It was Fall Stars week in Arizona, as the best of the AL prospects faced the best of the NL prospects for one game, and the NL won 9-2. The Giants who represented the NL probably were not the two you might have guessed when the AFL started, but one of the pitchers got the pitching win, so you can’t complain.
Otherwise, it was an interesting week for the system. Logan Wyatt and Adrian Sugastey continued to have nice runs in the fall, and Carson Whisenhunt had his second start, but had some more struggles. And Luis Matos continues to have his own struggles.
Hitters
Luis Matos:
Week 5: 3 G, .167/.231/.250, 2-for-12, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 SB, 1 CS
Overall: 20 G, .288/.271/.367, 18-for-79, 3 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 4 BB, 17 SO, 1 SB, 2 CS
It’s been another difficult week for Luis Matos in the AFL, and at this point, it doesn’t look like any reasonable team would consider taking him in the Rule 5 draft. But on the silver lining side, he had his first extra-base hit in weeks, and he didn’t strike out in the games he played.
Logan Wyatt:
Week 5: 2 G, .250/.625/.250, 1-for-4, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 4 BB, 1 SO, 0 SB, 0 CS
Overall: 15 G, .311/.516/.333, 14-for-45, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 17 BB, 6 SO, 0 SB, 0 CS
Well, Logan Wyatt is sticking to his profile at this point, as he walked in half of his plate appearances over two games. Wyatt has definitely been able to use his fall performance to bounce back after a difficult year, though he’ll need to improve other secondary skills beyond drawing walks to move up the system.
Adrian Sugastey:
Week 5: 1 G, .333/.500/.333, 1-for-3, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 1 BB, 0 SO, 0 SB, 0 CS
Overall: 7 G, .391/.440/.435, 9-for-23, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 2 BB, 1 SO, 0 SB, 0 CS
Coming into the Fall League, Adrian Sugastey had some of the least advanced experience, having spent the season in Low-A, and unsurprisingly, he hasn’t been used often. But there’s no doubt that Sugastey has more than held his own against advanced competition this fall, and should use this as a nice springboard going forward.
Andy Thomas:
Week 5: 1 G, .333/.600/.333, 1-for-3, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 2 BB, 0 SO, 0 SB, 0 CS
Overall: 11 G, .194/.375/.226, 6-for-31, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 9 BB, 8 SO, 1 SB, 0 CS
While he got into just one game, Andy Thomas had one of his best single games of the fall, which is good as he’s had some struggles. He might be taking some tips from Logan Wyatt, now with more walks than strikeouts. In the regular season, he had 91 strikeouts to 58 walks.
Pitchers
Carson Whisenhunt
Week 5: 1 G, 1 GS, 10.80 ERA, 2.40 WHIP, 1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 HB, 1 HR, 2 BB, 2 SO
Overall: 2 G, 2 GS, 4.91 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, .286 BAA, 3.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 HR, 0 HB, 2 BB, 7 SO
Carson Whisenhunt’s second start was a lot tougher than his first, as he struggled with control and gave up his first big hit, a home run than knocked in a pair of runs. That might make his numbers a bit more outsized than other AFL prospects since his start in the circuit came three weeks late, for an even smaller sample size than others.
Tyler Myrick
Week 5: 1 G, 1 GS, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 HB, 0 HR, 1 BB, 0 SO
Overall: 9 G, 0 GS, 0.82 ERA, 0.64 WHIP, .108 BAA, 11.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 HR, 0 HB, 3 BB, 9 SO
Perhaps the breakout prospect for the Giants in the AFL, Myrick had only one game in the “regular” season, but also pitched in the Fall Stars game. Interestingly, Myrick struggled, giving up a run in his innings on one hit and three walks, but also ended up getting the win as the NL stars took the led right after his game. That game aside, every year different relievers have big years, and Myrick is now someone to watch in 2023.
Hunter Dula
Week 5: 1 G, 0 GS, 54.00 ERA, 12.00 WHIP, 0.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 HR, 0 HB, 1 BB, 0 SO
Overall: 8 G, 0 GS, 5.63 ERA, 2.00 WHIP, .303 BAA, 8.0 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 HR, 0 HB, 6 BB, 7 SO
It was a really rough single game for Hunter Dula this week. He saw his ERA jump from 3.52 to 5.63 with the one game, since he only got one out in the game.
Spencer Bivens
Week 5: 1 G, 0 GS, 0.00 IP, 1.00 WHIP, 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 HR, 0 HB, 1 BB, 0 SO
Overall: 7 G, 0 GS, 0.87 ERA, .097 WHIP, .143 BAA, 10.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 HR, 2 HB, 5 BB, 11 SO
For the uniquely older Bivens, it was a good week as he had another strong game in the “regular” season, and also got to appear in the Fall Stars game. Bivens pitched the 8th inning with a four run lead, and struck out two while walking one. Bivens is such a unique prospect, 28 years old but with only this season as experience in the affiliated minors, but he’s showing he can pitch against more advanced hitters.
Will Bednar:
Week 5: DNP
Overall: 2 G, 2 GS, 16.20 ERA, 2.10 WHIP, .357 BAA, 3.1 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 HR, 1 HB, 2 BB, 3 SO
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