Arizona Fall League top performers Week 3 2024

Here are the top performers from the third week of AFL action:

Drew Gilbert, OF, Scottsdale (Mets No. 3/MLB No. 74)
Stats: 5-for-14 (.357), 5 runs, 2 HRs, 4 RBIs, 4 BBs, 11 TBs
One of seven players in the AFL to homer twice this week, Gilbert also drew four walks, finishing with a .526 on-base percentage and 1.312 OPS for the week. The 24-year-old has gotten hot after a slow start this fall in the desert.

Niko Kavadas, 1B, Mesa (LAA No. 29)
Stats: 3-for-10 (.333), 4 runs, 2B, 2 HRs, 3 RBIs, 4 BB, 10 TBs
Kavadas is the unusual AFL player with a big league home run already under his belt, and he’s showed off that power ever since returning to the Fall League. The left-handed slugger has three homers in 10 games already, including two this week.

Moises Ballesteros, C, Mesa (CHC No. 4/MLB No. 44)
Stats: 5-for-15 (.333), 4 runs, 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBIs, BB, 12 TB
Ballesteros has been one of the circuit’s most productive hitters all fall. He did a little bit of everything offensively this week and finished second in total bases for the week among AFL hitters.

Caleb Durbin, INF, Salt River (NYY)
Stats: 6-for-14 (.429), 5 runs, HR, 5 RBIs, 5 BB, 9 TB, 8 SB
The 24-year-old Durbin walked more than he struck out in 90 games across three levels this season, and his success in the Fall League this week was driven by that plate discipline. With six hits and five walks, he reached base in 11 of his 20 plate appearances on the week (.550 OBP). He also stole eight bases, five more than anyone else, this week. Durbin leads the circuit with 14 steals.

Josue Briceño, C, Scottsdale (DET No. 9)
Stats: 6-for-16 (.375), 3 runs, 3B, 2 HRs, 5 RBIs, 3 BB, 14 total bases
Another week, more production from Briceño, who has been turning heads since he touched down in Arizona. The 20-year-old power-hitting backstop cranked two more round-trippers and threw in a triple for good measure this week. He leads the AFL in homers (7), hitting, slugging and OPS, and ranks second in RBIs. That’s a pretty productive fall so far.

Austin Deming, INF, Surprise (HOU)
Stats: 5-for-12 (.417), 2 runs, 2 HRs, 7 RBIs, 11 TB
The 24-year-old infielder had a brilliant end to the week. He cranked a three-run homer Friday and a two-run homer on Saturday, driving in five runs in those two contests alone from the bottom half of the Saguaros’ lineup. He drove in seven runs total on the week, most of any player on the circuit.

Bryce Eldridge, 1B, Scottsdale (SF No. 1/MLB No. 35)
Stats: 4-for-8 (.500), 2 R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, BB, 8 TB
San Francisco’s top prospect finished his two-week AFL stint on a high note, hitting safely in half of his at-bats and crushing his second homer of his time in Arizona. It was a flourishing finish to the 20-year-old’s season, which saw him impress at four different levels before heading to the Fall League.

Andrew Pintar, OF, Peoria (MIA No. 18)
Stats: 11-for-25 (.440), 6 runs, HR, 7 RBIs, 4 BB, 14 TB
Acquired from the D-backs at the Trade Deadline in the AJ Puk trade, Pintar didn’t have as much immediate impact as his fellow tradee, Deyvison De Los Santos, had in their new organization. But he is showing what he is capable of this fall. The 23-year-old led all AFL players in hits this week, reached base in half of his plate appearances and socked his first round-tripper of the fall. He’s batting a robust .328 with a .800 OPS through 15 games.

Statcast Hitting Feat of the Week: DJ Gladney, OF, Glendale (CWS)
Even in the hitter-friendly AFL, what the 23-year-old Gladney did on Saturday was impressive. His homer against Mesa clocked in at 117.2 mph exit velocity off the bat and traveled a projected 468 feet – the second hardest and second farthest homer of the fall so far, per Statcast. But few home runs generate that kind of exit velocity and distance. Only one in the Majors traveled farther (447 feet) at a comparable speed (117.5 mph), and that one was hit by Aaron Judge on Aug. 2.

Jose Acuna, RHP, Glendale (CIN)
Stats: 4 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 7 SO
The 22-year-old righty was effective but wild in his Fall League debut, but overcame those control issues better in his second outing, when he cruised for four hitless innings of relief in Glendale’s 8-1 win over Peoria on Tuesday. Acuna recorded seven of his 12 outs via the strikeout while limiting the free passes (2). No AFL hurler recorded more punchouts than Acuna did this week.

Connor Phillips, RHP, Glendale (CIN No. 15)
Stats: 4 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 5 SO, 1 BB
Phillips had a humbling, whirlwind regular season that saw him land back in Rookie ball nine months after making his big league debut. But he’s been excellent in two of his three outings so far in the Fall League. He dominated in his first start and was really good again in Glendale’s win on Thursday over Salt River, coming on in relief of Andrew Painter and logging four more scoreless innings. Phillips did have a rough outing in between, but when he’s been on, he’s been on. He leads AFL hurlers with 15 strikeouts.

Andrew Painter, RHP, Glendale (PHI No. 2/MLB No. 32)
Stats: 3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 3 SO
Painter flirted with triple digits with his fastball velocity and fired three scoreless innings in his third start coming off Tommy John surgery. As MLB Pipeline’s Sam Dykstra noted in the recap of Glendale’s win over Salt River on Thursday, the effort was Painter’s first zero-laden outing in a competitive environment since Sept. 9, 2022, at Double-A Reading. It was also his longest outing so far of the fall.

Josh Stephan, RHP, Surprise (TEX No. 25)
Stats: 3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 3 SO, BB
Stephan has been arguably the most consistent pitcher so far in the AFL. He logged three more scoreless innings in Saturday’s win over Scottsdale, his second start and fourth appearance of the fall. The 22-year-old righty leads the AFL with 12 2/3 innings and ranks second in ERA (0.71) and third in WHIP (0.87).