Arizona Fall League Wrap-Up

The Arizona Fall League wrapped up over the weekend. The Mesa Solar Sox, where the Cubs send their prospects, finished the season with a 15-14-2 record. (Yes, they have ties in the AFL.) That wasn't good enough to make the title game, which was won on Saturday by the Salt River Rafters over the Peoria Javelinas.

Having said that, what you really want to know is how the Cubs players did. You could just look at all the stats for the Mesa Solar Sox here, but I will give a thumbnail sketch of each Cubs prospect who participated.

Hitters

Addison Russell: Russell went to the AFL to get a few more reps in after missing the first two months of the minor league season when he was in the Athletics organization. After 11 games, the Cubs decided he'd played enough and pulled him out.

Russell struggled to start out the AFL season, but was just getting into a groove before the Cubs pulled him out, hitting home runs in two of his final three games. His final line was .196/.260/.348 with two home runs and 10 RBI in 46 at-bats. He walked three times and struck out 13 times.

Dan Vogelbach: No Cub saw more action in Arizona than Vogelbach. He played pretty much exclusively at first base (not DH) which makes sense since what the Cubs would want most out of Vogy is for him to improve defensively. I can't give you a scouting report on how he did with the glove (I saw him play one game on TV) but he had an odd line at the plate. Over 69 AB in 21 games, Vogelbach hit .269/.398/.319. He didn't hit for power at all as only four of his 18 hits were for extra bases, and all four of those were doubles. But he showed great control of the strike zone, as he walked 17 times and struck out only 11.

Jacob Hannemann: With only 36 games in High-A under his belt, the AFL should have been challenging for Hannemann, but he acquitted himself nicely. Hannemann got into 17 games and ht .279/.328/.410 in 61 at-bats. One black mark was that he was 0-for-2 in stealing bases. Vogelbach had one steal. Yep, Vogelbach out-stole Hannemann in the AFL.

Bijan Rademacher: My favorite sleeper prospect was a part-time taxi squad player for the Solar Sox, but he did well enough to impress MLB.com's Jim Callis in his short time in the league. Rademacher got in 11 games and hit .350/.404/.525 with a home run and four steals. He even walked five times to only three strikeouts. It's a small sample size and nothing to draw too many conclusions from, but it's safe to say that Rademacher turned some heads in his limited duty.

Danny Lockhart: Lockhart was a replacement for Russell and he didn't play much, going 4-for-20 in six games.

Pitchers

C.J. Edwards: Edwards was in Arizona to get some innings in after he missed a chunk of the minor league season with a sore shoulder. He made six starts, threw 15 innings and had a 1.80 ERA. He struck out 13 and walked 8. Edwards played in the AFL "Fall Stars" game, striking out two in a scoreless inning of work.

Ivan Pineyro: Another pitcher looking to make up some innings lost in the regular season because of injury, Pineyro both started and relieved for the Solar Sox and had a 1.98 ERA over 13⅔ innings. Essentially, he gave up a three-run home run to L.J. Mazzilli and those were the only runs he allowed all season. Pineyro struck out 16 and walked only four in a pretty impressive stint in Arizona.

Gerardo Concepcion: Not as impressive was Concepcion, who had trouble throwing strikes again. In 15⅓ innings out of the bullpen, Concepcion walked nine and struck out only seven, which led to a 5.87 ERA.

Zach Cates: Cates also had a tough time in the thin air of Arizona. He pitched 10⅔ innings in nine relief appearances, allowing 11 runs for a 9.28 ERA. He gave up two home runs. Cates struck out eight and walked seven.