SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — And similar to that, the curtain has fallen on the 2024 Fall League marketing campaign.
The Salt River Rafters thwarted the Shock Saguaros’ try at a three-peat in unconventional trend because the highway membership of their residence park (by advantage of Shock ending with the common season’s finest file) with a 3-2 victory on Saturday night time. For D-backs, Nationals, Rockies, Twins and Yankees prospects, it meant ending the marketing campaign holding up a championship banner and partying across the mound after the twenty seventh out.
Jac Caglianone, 1B (KC No. 1/MLB No. 17)The very best-ranked prospect taking part in within the 2024 Fall League starred in its closing sport. Regardless of having performed his first contest of the yr precisely 9 months in the past for the Florida Gators, MLB’s high first-base prospect was nonetheless recent sufficient to file a trio of hits: an infield single he beat out within the first inning, a pointy base hit to middle within the fifth (off faculty teammate and D-backs prospect Phillip Abner) and a 105.2 mph base knock within the seventh.
A two-way sensation throughout his faculty days, Caglianone didn’t pitch throughout his stint within the Fall League — however the Royals plan to let him open 2025 as each a hitter and pitcher. On Saturday, his double obligation included taking part in first base and doing in-game interviews with MLB Community.
“To me, it’s all the time been what I’ve performed, so I type of know the way to navigate it,” Caglianone advised MLB Community’s Jim Callis. “Sort of determining what my physique can deal with and what it could actually’t might be going to be the largest factor, however I don’t suppose it’s something I can’t deal with.”
Kala’i Rosario, OF (MIN No. 19)The 2023 Fall League Residence Run Derby champ returned to the desert after an injury-hampered yr with Double-A Wichita, this time strolling out a champion. The suitable-handed slugger staked Salt River to a lead within the third inning it wouldn’t relinquish, slashing a dangling slider down the left-field line for an RBI double.
“I’d say once we walked on this morning, man, I imply, we have been excited to be right here and we knew we have been the workforce to beat,” Rosario stated. “And we knew if we got here out right here and performed [our game], no one may cease us.”
Evan Justice, LHP (COL)After making Fall League historical past by throwing 8 2/3 no-hit innings throughout the common season, the southpaw added yet another to his ledger for good measure. Justice labored round a stroll and a success batsman to earn the save, securing Salt River’s first league championship since 2019.
Working with a misleading movement, the 2021 fifth-rounder has included a sinker into his arsenal in hopes of sticking with the massive league membership constantly subsequent season and past — he rode it within the ninth on 16 of his 19 choices.
Antonio Gomez, C (NYY)A late addition to the Rafters roster, Gomez was the glue behind the dish all through the title sport. The Saguaros’ solely basestealing try was thwarted within the backside of the fourth when the Yankees prospect ripped off an 88.5 mph throw (which grades out within the 99th percentile per Baseball Savant) with a 1.41-second pop time to chop down the lead runner. Distinctive to the Fall League has been the incorporation of the ABS (automated ball-strike) system, which the 23-year-old navigated to earn his membership a number of overturns.
Marc Church, RHP (TEX)After making his MLB debut for the Rangers on Sept. 28, Church received to increase his yr with a stint on the membership’s advanced in Shock. The 23-year-old retired all six batters he confronted, together with three by strikeout. His fastball routinely sat 96-97 mph, whereas his upper-80s slider notched two of his punchouts. Of his 23 pitches, Church recorded 9 swings-and-misses.
Ryan Ritter, SS (COL No. 12)Two playoff video games, two multihit efforts for Ritter. After slugging a two-run homer in his closing at-bat throughout Salt River’s commanding Play-In Semifinal win, the membership’s designated hitter added a pair of hard-hit singles — 99.5 mph within the fourth, 106.2 within the sixth — to shut out his Fall League foray.
Max Acosta, 2B/SS (TEX)Chargeable for each of Shock’s RBIs and hits with runners in scoring place, Acosta received the scoring began within the first with a 106.6 mph run-scoring single. After strolling within the fourth, the 22-year-old beat out an infield single within the fifth to plate one other run, ripping off a 28.7 ft/sec dash pace (tied for his second highest of the AFL) within the course of.
Skyler Messinger, 1B (COL)After coming off the bench within the membership’s Play-In Semifinal victory on Friday night time, Messinger was inserted into the beginning 9 and shortly served as a sparkplug on the backside of the lineup. The lone participant within the contest to attain a number of runs, he reached base 3 times — twice through stroll, as soon as on a 103.4 mph double to open the third. Even his lone out — a 101.4 mph flyout to middle within the ninth — was hard-hit.
