For those who want baseball 365 days a year, the Arizona Fall League is here to help. From October 4th to November 19th, Arizona’s spring training stadiums fill with teams comprised of prospects, minor league and potential major league players looking to hone their skills and earn consistent playing time next season. Each team features the players of five major league teams–and coincidentally, the Giants’ Scottsdale Scorpions are defending champions this year.
This season, Giants fans should be familiar with quite a few faces in the Scorpions lineup. Gary Brown is the star center fielder, as CAL Rookie-of-the-Year and Baseball America Minor League All-Star, boasting a .336 AVG and .407 OBP in his 131 games with the San Jose Giants. Brandon Crawford and Joe Panik share the shortstop position, but word has it Panik has been working his glove at second base while Crawford tries to cement his spot on the Giants 40-man roster.
The Giants also have four right-handed pitchers on the Scottsdale roster: relievers Stephen Harrold, Austin Fleet, Seth Rosin, and starting pitcher Daryl Maday. Maday had an unfortunate season in Fresno and Richmond, posting a 4.75 ERA over 28 games, 4 wins, and 12 losses. Now, his ERA is down to 0.00 after a single win against the Phoenix Desert Dogs… but with a total of seven games played in the Fall League, this is hardly the kind of sample size that makes numbers meaningful.
As a team, the Scorpions are hanging onto second place in the AFL East, 2.5 games behind the Salt River Rafters with a 3-4 W-L record. In tonight’s 10-5 loss to Salt River, Gary Brown was the only San Francisco representative, stealing second after going 1-for-5 with an RBI single. Thirty games remain, and how much the Giants’ players improve remains to be seen. I’ll post periodic updates over the next month, but until then, follow the Fall League on Twitter and check out the AFL Prospects Blog for in-depth reports.
I hope Crawford can get his swing figured out…would love to see him as the SF Giants everyday SS.