Big bats, electric stuff. Names to know as Arizona Fall League begins
· Yahoo Sports
The Arizona Fall League gets underway this weekend and it features a typically strong crop of well-regarded position players, 11 of whom rank among Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects, including five in the Top 50.
Visit asg-reflektory.pl for more information.
The Diamondbacks’ contingent is fascinating, with two of the organization’s Top 10 prospects participating along with several others with intriguing upside.
The fall league's six-team league begins play Saturday, Oct. 3. The All-Star Game is Sunday, Nov. 8, at Salt River Fields, with the playoffs running Nov. 12-14. Visit mlb.com/arizona-fall-league for the season schedule.
Here is a look at some of the Diamondbacks’ fall league representatives, plus a few of the top names throughout the majors.
Demetrio Crisantes, 2B, Diamondbacks
Fall league team: Salt River Rafters
Crisantes is the Diamondbacks’ only Top 100 prospect participating this fall. He is a bat-first second baseman who has shown a knack for hitting throughout his career. But he also has had trouble staying healthy, and that is part of the reason he is here in the first place.
“We want him to continue to work on his approach and really bear down on the defense,” Diamondbacks farm director Chris Slivka said. “We want him to continue to see pitching and get reps, something he’s been missing the last couple of years due to the injuries.”
Patrick Forbes, RHP, Diamondbacks
Fall league team: Salt River Rafters
Forbes has electric stuff and might be the Diamondbacks' highest-upside prospect, but he logged only 29 2/3 innings this season due to flexor issues in his throwing arm. At his best, he has a mid-to-upper 90s fastball to go with a wipeout breaking ball and a developing changeup. If he can't stick as a starter, he could be a dominant back-end reliever.
“We want him to work on his secondaries,” Slivka said. “He’s going to be built up to start in games and navigate lineups, which he didn’t get as many reps doing in Hillsboro. This is going to give him more opportunities to utilize that secondary stuff, kind of working on his slider, and then also working on refining the changeup.”
Other names of note for the Diamondbacks
OF Nathan Hall: A fifth-round pick out of South Carolina in 2025, Hall spent the year dealing with a variety of injuries and logged only 42 at-bats in Low-A Visalia. But he has intriguing tools and routinely hits the ball hard, and if he can stay healthy he could turn himself into a more notable prospect by this time next year.
3B Yassel Soler: Soler was more highly regarded as a prospect a few years ago, but he has had trouble turning in consistent seasons at the plate. He finished this year strong, reaching Double-A Amarillo, but remains a work in progress as a hitter.
LHP Joe Ariola: Taken in the seventh round in 2025 out of Wake Forest, Ariola had a breakout season, progressing to Double-A and racking up huge strikeout numbers at every stop. He misses bats not just with his curveball and slider but also his fastball, which sits around 95 mph.
Eduardo Quintero, OF, Dodgers
Fall league team: Glendale Desert Dogs
The highest-ranked prospect in the fall league, Quintero checks in as the 16th-ranked player on BA’s Top 100. One of several well-regarded outfielders in the Dodgers’ system, Quintero might be the most well-rounded, with scouts seeing a player who has a chance to hit for average and power and find his way on base while also possibly sticking in center field.
Caleb Bonemer, INF, White Sox
Fall league team: Glendale Desert Dogs
Bonemer ranks 28th on BA’s Top 100. His calling card is his power. He hit 37 homers this year between High-A and Double-A, but he also punched out 161 times in 595 plate appearances, raising concerns about his ability to tap into his power.
Arjun Nimmala, SS, Angels
Fall league team: Mesa Solar Sox
Nimmala was the key player sent to the Los Angeles Angels at the trade deadline in exchange for right-hander Jose Soriano. Ranked as BA’s No. 30 overall prospect, he made big strides in his development this year and has a chance to grow into a power-hitting shortstop.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Big bats, electric stuff. Names to know as Arizona Fall League begins