2025 AFL

[CaliforniaRaisin]

The Cubs headed to the AFL, per Arizona Phil:

• C Owen Ayers
• SS Ed Howard
• 3B-1B Cole Mathis
• LHP Christian Gordon
• RHP Luis Martínez-Gómez
• RHP Matthew Peters
• RHP JP Wheat

[Bertz]

Hopefully Mathis makes up for some lost time.

I kind of wondered if we'd see Hernandez or Rojas go, though I wonder if Rojas hitting the wall at Tenn is at least in part physical.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Mangus gets the last Cubs AFL spot. No Gordon from the names Arizona Phil listed.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

These 10 Arizona Fall League Pitchers Touched 100 MPH In 2025: https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/these-10-arizona-fall-league-pitchers-touched-100-mph-in-2025/

[Irrelevant Dude]

That is the most uninspired AFL group we have seen in awhile.

[Tryptamine]

12 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

That is the most uninspired AFL group we have seen in awhile.

Yeah, outside of Mathis there's some maybe if I squint really hard guys and some, I don't even think they're with the organization next season guys.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

1 hour ago, Tryptamine said:

Yeah, outside of Mathis there's some maybe if I squint really hard guys and some, I don't even think they're with the organization next season guys.

That happens nearly every year - those are guys getting their last shot to convince the the org to keep them.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

1 hour ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

That is the most uninspired AFL group we have seen in awhile.

Yeah, part of it is just the state of the farm system. Alcántara, Ballesteros, Caissie. Long and Triantos have all been to the AFL once and outside of Rojas, they really don't have any other good position player prospects who move the needle in A+ or higher.

[muntjack]

I wouldn't mind seeing Christian  Hernandez get a shot.  Probably next year, though. 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Owen Ayers (C) is batting 5th and Ed Howard (2B) is batting 9th in tonight's Mesa opener.

Koen Moreno will get the start tomorrow.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Statcast data at the AFL!

Luis Martínez-Gómez: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K. Topped out at 96.4.

 

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Owen Ayers also had a fun AFL debut: 2/3, BB, HR

Ed Howard not so much.

[Bertz]

9 hours ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

Statcast data at the AFL!

Luis Martínez-Gómez: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K. Topped out at 96.4.

 

 

Oh he has my attention for sure right now.

~650 spin rate on his changeup/splitter/whatever is insane.  That's damn near top of the scale in terms of killing spin

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/statcast_search?hfPT=CH|FS|FO|SC|&hfAB=&hfGT=R|&hfPR=&hfZ=&hfStadium=&hfBBL=&hfNewZones=&hfPull=&hfC=&hfSea=2025|&hfSit=&player_type=pitcher&hfOuts=&hfOpponent=&pitcher_throws=&batter_stands=&hfSA=&game_date_gt=&game_date_lt=&hfMo=&hfTeam=&home_road=&hfRO=&position=&hfInfield=&hfOutfield=&hfInn=&hfBBT=&hfFlag=&metric_1=&group_by=name&min_pitches=0&min_results=0&min_pas=0&sort_col=pitches&player_event_sort=api_p_release_speed&sort_order=desc&chk_stats_spin_rate=on#results

[Jason Ross]

9 hours ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

Statcast data at the AFL!

Luis Martínez-Gómez: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K. Topped out at 96.4.

 

 

Martinez-Gomez was a name I had quickly started to pick up on come the end of the year. This is extremely exciting. 

It's very early, and it's a different version of a changeup, but that could put him in a Devin Williams type of a profile where fastball-changeup out of the bullpen could be devastating. 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Cole Mathis getting the start at first base today. Koen Moreno will be the Mesa starting pitcher.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Cole Mathis: 3/3, BB - played first and third
Koen Moreno: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K - topped out at 93.5
Mat Peters: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K

[Bertz]

6 hours ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

Cole Mathis: 3/3, BB - played first and third
Koen Moreno: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K - topped out at 93.5
Mat Peters: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K

Awesome 

I think too if Mathis rakes that's a great sign.  When the AA/AAA guys go and crush it that's largely just meeting expectations.  Mathis is far enough down the ladder it'd feel like it means a bit more.

[Jason Ross]

My biggest hope with Mathis is that a lot of the mediocre results in Myrtle Beach were due more to his health than his ability. The batted ball data in college was so damn good that him not cruising through Myrtle felt weird. Then he missed most of the year. 

Him crushing in the AFL would make me feel better about that data being more noise and injury related. 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Saturday's AFL games have already been cancelled due to the remnants of Hurricane Priscilla. We'll see about tomorrow's games.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

C Owen Ayers - 3/5, 2 doubles
SS Ed Howard - 0/2, 2 BB, 2 K
1B Logan Poteet - 0/4, K

[CaliforniaRaisin]

JP Wheat's first pitch in months is 101.7 mph.

1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 13 pitches (7 strikes) - only 2 pitches below 100 mph

EDIT: Wheat came back out for a second inning and got roughed up.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

C Owen Ayers: 0/2, BB, 2 K
1B Cole Mathis 1/3, K
RP JP Wheat 1+ IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 K

[Bertz]

3 hours ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

JP Wheat's first pitch in months is 101.7 mph.

1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 13 pitches (7 strikes) - only 2 pitches below 100 mph

EDIT: Wheat came back out for a second inning and got roughed up.

Wow! I knew he had gas but still wow.

Curious what the plan with him will be next year.  He's Rule 5 eligible, so there's a bit of a delicate balance between giving him SP opportunities to get reps and pushing him up the ladder as a reliever to see if he's worth protecting.  Palencia and Little both performed as SPs in Low A (and Palencia in High A) so they're not great comps.