The Boston Red Sox. The Cleveland Indians. The Detroit Tigers. The Minnesota Twins. The San Francisco Giants. What do they have in common? Two things: one, they all missed out on the playoffs this year, and they are the teams that seed the Scottsdale Scorpions. The roster has some interesting names to check out, and this should at the very least be a fun team to watch.

Here are some of the Scorpions we’ll be watching this fall.

 

Top Prospects Of The Scorpions

Christian Arroyo, Shortstop, San Francisco Giants

The youngest player on the team, having turned 20 at the end of May, the Giants’ shortstop of the future is coming off of a brilliant season at High-A. Playing for the San Jose Giants in the California League, Arroyo hit .304 with nine home runs, 42 RBI, and 48 runs scored in 381 at-bats over 90 games.

One area that could use improvement is his patience at the plate, as his strikeout-to-walk ratio was almost 4:1. For someone starting High-A at 19, that’s a very minor quibble considering how impressive his overall numbers were. He’s already struck out twice in his first nine at-bats in the AFL, but he’s also homered – quoting classic ‘80s television, you take the good, you take the bad…

 

Clint Frazier, Center Field, Cleveland Indians

The fifth overall pick in the 2013 draft, Frazier put together a solid season in the High-A Carolina League, all before his 21^st birthday (which came on September 6). In 501 at-bats over 133 games, Frazier hit .285 with 16 home runs, 72 RBI, and 88 runs scored. His patience at the plate led to an on-base percentage over 90 points higher than his batting average, at .377, and he combined that with a .465 slugging percentage for a .845 OPS. Frazier also picked up 15 stolen bases, but he was caught seven times. Frazier is off to a hot start in his first two AFL games, with four hits in seven at-bats, one of which left the yard, and he’s also picked up a pair of walks.

 

Sam Travis, First Base, Boston Red Sox

The 22-year-old Travis, who was 21 for all but the last couple of days of the season, split this season between the High-A Carolina League and the Double-A Eastern League. Travis hit for a solid average, showed plenty of potential power, and actually improved his already-impressive strikeout-to-walk ratio after his promotion. Between the two levels, Travis hit .307 with nine home runs, 78 RBI, 70 runs scored, 32 doubles, and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 77:59, boosting his on-base percentage up to .381. He also stole 19 bases, but having been caught 12 times, the Sox might want him to cut that out if he doesn’t improve on his success rate.

Through three games at the AFL this fall, Travis only has three hits in 13 at-bats, but he’s also picked up a pair of walks as well as a stolen base. Travis isn’t far from the majors at this point, and a strong AFL could lead to him getting a very serious look at first this spring.

 

Adam Brett Walker II, Right Field, Minnesota Twins

Walker doesn’t do a great job of making contact, with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of almost 4:1 and an Adam Dunn-like 195 strikeouts in Double-A this year, but, like Dunn, when he does make contact, the ball goes very, very far. In 133 games in the Southern League, Walker hit .239 with 31 home runs, 31 doubles, 106 RBI, and 75 runs scored. One should expect a much higher OPS than .807 when their slugging percentage is .498, but that’s what drawing only 51 walks while striking out almost 200 times will do to you.

Walker is going to need serious improvement in that if he is going to be able to have any sort of impact in the majors, and the lack of pitching in the AFL isn’t going to be a big test for him. He has already drawn three walks, taking advantage of that less-than-stellar pitching the AFL is known for, but he’s also struck out three times in six at-bats. If there were any hitter that the entire defense could sit down on in the AFL, it’s Walker.

 

Adalberto Mejia, Starting Pitcher, San Francisco Giants

One of the rare exceptions in the past to explain a quality pitcher going to the AFL was that they lost time during the season due to injury, so they go to the fall league to get extra innings. Well, I guess we need to change that to “due to injury or drug use,” since Mejia is the second pitcher in our previews to fit that latter category. When not sitting out due to illegal use of an SNRI banned in the United States (and North America, for that matter, along with all of Europe and numerous Asian countries – so, yeah, he was using it to cheat), Mejia put together a strong season at Double-A, going 5-2 with a 2.45 in 12 appearances (nine as a starter), with 38 hits and 18 walks allowed in 51 1/3 innings while striking out 38 and holding opposing batters to a .204 batting average.

His first start in the AFL was a little rough, as he allowed six hits, one walk, and five runs (three earned) in 4 2/3 innings, and he struck out three The Giants are more concerned at this point about him getting in innings, not so much the results he puts up in this offensive-laden league. Mejia should start out the season in Triple-A, but will likely make an appearance in the majors at some point in 2016.

We have one more team to go, and that’s the Surprise Saguaros. Are there any surprises to be found on their roster? You’ll have to check that out to find out!

 

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