Arizona Fall League rosters feature top MLB prospects

Peoria Javelinas

MLB affiliate teams: Braves, Red Sox, Padres, Mariners, Blue Jays

Pitching – The pitching of the Peoria team is incredibly intriguing, even though there may not be a top 100 pitcher among them, depending on who is doing the ranking. Pitchers like Max Fried and Touki Toussaint of the Braves and T.J. Zeuch had up and down seasons but have very impressive days when they are at their best. The bullpen should be fun to watch with Corbin Clouse of the Braves, Matthew Festa of the Mariners, and T.J. Weir of the Padres in that bullpen among others. Add in former top prospects Brian Johnson and Henry Owens of the Red Sox, who were injured this season and need the innings, and this could be a very intriguing pitching staff indeed.

Hitting – The lineup for Peoria may be one of the most talented that I’ve ever seen in the Arizona Fall League. There is a legit argument for Ronald Acuna of the Braves as the #1 prospect in all of baseball. Michael Chavis and Austin Riley both had big showings as they moved up this season, both in their defense at the hot corner and in their offensive production. Josh Naylor can decorate the stands during batting practice. Up and down, the lineup is incredibly talented.

Where I see a lot of intrigue with the Peoria team is behind the plate. The Braves converted former top draft pick Alex Jackson behind the plate after acquiring from the Mariners after the 2016 season, and he’s been injured and missed some of that development time. Max Pentecost has spent a lot of his minor league career on the DL. However, both of them on pure ceiling would be top 100 guys no question if they can show the ability to handle the position behind the plate with their abilities with the bat.

Next, we’ll look at Salt River…