Cubs Arizona Fall League Week In Review: Dominick Reid Impresses In First Week

With the first full week of the Arizona Fall League (AFL) ending, let’s take our first look at the nine prospects the Chicago Cubs sent to Mesa to compete.

The AFL is primarily a developmental league, but that does not mean the same thing to each team. Some teams send top prospects to get more work against better competition across the six-week league. Other teams use the AFL to make up innings for prospects that missed significant time with injury throughout the regular season. Last year, Owen Ayers began his prospect breakout by taking home the AFL All-League catcher award. As per usual, the Cubs sent five pitchers and three hitters to the Mesa Solar Sox this season, as well as hitter Miguel Useche to Salt River. Can any of them replicate what Ayers did last year? Before we get into the first week of play, let’s take a look at each of the nine prospects the Cubs sent to Arizona. 

Jhon Cabral

Cabral is an interesting AFL selection for the Cubs. Released in June by the Marlins after a fourth straight rough year in Rookie ball, the Cubs signed Cabral and got pretty disastrous results from his 11 innings across the ACL and Carolina League. In those 11 innings, he gave up 11 hits, 14 walks, and 21 runs. While he did have 21 strikeouts, those numbers do not indicate fall league selection to me. Yet, here we are; the 21-year-old just wrapped up his fifth professional season, yet he has never thrown more than 22 innings in a single season.      

Yoendris Gonzalez

Gonzalez finds himself in the AFL after a quality 2026 season split across Myrtle Beach and South Bend. The 23-year-old threw 37.2 innings with a 36% strikeout rate and a 9% walk rate and allowed just 11 runs on 27 hits. Gonzalez seems likely to start the year in the AA bullpen, so a stint in the AFL where he can throw some more innings and face higher competition seems to be a great springboard for him.  

Dominick Reid

A 2025 draftee, Reid is coming off of his first professional season. He spent April and May in Myrtle Beach, but was then placed on the 60-day IL before returning to make one final start in September in South Bend. Reid threw 50 innings in Myrtle Beach with a 23% strikeout rate and a 9% walk rate. The reasons for his inclusion here are likely two-fold: He only threw 53 innings this year and needs more work as he was third-round pick in 2025, and they want to see what he looks like in the AFL setting. Reid likely starts next year back in Myrtle Beach, but the 22-year-old could push for a AA assignment with a strong fall league showing.

Luis Rujano

This is the second trip to the AFL for the 23-year-old Rujano, as he threw nine innings back in 2024 for Mesa. He has posted back-to-back seasons with a strikeout rate north of 24% since then, split between South Bend and Knoxville. Rujano’s issue is that the punch-outs come with a walk rate north of 15%. He really struggled this year in Knoxville with 25 walks in just 29.2 innings. The Cubs are looking for Rujano to find the zone more consistently and hoping the exposure to the AFL helps build confidence for a player likely returning to Knoxville next season.   

Anhuar Garcia

The Cubs signed Garcia out of the Mexican League before the 2025 season and, as a 21-year-old, he put up a strikeout rate of 24% and a walk rate of 9% across 32 innings while allowing 21 earned runs in Rookie ball. Those are not numbers that jump off the page, especially for his age in the complex league. He followed that up with a strong 2026 split across Myrtle Beach and South Bend where he increased his strikeout rate to 29% and decreased his walk rate to a minuscule 5% while allowing just 17 runs in 43.1 innings. Similar to Reid, this AFL selection seems to aim to get Garcia both more innings and expose him to some higher level competition in preparation for next season.   

Juan Cabada

Cabada made his stateside debut this year with an impressive 14 game sample in the ACL before missing three months and ending the season with promotion to Myrtle Beach in which he scuffled a bit over 17 games. After missing all that time, there is no question he needs more game reps, so his inclusion in the AFL makes sense from that perspective. For the 18-year-old Cabada, though, the AFL selection may also be the Cubs testing the mettle of a prospect they gave a seven-figure bonus to. As one of the youngest players in the league he is likely to struggle, but he can learn a ton by being around older players and the higher level of competition.        

Kade Snell

Snell’s inclusion on the AFL roster makes a ton of sense. He was a fifth-rounder in 2025 and although his draft season debut was a bit lackluster, he rebounded to put together a quality 2026 season in South Bend. However, e only played 81 games due to a broken wrist in May. The AFL allows Snell to get more game reps and at-bats before he aims to open the 2027 season in the Knoxville outfield.     

Harrison Feinberg

The most interesting inclusion on this year’s AFL roster, Feinberg will make his professional debut in the AFL. It is an incredibly aggressive assignment for Feinberg after signing with the Cubs as an undrafted free agent in July. A corner outfielder out of Northeastern University, Feinberg hit 47 career NCAA home runs with a 1.013 OPS across four seasons with a 20% strikeout rate and a 12% walk rate. This will be a fascinating debut for him. 

Miguel Useche

Signed out of Independent Ball last season, Useche had a solid season with an .816 OPS in South Bend before getting promoted and putting up an .861 OPS in Knoxville. He is a little on the older side, but played C/1B/LF/RF for the Cubs this year and provides solid depth for Salt River. 

Now that we know the nine prospects, how did the first week go?

Dominick Reid: 8 IP, 5 hits, 2 runs, 9 strikeouts, 4 walks

Reid started the AFL opener for Mesa and delivered four innings with seven strikeouts, one walk, and just one ball hit out of the infield (although it was a home run). He recorded three strikeouts each with his fastball and slider, and one with his sinker. He sat 92-94 with the fastball, slightly lower with the sinker, and 82-85 with both the slider and changeup. He also showed a cutter and a curveball. His second start came in the seventh game for the Solar Sox, though he was not as crisp. Facing the same opponent again, Reid worked through traffic all day and was the recipient of two runners thrown out on the bases (both started by Cubs outfielders, Feinberg and Snell respectively). His stuff looked similar to game one and he did manage to limit the damage to just one run through four innings.  

Anhuar Garcia: 5 IP, 6 hits, 7 runs (4 ER), 2 strikeouts, 4 walks 

Garcia was the first man out of the 'pen for Mesa in their opener. He walked the first batter and the second batter hit a 105.9 ground ball for the double play before getting a fly out to end the inning. He got two hard-hit fly-ball outs on four pitches to start the next inning before giving up a soft double and then going 100+ mph homer, four-pitch walk, 100+ mph homer, four-pitch walk and getting pulled. He was 90-92 with his four-seamer and sinker, 86-89 with his cutter, and 84-86 with the slider. He gave up home runs on a slider and four-seam fastball. Garcia got his second appearance over the weekend and was much better. He came in in the second with a runner on, likely much earlier than he expected, and got a ground ball and strikeout to get out of the inning. Across 3.1 innings, Garcia gave up just three singles, including one of the infield variety, while striking out two.

Luis Rujano: 2.2 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 3 strikeouts, 2 walks

Rujano got his first appearance out of the Solar Sox 'pen in their third game of the season. He has shown five pitches so far, averaging 95-97 mph on his four-seam and sinker, 92 mph on his cutter, and 82-84 mph on both the curve and slider. He walked one and gave up one hit, but got two ground-outs and three strikeouts. His second appearance came over the weekend and he walked the leadoff hitter before giving up a RBI double with one out. Rujano also has made his own life difficult by making a throwing error in each of his two appearances.  

Jhon Cabral: 1.1 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 strikeout, 2 walks

Cabral relieved in game two for Mesa. He is out there throwing almost all fastballs and sitting 99-101. He has not shown much other than the fastball in his limited time, but the velocity is quite promising.

Yoendris Gonzalez: 1.1 IP, 2 hits, 6 runs, 2 strikeouts, 5 walks

Gonzalez also relieved in game two for Mesa, though he did not look great. He sat 94-96 on his four-seam and mixed in a sinker, slider, change, cutter. The results of that first appearance: three walks and a hit by pitch in his six batters, as he couldn’t get out of the inning. He came in late in a few games later and walked back-to-back hitters to start the inning. He struck out the next two but a two-out, RBI infield single was followed by a three-run homer at 100+ mph and he was again yanked before completing an inning.    

Kade Snell: 19 ABs, 4 hits, 2 runs, 1 double, 4 walks, 2 strikeouts

Snell hit leadoff for Mesa for the opener and went 2-4 with a walk and two balls hit over 100 mph. He is just 2-15 since then and has fallen toward the bottom of the lineup. He has hit just two balls in the air in the AFL; everything else has been on the ground. 

Juan Cabada: 15 ABs, 2 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts, 1 SB

The season has started as expected for the 18-year-old. He has started four games and has a 41% k rate. He has hit one ball over 100 mph, but most of his contact has been weak. He did have a two-out, ground-ball RBI single during the week for the Solar Sox, but he has hit just one line drive and one fly ball in his 15 at bats. It is early, but he certainly looks overmatched.

Harrison Feinberg: 9 ABs, 3 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks, 1 strikeout, 1 SB

Feinberg has only started three games thus far, but two of them were Mesa’s last two games. He didn’t get a start until game three and had a strikeout and two ground-outs before hitting a two-out RBI single at 108.7 mph. In the last two games, he has gone 2-5 with three walks, a 109 mph single, and a stolen base. I would expect him to get some more playing time after those two performances, but he is showing impressive exit velocities in his limited sample.

Miguel Useche: 4 ABs, 0 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 0 strikeouts

Useche has started two games for Salt River so far. He went 0-1 with two walks and a sac fly in his first start and 0-3 in his second. He has yet to play behind the plate, with one start coming at 1B and the other in LF. 

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Interested in learning more about the Chicago Cubs' top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!