This week in the Arizona Fall League, two more prospects left with injuries, Grant Desme continued his assault on AFL pitching, and a top draft pick made his professional debut.
Quotes
"Carlos Triunfel now at the Arizona Fall League and starting at shortstop today". Also, "Taylor Teagarden added to the Surprise AFL roster" -- ESPN's Jason Grey's Twitter
On Stephen Strasburg -- "He is obviously an extremely talented player, but also very cerebral and has the ability to step back and make the necessary adjustments to be successful." -- Drew Storen's blog
"MLB Network will televise Rising Stars (11/7) and title game (11/21). Daron Sutton and Tony Clark form announce team for Rising Stars." -- Arizona Fall League's official Twitter
Hot Players
Grant Desme -- Desme continues to flash his immense power. His three home runs last week brought his AFL-leading total to 10. And if you take away his first two games -- he struck out five times in those two games -- Desme has a decent 20.3% strikeout over 59 plate appearances.
Starlin Castro -- Castro has drawn rave reviews from ESPN's Keith Law thus far in the AFL. Utilizing his great contact abilities, Castro has reached base in nearly half of his 51 plate appearances -- only 5.9% walk, though. While he only has two extra-base-hits to this point -- both doubles -- the fact that he's faring well against elite minor league competition as a 19-year-old is reason enough to be excited about him.
Jemile Weeks -- Weeks tore up opposing pitchers last week, getting eight hits and a walk in 17 plate appearances. Of his hits, five went for extra bases. He has been working with Rickey Henderson on his base-stealing ability. The fourth-highest rated second base prospect on our top 15 second base prospect list, Weeks is an elite talent. He could be on his way toward a breakout 2010 season.
Notables
Both Dayan Viciedo and Austin Romine were pulled from the AFL this week due to minor injuries.
Scott Sizemore suffered a broken ankle and significant tendon damage, not a fractured tibia as previously reported. He has already had surgery help remedy the injury, which was caused by a hard Danny Espinosa slide into Sizemore as an attempt to break up a double-play.
“The torn tendons cause instability in the ankle,” Sizemore told the Detroit Free Press. “They are going to put in a few screws to lock everything into place.”
There's some talk that Sizemore will be ready in time we Spring Training. We highly doubt that.
Aaron Crow -- Crow made his AFL debut on Wednesday, his first taste of professional competition. While his command wasn't particularly sharp and he wasn't unhittable, his fastball velocity was good -- he hit 94.4 MPH. He also retired eight batters in a row at one point. Considering his long layoff from live-game-scenarios, Crow's debut was impressive.
Jenrry Mejia -- A prospect who has caught every prospect fan's attention this season, Mejia is blessed with a power arm. Keith Law describes him as "the most impressive arm so far" in the AFL, and his fastball velocity has been impressive -- he's touched 97.6 MPH. While his arsenal is undoubtedly impressive, Mejia will need to improve his command as he continues to move up the ranks. He already has nine walks in 7.2 AFL innings (20.0% BB vs. 20.0% K over 45 TBF). Stay tuned!
Underperformers
Matt Dominguez -- Dominguez, 20, has struggled in his limited AFL exposure. With five hits, zero walks and eight strikeouts in his 36 plate appearances, Dominguez clearly has yet to find his rhythm. He's also only played in two of the last six games.
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