Briceño, Santos II earn Fall League Week 2 honors

Week 2 of the Arizona Fall League saw teams score in bunches and pitchers light up the radar gun. These strong performances stood out from the pack.

Scottsdale third baseman Josue Briceño (DET No. 9) used another huge week at the plate to earn AFL Hitter of the Week honors and Surprise right-hander Alex Santos II (Astros) shut down the league’s top offense to earn Pitcher of the Week honors.

Front to back, the 20-year-old Briceño has been one of the handful of most productive hitters since AFL action began. He started it off in style with a three-homer game during Week 1, and this week followed that up by pacing Fall League hitters in hits (nine), homers (two) and total bases (17).

A left-handed-hitting catcher from the same Venezuelan hometown as Miguel Cabrera, Briceño didn’t get to show his big power very much during his first full pro season due to a knee injury that slowed him this summer. He’s showing it now. He leads the AFL in total bases and has hit five homers, one off the league lead, to go along with a .469/.514/1.000 slash line through eight early-season games.

What Santos II, a right-handed reliever, did was impressive. But who he did it against might have been the most impressive part.

The 22-year-old Santos II, a NYC-area native, struck out six across three brilliant scoreless innings in the Saguaros’ win on Oct. 17, allowing a lone hit in that outing. It came against Glendale, the team that’s scored more runs so far this fall than any other club, thanks to a lineup loaded with the AFL’s current RBI leader (Dodgers' No. 11 prospect Zyhir Hope), No. 37 overall prospect Colson Montgomery (CWS No. 3) and guys with big league time like Cincinnati’s Christian Encarnacion-Strand.

The Astros knew Santos II was talented when they drafted him in the second round in the 2020 Draft. Though he reached Double-A Corpus Christi in 2024, he’s struggled at every level, and entered this fall with a 5-25 career record and 7.07 career ERA across four Minor League seasons.

He’s turned those numbers on their head so far this fall. Santos II enters this week tied for the AFL’s league lead in strikeouts with 10. He’s also pitched to a 1.69 ERA across 5 1/3 total innings.