Arizona Fall League Prospects of the Week: September 29-October 5

jared oliva pirates — Jared Oliva - photo credit Bryan Green on Flickr

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Ladies and gents, welcome back to another edition of Prospects1500’s Prospects of the Week. This fall, with the regular season having subsided and the MLB playoffs in full swing, we’re diving head first into the Arizona Fall League. Make sure to follow along each week because this is the very best time of the year when it comes to prospects, too. An All-Star league of baseball’s best prospects — what’s not to love? Now, here are last week’s top performers:

Hitters

Jo Adell, OF, Angels

9/18, 1 HR, 4 2Bs, 2 SBs, 3 BBs

After a “decent” showing to kick off the AFL, Jo Adell is rounding into form and putting the MiLB on notice: he’s ready. Adell had a bit of a tumultuous season as he worked his way back from injury, but he’s not showing any signs of that out in Arizona. He’s already tallied 29 total bases in 58 at bats, good for a .500 slugging percentage. This man looks ready to join Mike Trout in the Angels’ outfield next spring.

#Angels No. 1 prospect Jo Adell (#MLB No. 5) extends his @MLBazfallleague hit streak to six games with this massive blast to left.

Follow live: https://t.co/IgFtzIiEY2 pic.twitter.com/gSFZpHDezL

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) October 3, 2019

Joey Bart, C, Giants

4/11, 2 HRs, 2BBs

I promise that Joey Bart is (probably) not going to make this list every week, but he hit .364 and clubbed 2 more dingers. It’s not as if we’re gifting him a spot. Bart has continued his torrid pace to kick off the AFL and worked a pair of walks to go along with that power output. Bart has walked more than he’s struck so far (9:7) and boasts an absurd 1.306 OPS. Joey Bart is the real deal, my friends. His bat is going to play in a big way.

#SFGiants top prospect Joey Bart blasts off with a mammoth grand slam! (103.7 mph, 423 ft.)

It’s the 3rd homer in 6 @MLBazFallLeague games for #MLB‘s No. 19 overall prospect.

Follow live: https://t.co/63k58n4BCM pic.twitter.com/vhdqRqwqVB

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) September 30, 2019

Jared Oliva, OF, Pirates

8/16, 2 2Bs, 1 3B, 4 SBs, 4 BBs

For those uninitiated, I’d like to introduce you to Pittsburgh Pirates outfield Jared Oliva. Mr. Oliva is long and lean at 6’3” and 200 or so pounds and he brings some great athleticism to the table — as you may have guessed from his stat line. Oliva looks the part of a center fielder and his great speed only confirms that notion. The 23-year-old posted a 123 wRC+ in AA this year and has only picked up the pace here in the AFL. Jared has already racked up a league-leading 7 steals to go along with a 1.174 OPS.

#Pirates No. 11 prospect Jared Oliva continued his hot @MLBazFallLeague campaign with a 4-for-5 performance today, including this RBI double.

Here’s a closer look at Oliva on the @Pirates‘ Top 30 Prospects list: https://t.co/5Lzu81kWAB pic.twitter.com/vUVwS57M5T

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) October 5, 2019

Pitchers

Forrest Whitley, RHP, Astros

5 IP, 0 ER, 8 Ks, 5 H, 0 BB

We’ve got another repeat offender here in Forrest Whitley. I’ve got a feeling that it’s going to be difficult to keep him off this segment each week. I mean, he is still one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball — if not the best. Whitley had another great outing this week striking out 6 over 5 innings while allowing 5 hits and no runs. For those keeping track, he’s allowed just 1 run over 14+ innings for a 0.63 ERA. It would appear that he’s feeling more like himself again… to the dismay of hitters everywhere.

#Astros No. 1 prospect Forrest Whitley was dominant on the mound Saturday and leads the @MLBazFallLeague with 20 strikeouts over 14 1/3 innings.

More from @jimcallisMLB: https://t.co/0BF0WlGVaC pic.twitter.com/pWwBTiBpgz

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) October 5, 2019

Daniel Lynch, LHP, Royals

4 IP, 0 ER, 8 Ks, 2 H, 2 BB

Daniel Lynch makes his debut on our AFL Prospects of the Week list with a doozy of a start this week. Lynch was practically unhittable as he struck 8 over 4 innings while allowing just 2 hits and 2 walks. He’s allowed only 1 earned run in 11 innings thus far while totalling 17 strikeouts. You could say he’s been tough to square up. The 34th overall pick in the 2018 draft has done nothing but impress since going pro and it appears the AFL will be no different for him.

#Royals prospect Daniel Lynch has been impressive in the @MLBazFallLeague. Looking forward to watching him this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/cjbFBASQ6V

— William Boor (@wboor) October 6, 2019

Tanner Houck, RHP, Red Sox

4 IP, 0 ER, 8 Ks, 3 H, 2 BB

Before you ask, yes, the Red Sox do have a few good prospects left in their system despite what you may have heard and Tanner Houck is one of them. Tanner was magnificent this past week, striking out 8 in 4 innings and allowing 3 hits and 2 free passes, tallying his second scoreless appearance in the AFL, so far. While Houck didn’t dazzle in AA, he was effective enough to earn a promotion to AAA. He was impressive in his short stint in Pawtucket and has carried that success with him out west. With the Boston rotation in flux going into 2020, Houck could very well parlay a good AFL season into a potential rotation spot for the Red Sox.

“I was dealing with four pitches today.”#RedSox No. 5 prospect Tanner Houck piled up 8 strikeouts over 4 scoreless frames in @MLBAZfallleague action.

More from @jimcallismlb: https://t.co/8s3QiAFU0o pic.twitter.com/AuNxyxuQAW

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) October 3, 2019

Joe Drake

Joe Drake covers the Oakland A's and Eastern League for Prospects1500. During the day, he can be found working in grant accounting at Dartmouth College. Joe is a lifelong baseball fan and avid fantasy baseball player of 15+ years. While he enjoys all formats, he believes that nothing beats a good dynasty league. Despite being a born and raised Mainer, Joe is a diehard Cardinals fan, but, the Red Sox are his AL team.