to an East and West divisional format, concludes with a championship game on Saturday, November 21. Daily start times are 12:35 p.m. and 6:35 p.m.

The Phoenix Desert Dogs, playing in the East Division, seek their sixth consecutive Arizona Fall League title with players from the Baltimore Orioles, Oakland Athletics, Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, and Washington Nationals.

The Arizona Diamondbacks will provide players for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the East Division and play their games at Scottsdale Stadium. They join the Colorado Rockies, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants in providing prospects for the club. The Diamondbacks do not have a coaching representative but Nick Oldroyd will be one of two team trainers.

Diamondbacks and ASU Represented in Today’s Futures Game

The 11th Annual Futures Game will be played today at 11 a.m. local time in a U.S. vs. the World format. Two Arizona Diamondbacks pitchers and a former ASU Sun Devil are among the 50 players selected to participate in this showcase of the top minor league prospects. The game can be seen on ESPN2.

Jarrod Parker, who currently pitches for Double-A Mobile, will play for the U.S. team. Parker was selected ninth overall in the 2007 MLB Draft out of Norwell (Ind.) High School.

Last season, he spent the entire year at Class A South Bend, where he was 12-5 with a 3.44 ERA. He bgean this season with Class A Visalia and was dominant after posting a 0.95 ERA in four starts. He was promoted to Double-A Mobile where he is 4-4 with a 2.98 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 63 innings. Jarrod Parker video

Leyson Septimo will pitch for will pitch for the World team. The Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic native was an outfielder just two years ago but he had such as strong arm the Diamondbacks converted Septimo into a pitcher.

In his first season as a pitcher, Septimo was 0-2 with a 5.49 ERA for Visalia and struggled with his control after striking out 44 in 41 innings. He also walked 33.

This season he has shown signs of improvement although he has 21 walks in 33 1/3 innings and has held opponents to a .184 batting average. He is currently 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA and four saves.

Other Diamondbacks who participated in previous Futures Games include Justin Upton, Conor Jackson, Stephen Drew and Chris Young.

Former ASU slugger Brett Wallace will also play in the 2009 Future’s Game. Wallace, who was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2008 draft, will hit third and play third.

Wallace has rocketed through the Cardinals farm system, as less than a year after signing a professional contract, he’s already at Triple-A.

His first exposure to Triple-A has been a bit rocky, but it’s the first time he’s really had a hard time in pro ball. Wallace is batting .259 with a .311 on-base percentage and a .356 slugging percentage at Memphis after raking at every previous level. Wallace also played well last year in the Arizona Fall League.

His defense remains a question, as not everyone is convinced he’ll stick at third base. But Wallace is considered the best hitter in the St. Louis system.

Among the recent Futures Game participants are Alfonso Soriano (1999), Josh Hamilton (2000), Adam Dunn (2001), Jose Reyes (2002), Zack Greinke (2003), Prince Fielder (2004), Hanley Ramirez (2005), Ryan
Braun (2006) and Evan Longoria (2007).

Fox Sports Fantasy Magazine

Fox Sports, in cooperation with scout.com has released their 2009 fantasy baseball league guide. As proud contributors to the magazine we highly recommend picking up a copy for an in-depth analysis of all of the major league teams. Look for our photos from the 2008 Arizona Fall League which can be found in the prospects section of the publication. The guide has a wonderful section on the top prospects, which we are excited to be a part of.

The magazine can be found in select outlets and is available at your local Barnes and Noble. Thank you everyone for your continued support and we are proud to continue to bring you an inside look at all things MLB has to offer in our wonderful state.

AZ: A Sports Fan’s Heaven

Aside from the picturesque sunsets, the great weather, and the attractive women, is there any reason you’d NOT want to live in Phoenix? How about if you’re a sports fan? I just wanted to take an opportunity to fully appreciate how great it is to live in the Phoenix area.

No matter what sport you’re into here, you can play it here virtually all year long. You can go hiking in our mountains, you can go snowboarding or skiing (if you’re into that sort of thing) up North, or down just outside of Tucson at Mt. Lemmon.  And if you’re a fan of the more traditional sports - golf, tennis, baseball, etc. you’re definately in the right place.

Now, if playing isn’t your thing - and you prefer to watch the pros play - well, there’s no better place to be.

Let’s take a look at what Arizona has to offer:

January: FBR Open, Suns, and now that the Cardinals are playing well, they may be making some January noise for a while.

February: While the NBA is in full swing, you’ve got the All-Star game coming to the Valley this year. Also, the Cactus League begins with pitchers & catchers reporting. Down in Tucson the PGA plays it’s match play championship in late Feb. too!

March: Spring training games get underway, the NBA playoff races heat up, and if you go south about 100 miles you can watch a college basketball team with the longest NCAA tournament streak in the nation (hopefully that will continue this year but that’s another blog for another time)

April: The Diamondbacks begin the MLB season, plus you’ve got Arena Football (possibly not this year) with the Rattlers. Don’t forget the NBA playoffs start.

May-August: It’s damn hot in Phoenix, but you can always go to the ballpark to cool off. It’s a cool 75 degrees in there year round. The WNBA’s Mercury also play during the summer months.

September: Most of the country has cooler temps in Sept. but we still have 100 degree days! Great football weather for the NFL and college football seasons to kick off!

October: While football season is in full swing, baseball fans don’t fret. Even if the D-Backs are out of it, the Arizona Fall League provides some great games for a very low price. And oh, yeah, NBA preseason begins!

November: THE SUNS ARE BACK! The Coyotes are playing in Glendale too, and the Cardinals are getting toward the stretch run.

December: NBA, NHL, NFL, College basketball, The Fiesta and Insight Bowls…what more do we need??

Photo courtesy: Phoenix Chamber of Commerce.

Potential for More Fall Ball in Arizona

While the decisions have yet to be made, there seems to be the possibility for an extra dose of fall baseball to come to Arizona. Making it more convenient for scouts, even more of the top prospects may be coming to the valley next fall. The buzz comes as a result of the expiration of the Hawaii winter baseball three-year contract and ideas that have already been previously discussed.

Since early in the 90’s, MLB has been experimenting with the idea of having fall baseball in the Midwest, California’s Inland Empire and the East Coast. None of these ventures would end up panning out which would revive the idea of having baseball in Hawaii. Currently there are four teams that compete during the Winter/ Fall League in Hawaii that have the possibility of coming to the Phoenix area.

One of the influencing factors is the baseball infrastructure that the Phoenix Metro area already has. With the addition of new ballparks in 2009 and 2010, there seems to be more room for the teams to play here. Historically, the players of the AFL are generally a little more experienced than those of the Hawaii baseball league which would potentially create the need for their own circuit in which they can compete. Alternatively, roster requirements can be passed down to make all teams competitive so that they are playing each other more than twice a week.

Although Hawaiian fans may be clearly disappointed, the business justification seems to make sense. Making it more convenient for the teams and their scouts would be beneficial to the organizations and more affordable for most fans. Admittedly we are a little biased being in Arizona but locale aside, whether die-hard fans agree or not, MLB is a business and bringing the competition to a single place would benefit the teams, scouts, players, organizations; and in this case, Arizona.

Los Angeles Dodgers Release Spring Training Schedule

As we welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers to their new Spring Training home, the team has released their tentative Cactus League Spring Training Schedule. The Dodgers, who have been playing in the Grapefruit League in Vero Beach, Florida will be making Glendale, Arizona their new home. We are pleased to see that the schedule appears to show that they will be making good use of their new home as quite a few of the scheduled matchups will be taking place at the new Glendale Baseball Complex. The preliminary schedule is subject to change and will be finalized as soon as the word is received from Major League Baseball. In the meantime, feel free to check out the schedule at the following location: 2009 Los Angeles Dodgers Spring Training Schedule

Desert Dogs Win Fall League Championship

Congratulations to the Phoenix Desert Dogs who have won the Arizona Fall League Championship for the fifth year in a row. Saturday, November 22, 2008 in Scottsdale, Arizona, the Desert Dogs reign victorious as their dynasty continues. Phoenix, who was coming off of a losing streak went head-to-head with the red hot Mesa Solar Sox. With great baseball weather and over 1,800 fans in attendance, the Dogs pull off an amazing victory as they finish off the season as champions.

Things began to look bleak for the Dogs as they were unable to get runners on base in the first few innings of play. Mesa looked solid as they scored the game’s first run in the second inning and followed up with two more in the top of the fourth. The two runs would come off of a home run by former ASU Sun Devil, Jeff Larish’s two-run homer. The Desert Dogs would score once in the fifth inning which would include a triple by Danny Valencia of the Minnesota Twins. Valencia would come in to score on a sacrifice grounder by Evan Frey of the D-Backs.

Phoenix would trail by two runs going into the sixth inning before Mesa would score again to extend their lead. With a healthy lead, Mesa would watch it diminish in the bottom of the sixth inning as Phoenix scores five to lead the game by two. Phoenix would repeat the offensive attack in the bottom of the seventh inning, scoring four more runs. Three of the runs were a result of Josh Donaldson’s three-run home run as the Oakland A’s prospect adds to his spectacular game.

Josh Donaldson went 3-for-5 at the plate with one home run and four RBIs. In a game that looked to favor the excellent hitting of the Mesa Solar Sox, the tides quickly turned as the Desert Dogs took advantage of some shaky pitching. Wild pitches, hit batsmen and passed ball plagued Mesa as Phoenix would end up capitalizing on all sorts of fielding errors. Although the box score would only show one error for each of the teams, there were some fielding choices gone terribly wrong.

We are glad that we had the opportunity to bring you all of this year’s Fall League action and look forward to next year. A special thank you goes to our visitors who make the AFL such a fun place to be. Watching baseball in such intimate settings is always fun and we are glad that we were able to share this tear’s exciting season with you. We will be continuing to work through the winder meetings to maximize our Arizona baseball coverage to bring you more new and exciting action.

Cactus League Changes and Growth

The Phoenix city skyline is changing and the landscape of the Cactus League Spring Training is changing as well. Changes are happening fast and, quite honestly, we are having a great time trying to stay up to date with these changes. With so much going on in the Valley of the Sun, the only thing that baseball fans would like to see more of, are the teams. The Cactus League has been great to Arizona and our tourism but, timing has been excellent as of the last couple of years. Major League Baseball teams are returning and new ones are arriving as Arizona is becoming the place that more and more teams call home for the spring months. Ideally as baseball fans, we would like to see all teams play in Arizona but our writers will settle for the western teams. I know that we can speak for most fans when we say that we will welcome all of the teams that we can get. The weather is great, the parks are all within a couple hours of driving (with Tucson being the exception) and we have tons of fans. Glancing at the layout of the Grapefruit League, one would wonder what teams are still doing there. While the answer is obvious for the east coast teams, it does not make much economic sense for teams like the Dodgers, Astros and the Reds. Some of the Florida locations are four or more hours apart which could make for a long day when Arizona teams are able to hop between most locations quite easily. Probably the most notable move is that of the Los Angeles Dodgers moving from their long-time facility in Vero Beach Florida. The place named Dodgertown as picked up and moved closer to their regular season home. The Dodgers will be playing in Glendale where they will be plenty close to several of their rivals including their Freeway Series nemesis, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Dodgers will also be within close proximity of the Giants, Cubs and your Arizona Diamondbacks. Although the tension between the D-Backs and the Dodgers is relatively new compared to that with the other teams, deeply rooted in MLB history, there is plenty of rivalry to go around. As we were researching schedules for the 2009 Spring Training, we came across the story of the new ballpark in Goodyear. To our surprise we learned that another team was going to be joining us for our next Cactus League round of action. The Cleveland Indians, who once called the Cactus League their spring home, will be returning in 2009 in a brand new state-of-the-art facility. The team will be playing in Goodyear, Arizona beginning this year. This is exciting for the state and for the Phoenix Metro area as it sets precedence for the teams that continue to train in Florida and may be considering new spring training locations. Another team that had been thinking of relocating and that we were also unaware of is the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds broke ground this week on a facility of their own in Goodyear as the team expects to play the 2010 Cactus League in our home state of Arizona. We think that this is a pretty good indication that more and more teams west of the Mississippi will join us and our gorgeous weather in a state that is rich with baseball history. All of this to add to the eminent arrival of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Valley of the Sun. The D-Backs have expressed sincere interest in moving closer to the action, from Tucson to Phoenix. In the months to come, AZ Hardball will go into greater detail about the history of the Cactus League as we publish our January feature story. Be sure to sign up for email updates as we release more baseball features, news and articles.

Eric Young Wins AFL Batting Title

Colorado Rockies prospect Eric Young Jr. wins the 2008 Arizona Fall League batting title by finishing up with a .430 batting average. The Rockies prospect is, yet another, Arizona baseball product from Chandler-Gilbert Community College. Eric finished the season off just ahead of the Phillies Jason Donald for the title. Along with his average, Young also stole 20 bases, hit two grand slams in his five home run count, with 20 RBIs in his 37 runs scored. Well deserved of the title, we congratulate switch-hitting outfielder Eric Young.

Although Young performed well all season and had one home run and three RBIs on Thursday, the Desert Dogs continue their skid as they are beaten by the Peoria Javelinas by a score of 13-6. Peoria would contribute with an offensive flurry that included four home runs of their own. Phoenix would lead early in the game before the offensive onslaught came about as they lost to the Javelinas in Peoria.

In a tight game in Surprise, the Peoria Saguaros would play their final game against the Rafters. In the bottom of the third inning, the Rafters would take the lead early before the Saguaros generated enough runs in the fourth and fifth innings to take the lead back from the Rafters. Ian Desmond of the Washington Nationals organization would hit the home run that would be the difference in the game in the top of the eighth inning of play. In an effort to come back, Surprise would only be able to generate one more run that would not prove to be enough as they lose to the Saguaros at home.

In Mesa, the Scottsdale Scorpions we determined to make a statement by beating the championship bound Mesa Solar Sox. In an offensive showdown which resulted in 9 home runs between the teams, the Scorpions’ final game of the season would be a seesaw battle as the teams exchange the lead seven different times. In an awesome game to end the regular season, both teams would pitch 16 strikeouts collectively, in a game where pitching obviously was not the highlight. Nine different players would hit the long ball as the Scottsdale Scorpions come out on top in the tenth and final inning. The Scorpions win the game by a score of 10-9.