Arizona Fall League prospect update - November 4th

Now that World Series is over, everyone is shifting their attention to trades, free agents, Cameron Maybin.  But the AFL is still swinging through their final two weeks.

The Fall Stars Game takes place tomorrow (Saturday) at 5PM PST.  Among the roster includes our very own Taylor Ward.  You can watch the game on MLB Network and MLB.com

The Angels prospects play on the Scottsdale Scorpions whose roster also includes prospects from the Mets (Hi Tebow!),Yankees, Phillies, and Giants.  The Angels sent 4 pitchers, a catcher, an infielder, and an outfielder to the AFL, so let's check in how they are doing.

1. Victor Alcantara, 23, RHP - Alcantara was not having the best year in the AFL and yesterday he suddenly found himself no longer playing in Phoenix since he went over to the Tigers in the Cameron Maybin trade.  For the Tigers they have little risk as they save 9 million dollars on Maybin and hope to turn Alcantara into a guy with some actual control in his pitches.
2. Adam Hofacket, 22, RHP -  Hofacket hasn't pitched in the past week  Through 4.2 total innings, he's only walked 1 but he's also given up 3 runs and has a .364 BAA.
3. Grayson Long, 22, RHP -  Long only lasted 1 inning his last trip to the mound, giving up 3 hits and runs.  He threw 41 pitches in that inning and managed to notch the win.  It's unclear why he only pitched 1 inning since he threw almost 70 pitches his last time out.  Long has 10.1 innings in the AFL and has struck out 10, walked 10 and given up 9 runs.  He's got some work to do.
4. Eduardo Paredes, 21, RHP - Paredes is having a decent but not stand out AFL season.  He's given up 4 runs in 8 innings with 8Ks and 4 walks.  His BAA sits at .290.  He's the second youngest dude on the roster for the Angels by a few months, so this youngster has time to develop.  Taking into account his age, he's holding his own against a good level of talent.
5. Taylor Ward, 23, C  - Ward is having a very impressive fall and is the best hitting catcher in the AFL right now. Let me repeat that - Ward is the best hitting catcher in the Arizona Fall League.  Woah. He's hitting .342 with a .359 OBP and I'd argue some of the pitching is better than what he saw on the 66ers this past year.  He has been coming around since mid way in 2016 so it will be great to see how he develops next year. His walks are down and Ks are up, but that's not much concern with the numbers he has.
6. David Fletcher, 22, INF - Fletcher saw a bump to the #8 prospect spot with the departure of Alcantara.  He started out slow in the AFL but in the past week has raised his OBP from .304 to .341.  He's walks 5 times and only stuck out twice which is a very low K rate of 6%.
7. Michael Hermosillo, 21, OF - Hermosillo has had a decent season for being the youngest player on the Angels fall league roster.  He's hitting .267 with a .353 OBP.  He's also been on base in 7 out of his 9 games.  He doesn't have a ton of power, but does have a triple and two doubles among his 8 fall hits.