Arizona Fall League Week 4 top performers
Here are the top performers from the fourth week of AFL action:
Here are the top performers from the fourth week of AFL action:
Alejandro Osuna, OF, Surprise (TEX No. 16)
Stats: .455 AVG (10-for-22), HR, 4 RBIs, 4 BB, 15 TB
Osuna has been on fire for a few weeks now. He led AFL hitters this week in runs and hits, and ranked second in total bases. All told, he's collected 24 hits and 19 walks over his first 18 games of the fall.
Nick Kurtz, 1B, Mesa (ATH No. 2/MLB No. 45)
Stats: .533 (8-for-15), 2B, 3B, HR, 8 RBIs, 5 BB, 14 TB
After playing in only 12 games during the regular Minor League season, Kurtz is reminding people why he was the fourth overall pick in this year’s draft. The precocious left-handed slugger launched his first homer of the fall as part of a four-hit, four-RBI effort in Mesa’s 17-run outburst on Oct. 31, and posted an outstanding .650 on-base percentage for the week. His 1.583 OPS this week ranked second among AFL hitters with at least 15 plate appearances.
Jac Caglianone, 1B, Surprise (KC No. 1/MLB No. 17)
Stats: .412 (7-for-17), 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBIs, 2 BB, 14 TB
Caglianone put his slow start to the fall behind him this week in a big way. He broke out for a two-homer game in the Saguaros' win over Peoria on Oct. 31, and ended up among the week's leaders in hits, homers and RBIs.
Niko Kavadas, 1B, Mesa (LAA No. 29)
Stats: .438 (7-for-16), 2B, 3 HRs, 9 RBIs, 4 BB, 17 TBs
The only AFL player to homer thrice this week, Kavadas also led Fall League hitters in RBIs and total bases in Week 4. The left-handed slugger has only played in 14 games so far this fall, but he's already homered six times, more than all but two other AFL players.
Josue Briceño, C/1B, Scottsdale (DET No. 9)
Stats: .429 (6-for-14), 2 2B, RBI, 3 BB
Though Briceño didn't homer this week, he still reached base in half of his plate appearances and was generally as difficult of an out as he's been all fall. The power-hitting 20-year-old maintains his lead among AFL players in several important offensive categories, including hits, homers and OPS.
Thomas Saggese, 2B, Glendale (STL No. 4)
Stats: .636 (7-for-13), 3 R, 2 2B, 2 RBIs, BB, 2 SBs, 9 TBs
Saggese didn't get as many plate appearances as some of the other players on this list, but he also hardly made an out all week. That's pretty much been Saggese's MO all fall. He enters Week 5 rocking a .554 OBP in 65 total plate appearances, best in the league among anybody with more than 20 at-bats.
Carter Jensen, C, Surprise (KC No. 5)
Stats: .600 (6-for-10), 4 R, 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBIs, BB, 13 TB
The Saguaros have a talented catching crop, so Jensen is sharing time this fall more than some other backstops of his caliber. But he's raking whenever he gets the chance. Not only was he one of six AFL players to homer at least twice this week, he was also the only one of those players not to strike out. Some on that list compiled as many as seven whiffs on the week alone.
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Statcast Hitting Feat of the Week: Peyton Williams, INF, Scottsdale (Blue Jays)
With 17 hits in his first 12 games, Williams has been a nice surprise contributor for the Scorpions. His most emphatic swing came on Oct. 29 against Peoria, when Williams clocked one of his two home runs on the night, off righty Jason Ruffcorn, a projected 453 feet per Statcast. That was good for the longest of the week, and tied for the fourth-longest in the AFL this fall.
Luinder Avila, RHP, Surprise (KC No. 26)
Stats: 2 G (1 GS), 1.50 ERA, 6 IP, 4 H, ER, 3 BB, 8 SO
Avila took the mound twice this week for the Saguaros and was quite good both times. He logged three innings of one-run ball in relief on Oct. 28, and tossed another three innings, this time scoreless, in a start on Nov. 2. The 23-year-old, who has one of the highest-spin sliders in the Fall League, led AFL pitchers in strikeouts this week as a result.
Josh Stephan, RHP, Surprise (TEX No. 25)
Stats: 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 SO
Stephan is becoming a mainstay on this list, and if the fall ended today, he'd probably be named the circuit's top pitcher this year. He leads all AFL arms in innings (16 2/3), ERA (0.54) and WHIP (0.660; min: 10 IP), and has racked up 17 strikeouts across five total appearances. That dominance showed in the Saguaros' 2-1 win over Peoria on Nov. 1, when Stephan and teammate Leandro Lopez combined to take a no-hitter into the eighth.
Leandro Lopez, RHP, Surprise (Rangers)
Stats: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, 7 SO
Before Stephan began mowing down Javelinas hitters on Nov. 1, it was Lopez doing so over the game's first three innings. Only one walk prevented Lopez from logging three perfect frames, and he recorded seven of his nine outs via strikeout in a dominant performance. The Saguaros narrowly missed what would've been the AFL's first no-hitter in eight years, but it was a banner week for their Rangers hurlers Lopez and Stephan nonetheless.
Statcast Pitching Feat of the Week: Andrew Painter, RHP, Glendale (MLB No. 32/PHI No. 2)
There is still only one AFL hurler to eclipse 100 mph with a pitch this fall, and that's Glendale closer Luis Mey. But this week, Painter got the closest to joining his teammate in the triple-digit club by throwing one of his hardest pitches of the fall, a 99.1 mph heater in his Oct. 30 start against Surprise. Painter struck out three without a walk over three scoreless innings in his latest impressive start, the 21-year-old's fourth appearance since returning from Tommy John surgery.
Joe Trezza is an contributor for MiLB.com.
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