Most of us are familiar with the Arizona Fall League. Not long after the minor league seasons end, teams will send some of their prospects to the Arizona Fall League. The caliber of prospects ranges from guys like Bryce Harper, Mike Trout and Gerrit Cole to relief pitchers and other lesser known guys that are selected by their respective teams for additional work. Either way, its a fun league to track if you're a big fan of prospects. Jason Grey shared some notes from this year's AFL (insider required):
- Bryce Harper proved capable of making adjustments - after struggling throughout the early portion of the AFL schedule, Grey notes that Harper appeared to relax and cut down on his swing. The adjustment resulted in a home run binge.
- 2011 1st round arms looked good - Gerrit Cole (1st overall, Pittsburgh Pirates), Danny Hultzen (2nd overall, Seattle Mariners), Jed Bradley (15th overall, Milwaukee Brewers) and Sean Gilmartin (28th overall, Atlanta Braves) each showed good signs while pitching in the hitting heavy environment. Grey only mentions Cole as having an ace ceiling, but likes each pitcher's chances of eventually making his way to the bigs.
- Mike Trout looked tired - it might have been a bit surprising - if not alarming - for some fans to see Trout struggle the way he did (.245 BA, .321 SLG). But after finishing 2011 with the Angels.
Despite his struggles, there is a very good chance that Mike Trout is a key piece of the Angels club out of Spring Training. Several of the other names that Grey touched on could make some noise by the end of 2012 as well.