Jahmai Jones and Jesus Castillo highlight the Angels currently going to the Arizona Fall League

It’s that time of year for fall baseball news! Fall baseball is one of those things that’s helps us get past the end of the season and the long dull winter. The Arizona Fall League is also where some of tomorrow’s hot stars will be playing in October and November.

The Arizona Fall League kicks off on October 9th with a hitting challenge on October 13th. The Fall stars game will take place on November 3rd with the Fall Championship on November 17th to end the season. Games are played Monday through Saturday.

Some pretty good players have spent their fall in Arizona playing baseball including Albert Pujols, Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Derek Jeter, Kris Bryant, and many more. You get the idea - the fall league is where the good young talent goes to play. Mike Trout had 106 ABs in the fall league at age 19, hitting .245 with a home run and 3 stolen bases.

This year, the Angels prospects will be playing on the Mesa Solar Sox - a team that also includes top prospects from the Red Sox, A’s, Cubs, and Tigers.

So far announced (there may be a couple more) Angels players heading to the Fall League are:

Jahmai Jones (21, 2B) Jones was a 2015 2nd round draft pick and was converted to second base this year. He has slashed .232/.330/.354 for AA Mobile.

Jesus Castillo (23, RHP) Castillo came over in the Joe Smith trade with the Cubs a few years back. He has a 4.53 ERA for AA Mobile this year with 57 Ks and 30 walks in 93.1 innings.

Ryan Clark (24, RHP) Clark was drafted in the 5th round of the 2015 draft. The Angels signed him as a minor league free agent before the 2017 season. Clark had a rough time in AAA this year and across 3 levels in 2018 he put up a 5.37 ERA wtih a 1.52 WHIP.

Brett Hanewich (23, RHP) Hanewich was a 9th round pick in 2017. For High A Inland Empire this year he threw 41.2 innings with a 1.73 ERA and .171 BAA.

Daniel Procopio (22, RHP) Was a 10th round pick in 2017. He spent his year in High A and AA and had a combined 4.54 ERA, 1.49 WHIP and .220 BAA.

A mostly underwhelming crop this year. Jo Adell, Brandon Marsh, and Griffin Canning are all on the MLB Pipeline top 100 list and all of them will be at home in October. Adell has been dealing with some back issues and Canning is under an innings limit so that might explain their absence a bit in the AFL. According to a post by Maria Guardado, the Mesa Solar Sox has an Angels outfielder and infielder listed as “TBA”, so stay tuned for updates.