A handful of Arizona Fall League standouts have spent the month forcing their way onto the radar, and not all of them came into the showcase with much buzz attached.
Fifteen Top 100 Prospects have been in the AFL this season, and several have done exactly what you’d expect. White Sox outfielder Caleb Bonemer, Phillies third baseman Aidan Miller and Angels shortstop Arjun Nimmala have been among the circuit’s best hitters, while Nationals right-hander Jarlin Susana has separated himself as the top pitching prospect in the league.
But the more interesting story might be the group that wasn’t on the Top 100 at all - and in some cases didn’t even crack an organization’s Top 30. Seven of those players took another step forward and appeared in Sunday’s Fall Stars Game.
Kevin Bazzell has been one of the most complete catchers in the AFL. The Nationals prospect, a 2024 third-round pick out of Texas Tech, has paired a strong arm and solid work behind the plate with a polished offensive approach.
He’s hitting .349/.500/.605, and his 7 percent strikeout rate leads the league. The power is real enough, too, with average pop showing up in games.
Yerlin Confidan took home Fall Stars Game MVP honors after flashing impact power throughout the league. The Reds outfielder, signed for $200,000 out of the Dominican Republic in 2019, has posted the best exit velocities in the AFL and is batting .323/.380/.585. He has also done more damage against non-fastballs than he has in the Minors, and his arm gives him a clear right-field fit.
Kyle DeBarge has answered a rough Double-A stint with a strong run in Arizona. The Twins infielder/outfielder, a 2024 supplemental first-rounder from Louisiana-Lafayette, has hit .347/.473/.625 with four homers and eight steals in 20 games. His value is boosted by the ability to move around the diamond, and his plus speed plays well with a steep right-handed swing that helps him squeeze production out of his fringy raw power.
Vance Honeycutt’s tools have kept jumping off the page. The Orioles outfielder, the 2024 first-round pick from North Carolina, has continued the late-season surge he started in Double-A.
In 14 games, he’s batting .256/.500/.535 with three homers and eight steals, while trimming his strikeout rate to 24 percent from 42 percent during his two years in Single-A and High-A. He brings well-above-average raw power and speed, and some scouts think he’s the best defensive outfielder in the Minors.
Jack O’Dowd has turned a catcher conversion into one of the AFL’s loudest power displays. After going undrafted as a college second baseman at Texas, he rebuilt his career behind the plate, hit 22 homers in 84 games in the independent Pioneer League last year and earned a deal from the Rockies.
He then slashed .307/.383/.564 and reached Double-A in his Minor League debut. In Arizona, he leads the league with six homers in 20 games and owns a .995 OPS.
He’s also the son of former Colorado general manager and current MLB Network analyst Dan O’Dowd, and he has shown real power along with surprisingly advanced framing for someone still early in the catching transition.
Aaron Parker has made noise with both the bat and his athleticism. The Blue Jays outfielder/catcher, a 2024 sixth-round pick from UC Santa Barbara, posted 90th-percentile exit velocities of 107.9 mph, which ranked in the top 1 percent during the Minor League season.
He has carried that damage into Arizona, where he is hitting .356/.483/.511, won the Fall League home run derby and has added eight steals in 12 games. He has also started learning left field.
In Other News...
James Wood Just Gave Nationals Fans A Huge Reason To Believe
James Woods rise took another big step when he was named to the 2026 All-MLB Second Team, a recognition that puts him among the six best outfielders in the sport. For a Nationals club still looking to build around young talent, that kind of honor matters because it confirms what the numbers already suggested: Wood is no longer just a promising piece, he is becoming one of the most productive players in baseball.
He backed up the selection with a season that featured a .265/.388/.503 line, 30 home runs, 30 doubles, 77 RBIs and 21 stolen bases across 135 games. Wood also led all outfielders in on-base percentage and set a franchise record with 10 leadoff home runs, a mix of power, patience and speed that gives Washington a real centerpiece to point to as it keeps trying to turn potential into wins. [Read more 🡒]
CJ Abrams Looks Central To Washingtons Plans For A Reason
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Spencer Nusbaums report points to a front office that sees Abrams as part of the clubs path to competitiveness in 2027, even with the usual caveat that any player can be moved for the right return. For now, though, the more revealing part of the story is what Washington is not doing: treating Abrams like a trade chip, and instead acting as if his role in the next phase of the rebuild is already taking shape. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Are Taking Another Flier On A Pitching Project
The Brewers are giving another low-risk look to a young arm with some traits worth betting on, and for Nationals followers, the name is a familiar one. Ben Moore, a 22-year-old left-hander, has moved on to Milwaukee on a minor league contract after spending two years in Washingtons farm system, where he was one of the more intriguing developmental pitching projects in the pipeline.
Moores appeal has always been tied to the raw stuff that made him interesting before he turned pro, especially the velocity he showed in amateur ball. Washington used a 12th-round pick on him in the 2025 MLB Draft, but his professional track record remains thin, which is exactly the kind of profile a team like Milwaukee tends to circle back to and try to unlock further. [Read more 🡒]