The Arizona Fall League’s third week belonged to a pair of prospects who made their marks in very different ways. Jack O'Dowd powered the bats, Justin Lamkin shut things down on the mound, and both were rewarded Monday as the AFL’s Hitter and Pitcher of the Week.
The league spent the week leaning into its usual offensive chaos, with four multihomer games and three of them happening on the same day as the first half of the season closed out. Through all that noise, O'Dowd and Lamkin stood out.
O'Dowd, a Rockies prospect playing for Salt River, was the top slugger in Week 3. The catcher/first baseman led the Fall League with three homers, 17 total bases, a 1.308 slugging percentage and a 1.770 OPS.
He also finished second in extra-base hits with five and third in RBIs with six. One of those big nights came Tuesday against Peoria, when he launched two homers in the same game.
For the week, the left-handed hitter kept piling up production, and across 10 games with the Rafters he’s batting .350. He now leads the league in home runs with five, extra-base hits with nine, total bases with 33, slugging percentage at .825 and OPS at 1.206.
O'Dowd’s breakout in the desert follows a long road to get there. After spending the 2025 season in the independent Pioneer League, he signed with Colorado in January.
The 25-year-old then played 107 games across three levels, finishing with 51 games at Double-A. In his first minor league season, the Texas product hit .307/.383/.564 with 23 homers, 30 doubles and 91 RBIs.
On the pitching side, Lamkin put together one of the cleanest outings the Fall League has seen so far. In Wednesday’s road game against Mesa, the Royals’ No. 8 prospect threw 4 1/3 perfect innings and struck out four of the 13 batters he faced, helping the Surprise staff carry a no-hitter into the seventh inning.
The 2025 second-round pick was sharp from the jump, throwing 40 of his 52 pitches for strikes, a 77 percent clip. The outing gave him his second AFL win and pushed his Fall League numbers to a 0.71 WHIP and a .128 average-against through three starts. Over his last 10 1/3 innings, Lamkin has allowed only two runs on two hits while striking out eight.
Lamkin’s regular season was interrupted by a left shoulder injury that ended his year on May 25. Before that, the Texas A&M product posted a 2.04 ERA in eight starts, with six coming for High-A Quad Cities and two for Double-A Northwest Arkansas. He struck out 53 and walked 14 across 39 2/3 innings.
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