After leading Scottsdale to postseason, Pelfrey reflects on 2024 Arizona Fall League

SCOTTSDALE – The Arizona Fall League was hitting the back half of its schedule and Dennis Pelfrey’s Scottsdale Scorpions had won just five of their 17 games.

The collection of minor league prospects from the San Francisco Giants, Detroit Tigers, New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates and Toronto Blue Jays sat in last place.

As is the case during the minor league season, when developing future major leaguers sits at the top of the priority list, the wins and losses are not necessarily the biggest indicator of success. For the last three decades, Major League Baseball’s Arizona Fall League has been a showcase for some of baseball’s top prospects and an extra month for some hands-on development following the season.

Pelfrey’s teams have generally blended winning and development. In his primary role since 2022, he has led the San Francisco Giants’ Double-A team, the Richmond Flying Squirrels, to the franchise’s first consecutive postseason appearances in team history. In his first year as an affiliated manager, he led the High-A Eugene Emeralds to the Northwest League title.

In his three seasons as Richmond’s manager, 23 players have already climbed to the major leagues, including a team-record five players who went from Richmond to the big leagues in that same calendar year.

That 2023 team also posted a furious close to the regular season, finishing the final stretch as the hottest team in the Eastern League to punch a postseason ticket.

Pelfrey was picked to manage the Scottsdale team in this year’s Fall League, blending players and coaches from five different organizations. The teams wear the jerseys of their parent clubs, giving a preview of how fans are hoping to see them dressing every day in the near future. They are unified in their hats, like with Scottsdale’s red and black lids with a red scorpion on the front and the Arizona Fall League logo on the right panel.

“You have to take yourself out of your comfort zone,” Pelfrey said. “From a player, a coach, staff members, trainer, strength coach and all those different people from these different organizations, trying to come together, work, get better and win baseball games. I felt like it was going to be really challenging at first, but once everyone showed up and everybody introduced themselves, it seemed like we had a really good group of people involved. By the end of it, we were able to show what we were able to accomplish.”

After the 5-12 start, Scottsdale went on a roll through the second half of the Fall League schedule, winning 11-of-13 to close the season, including each of their final seven games, to finish 16-14.

That seventh consecutive win, a 7-6 victory over Glendale at Camelback Ranch, clinched a postseason spot for Scottsdale on the last day of the season.

“I did things exactly how I would do in Richmond,” Pelfrey said. “Once the players figured out how things were going to be, they were able to open up and become the players that they were supposed to be and showcase their skills. I think that slow start just kind of encompassed a lot of things. A lot of the newness, getting to know the staff and what we’re trying to accomplish. Once you know those expectations guys can kind of just free it up and do their thing.

“It was really special to see. It’s exactly what I want to see from a team that I manage or coach, getting better every single day whether it’s from an individual standpoint or a team standpoint. By the end, we’re playing the best baseball. That’s exactly how I want every team to go, where we’re better at the end.”

From the start of the season, Scottsdale’s Josue Briceño made his case for being the league’s best player. The Tigers prospect, who turned 20 in September, put together one of the more memorable seasons in the Arizona Fall League’s long history. He became the first player to ever win the AFL Triple Crown, leading the circuit in batting average (.433), home runs (10) and RBIs (27) over his 25 games en route to being named the league MVP.

Homer machine!@tigers No. 9 prospect Josue Briceño swats his second of three homers -- in three straight at-bats -- in the @MLBazFallLeague: pic.twitter.com/KXgyNaofUK

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) October 13, 2024

“He’s a great kid. Just awesome to be around,“ Pelfrey said of Briceño. “He doesn’t think too highly of himself or anything like that. He did a really good job of not trying to do too much. He didn’t really chase a whole lot. He just had a good idea of what he was looking for and he would get it and put a good swing on it.”

An injury in May cost Briceño more than three months of his season. Primarily a catcher, the Tigers had him working at first base during the fall.

“He’s kind of just learning that position,” Pelfrey said. “Alan Trammell came out of a few days and we were working at first base with him. It was really cool to see how he was able to apply things quickly.”

One of Scottsdale’s most noted prospects entering the fall was Giants first base prospect Bryce Eldridge, who played for Pelfrey in Richmond near the end of this year’s regular season as part of his rise through four levels of the Giants system. At age 19 this season, Eldridge hit 23 home runs while batting .291 with an .890 OPS, surging to the top of the Giants’ prospect rankings.

Just a year removed from being drafted by the Giants in the first round out of Madison High School in Vienna, Va., Eldridge played 116 games in his first full professional season this year and added another 10 in the early part of the Fall League.

“I think that really challenged him,” Pelfrey said. “From a standpoint of durability, I think the fact that we were able to get him as many games as we were throughout the season was absolutely fantastic. It’s really hard to create experience in a short amount of time for a guy who is really, in all honesty, not challenged at any level in Minor League Baseball from an offensive standpoint. The hardest thing to help guys with is that experience where they’re playing every single day, to keep their body in position to not necessarily be 100 percent, because I don’t think anyone is, but to be able to operate at 85 or 90 percent every single day at a high level. Those are things that are really challenging for Bryce, in my opinion. And I think it was really good for him to go through those things.”

Bryce Eldridge for the lead ✨

The @SFGiants' No. 1 prospect slugs his 2nd HR in his past 3 @MLBazFallLeague games. pic.twitter.com/64EoUSTLHt

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) October 23, 2024

Eldridge finished his stretch in the Fall League with a similar line to his minor league season, batting .293 with two homers and an .860 OPS over 10 games.

“The last four or five games he played, he was in a really good spot defensively, offensively, mentally and physically,” Pelfrey said. “I thought that was a really good time for us to tell him, ‘Hey, enjoy your offseason. Get ready to go next year.’”

Another Giants minor leaguer on the Scottsdale roster, outfielder Bo Davidson, was one of the breakout stories in the organization this year. A year after signing with the Giants as a non-drafted free agent, Davidson hit .327 with 11 homers and a 1.042 OPS with the ACL Giants and Low-A San Jose, but he was limited to just 63 games in the regular season. His performance this year vaulted him to the No. 25 Giants prospect ranking. He closed out his baseball year in the Fall League and hit .283 over 19 games.

“He’s a worker,” Pelfrey said. “He’s a guy who is going to continue to put himself on the map. I think he’s just raw. There’s a lot of fine tuning that needs to be done with his game from a hitting standpoint and a defensive standpoint, but he is young as well. I think the sky is the limit for this kid. The more experience he gets, he is going to blossom into something really special.”

In the unique situation of managing players from several systems, one Tigers minor leaguer was a familiar face for Pelfrey. Pitcher Eric Silva was traded from San Francisco to Detroit at the deadline this summer while he was with Richmond and reunited with his former manager in Scottsdale. Silva spent the minor league season at Double-A, young for the level at age 21, but had some strong stretches, posting a 0.61 ERA in his final 10 outings with the Giants before being swapped to the Tigers.

“It was awesome getting to see him again,” Pelfrey said. “He’s a guy who grows on you. I didn’t know him much before this season started. Getting to know him, watching him work and getting better every single time out, maturing and gaining that experience. From when we lost him at the trade deadline to when I saw him in the Fall League, he kept on that same path. He looks like he’s in a really good spot.”

Opposite-field homer? No problem for Sammy Siani.

The @Pirates outfield prospect sneaks a solo jack over the left-field wall to kick off his @MLBazFallLeague campaign: pic.twitter.com/LgIwk9fNOq

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) October 9, 2024

In Scottsdale’s Fall League regular-season finale win, Pirates outfield prospect Sammy Siani made a diving catch late and threw to first for an inning-ending double play to help preserve a one-run lead in the must-win game. Pelfrey had seen Siani with Double-A Altoona as an opposing manager in the Eastern League this summer, but his Fall League performance left an impression.

“This kid can flat-out play,” Pelfrey said. “When we played against him this summer during the season, I was never really that high on him. I thought he was a decent player and a guy that can play every day, being durable, things like that. But nothing really ever stood out. But then when I got to talk to him, he’s a phenomenal kid with a good work ethic, understands what he’s trying to do. Once I got to see the detail and the work that he puts in and got to really dial in on his at-bats every single plate appearance and see what he does in the field, he really put himself on the map for me.”

To hear the full conversation with Dennis Pelfrey, check out The Funnville Nine Podcast driven by AAA, available on Apple and Spotify.