|
|
2006 season October 15, 2006
The hitters were undoubtedly ahead of the pitchers in the first week of the 2006 Arizona Fall League season --- way ahead! More than half of the first week's 15 games could be classified as slugfests. The shaky pitching and occasionally sloppy defense pushed many of the games well past the three hour mark. Hot hitters It's hard to confine this section to just a few names, as there were quite a few offensive explosions this week. Certainly one of the most impressive hitters was the Saguaros' Kory Casto (Nationals - OF), who showed a nice level stroke and good power. The left-handed hitter batted an even .500 and smacked a grand slam on the second day of the season. Keep an eye on this one ... Speaking of grand slams, Michael Wilson (Mariners - OF) hit grannies for the Javelinas on two consecutive days. Wilson finished the week with 11 RBIs ... Two of the more impressive homeruns came in the same inning Friday night at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, as Scottsdale's Ryan Braun (Brewers - 3B) and Mark Reynolds (Diamondbacks - SS/2B) both easily cleared the double fences, with the latter shot landing in the top of the tree beyond left center. Both Scorpion hitters also homered one other time during the week ...
One of the more unknown players coming into the Fall season was left-handed hitting Brett Gardner (Yankees - OF), but the Saguaros' lead-off hitter quickly showed that he possesses solid all-around skills. The 5'10", 180 pound South Carolina native tripled to lead off Wednesday's game and stole two bases ... Amaury Marti's (Cardinals - OF) actual age is in question (AFL rosters list him at 28 while other sources say that he's 32), but there's no doubt that the right-handed hitting Cuban expatriate can rake. Marti homered twice this week and showed a strong arm from right field ... This week's offensive explosion didn't extend to the East Valley teams, as the Mesa Solar Sox and Phoenix Desert Dogs combined to hit only one homer in the first five days. Mound aces
Good pitching performances were far and
few between, but one of the more impressive appearances came from this
year's first overall draft choice, right-hander Luke
Hochevar (Royals - P). The
former Tennessee All-American pitched three innings on opening day,
yielding one run on two hits and one walk. He fanned two batters.
Hochevar was also one of the more fan-friendly players, often remaining
after the game to sign autographs ... Zack Segovia
(Phillies - P) was perfect in his two appearances, pitching three
innings and striking out three ... The Mets top two pitching prospects,
Phil Humber
and Mike Pelfrey,
made their AFL debuts last night for the Solar Sox in a home game
against the Desert Dogs. Both pitchers looked sharp in their brief
appearances ...
We talked
with three Solar Sox players about what they hope to gain
from their participation in the AFL and how they can benefit by
playing with players from other organizations. Read the story
here. At the park The Dodgers top brass, including GM Ned Colletti, assistant GM Kim Ng, and scouting director Logan White, were all at Mesa's Hohokam Park last night for the Solar Sox game against the Saguaros ... Angels manager Mike Scioscia and Diamondbacks minor league manager Brett Butler, both former big league stars, were at Phoenix Municipal Stadium Friday night. Next week Action resumes tomorrow afternoon with three games on tap. Hochevar returns to the mound for the Rafters in their home game against the Scorpions. --- Bill Mitchell All photos on the Arizona Fall League Report are credited to Bill Mitchell, unless noted otherwise, and are not to be used for any other purpose without express permission.
|
