Reed sparks West to Fall Stars victory
SURPRISE, Arizona -- Down to his final strike, Buddy Reed delivered a game-changer on Saturday night.With his team trailing, 6-5, the Padres' No. 13 prospect turned on a 3-2 fastball and belted a triple deep to left field to score Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with the tying run. Reed scored on
SURPRISE, Arizona -- Down to his final strike, Buddy Reed delivered a game-changer on Saturday night.
With his team trailing, 6-5, the Padres' No. 13 prospect turned on a 3-2 fastball and belted a triple deep to left field to score Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with the tying run. Reed scored on a single by Royals prospect Meibrys Viloria as the West Division walked off with a 7-6 victory in the Arizona Fall League Fall Stars Game at Surprise Stadium.
After Reed missed a 3-1 offering from Rockies No. 17 prospectJustin Lawrence, the East was one strike from the win. But the 2016 second-round pick dug back in and connected, crushing the ball to left to knot things up.
Gameday box score
"It was a fastball down and away, but I put a good swing on it," Reed said. "I had to choke up because [facing Lawrence] is a little uncomfortable for me, throwing 98-100 mph with sink."
Reed, who hit .324/.371/.549 for Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore before a promotion to Double-A on July 17, had a .375 average with four doubles in 12 AFL games prior to earning Fall Stars MVP honors.
"The Fall League as a whole is an awesome experience, playing with the top prospects in every organization," Reed said. "Then coming out here to the All-Star Game, you see guys like Vlad, and Justin Lawrence in the bottom of the ninth, just guys that throw hard and guys that can do a lot with the bat. It was awesome."
Blue Jays No. 4 prospectNate Pearson started for the West and set a personal best. The 22-year-old right-hander threw eight of his 11 pitches over 100 mph, reaching 104 mph.
"The highest I ever hit before today was 102, so it was pretty cool to see new numbers there," MLB.com's No. 90 overall prospect said. "I knew I was only going one inning, so I was just going to let it go, trying to just throw as hard as I can and give those guys my best stuff."
Pearson was limited to one appearance with Class A Advanced Dunedin during the regular season. He was sidelined for a month with a back injury, then suffered a fractured right forearm when he was hit by a line drive in his season debut on May 7.
"I'm very thankful to come out here in Arizona, each lineup is stacked," Pearson said. "I missed the whole year with an injury I couldn't really control, but I'm making the most of my time out here and it's a great opportunity for me."
Peter Alonso gave the East an early 1-0 lead, tagging a 103 mph fastball from Pearson over the wall to the right of center field. The Mets' No 2 prospect belted 36 homers between Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Las Vegas, tying the Reds' Ibandel Isabel for the Minor League lead. Alonso walked twice, scored three times and got the best of the power matchup of Tampa-area prospects in the first.
"I knew he could hit and I was just going to challenge him," Pearson said. "I got one fastball by him, then tried to get another one, but he was ready for it."
Phillies first baseman/outfielder Austin Listi launched a go-ahead three-run homer with two outs in the eighth for the East. The 2017 17th-round pick out of Dallas Baptist emerged as one of the top hitters in the Florida State League this summer, batting .344/.453/.560 for Clearwater before earning a promotion to Double-A on June 18. He finished with four RBIs.
Indians No. 6 prospectYu Chang gave the West a 5-3 lead in the sixth, driving an opposite-field liner for a two-run triple.
Astros No. 2 prospectForrest Whitley twirled two hitless innings for the East, walking two and striking out one while touching triple digits.
The AFL season resumes Monday, with the championship game scheduled for Nov. 17 at Scottsdale Stadium.
Kirsten Karbach is a contributor to MiLB.com.
These 15 moments led to season No. 15 of Minor League road trips
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from his newsletter is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
MiLB podcast crew makes Opening Day predictions
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Everything you need to know for Triple-A Opening Day
First, there was big league Opening Day. Now it's Triple-A's turn to take the spotlight. The Minor League season opens Friday when the Triple-A International League and Pacific Coast League seasons get underway for the first of MiLB’s two Opening Days. And right out of the gates, several of baseball's
Top prospects to watch at Triple-A -- one for each organization
It’s Triple-A’s turn up to bat on Friday. The regular season begins for the Minor Leagues’ highest level one day after the action starts on the Major League side. Fun fact: it’ll be the earliest start to a Minor League season since 1951 (March 27). Double-A, High-A and Single-A will
Here's where every Top 100 prospect is expected to start the season
The 2025 Opening Day prospect roster announcements began last week when the Cubs informed Matt Shaw (MLB No. 19) he was making the trip overseas to compete in the Tokyo Series. Roki Sasaki (No. 1) also received the good news, but his assignment was much less of a surprise. Now
Nationals prospect King joins MiLB podcast
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Here are the 2025 All-Spring Breakout Teams
Fifteen games, several jersey swaps and countless highlights later, the second edition of Spring Breakout has officially concluded – and it lived up to its billing. Of the 16 contests sprinkled across four days, only one game (Dodgers vs. Cubs) was rained out. Coincidentally, the Cubs were one of two
Rox young sluggers aim to bring pop back to Coors Field
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Coors Field may provide the best run-scoring environment in Major League Baseball, but the Rockies haven’t taken advantage of it in recent years. Even without adjusting for Coors, they have fielded offenses worse than the league average the past three seasons, and they scored the fewest runs
Astros brass sees potential in consistently 'underranked' farm system
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The last time the Astros landed in the top 10 of MLB Pipeline’s farm system rankings was before the 2019 season. Since those rankings expanded to all 30 teams ahead of the 2020 season -- 11 lists in total -- they’ve never ranked higher than
Complete results and highlights from Spring Breakout
The second edition of MLB Spring Breakout is complete, and there was no shortage of highlights from the future stars of Major League Baseball over the four-day showcase. Here's a complete breakdown of the 16-game exhibition:
Southpaw Spring Breakout: White Sox future on display with Schultz, Smith
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- If all goes as planned for the White Sox, left-handers Hagen Smith and Noah Schultz won’t spend much time following each other to the mound in a single game. Schultz, the No. 1 White Sox prospect and No. 16 overall, per MLB Pipeline, and Smith, who is
In first pro game, Rainer offers pop, promise to Tigers fans
NORTH PORT, Fla. -- Bryce Rainer’s pro career consisted of workouts and batting practice until Sunday.
'Me and Brady on the dirt again': House, King reunite at Spring Breakout
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The 2025 Spring Breakout was a flashback for Brady House and Seaver King. Over 10 years ago, the infielders were travel ball teammates in Georgia who shared the dream of making it to the Major Leagues. Now, they are top prospects in the same organization,
Lambert -- 'an adrenaline guy' -- hoping to be next Mets bullpen gem
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Ryan Lambert loves throwing hard. He relishes the idea of getting to two strikes and blowing hitters away. “Get me in a game,” Lambert said, “cool things will happen.”
Stewart embraces Spring Breakout: 'What's not to love?'
PHOENIX -- Sal Stewart was one fired-up Reds prospect. On Sunday in the first inning during the organization's 9-7 Spring Breakout win over Brewers prospects, Stewart lifted a 2-2 pitch that sailed over the center fielder's head to the wall. Already not known as a speedster, he stumbled running between
Prospect Peña quietly drawing raves in Brewers' farm system
PHOENIX – Jesús Made was at the top of the Brewers’ lineup for Sunday’s 9-7 loss to the Reds in the finale of MLB’s four-day Spring Breakout, a fitting perch when you consider that the 17-year-old infielder is under a bright spotlight as MLB Pipeline’s No. 55 prospect. Made could
Brecht -- in 1st outing since '24 Draft -- wows at Spring Breakout
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Sunday's Spring Breakout showcase was the perfect unveiling for Rockies No. 5 prospect Brody Brecht. A right-handed pitcher from the University of Iowa whom the Rockies selected 38th overall last summer, Brecht had a nice collegiate resume, an interesting backstory as a former wide receiver for the
Braves prospects show promise in Spring Breakout
NORTH PORT, Fla. -- As Terry Pendleton prepared to serve as the manager of the Braves prospect team that played the Tigers prospect team in a Spring Breakout game on Sunday afternoon, he said fans should be patient with John Gil and Luis Guanipa, a pair of teenagers who have
Yanks' Lagrange flashes triple-digit heat in Spring Breakout
SARASOTA, Fla. -- There was an audible “Ooh” from the crowd at Ed Smith Stadium, and Carlos Lagrange quickly glanced beyond the right-field wall, checking the velocity of the pitch he’d just thrown in Saturday’s 5-4 Spring Breakout loss to the Orioles. It had registered in the triple digits, and
Bradfield dedicates Spring Breakout performance to late friend
SARASOTA, Fla. -- It was about more than playing in the national spotlight. More than the dinner bet placed with an old college teammate earlier in the month. More than a game. As Enrique Bradfield Jr. slid home to score a run during the first inning of Saturday night’s Spring