Now that the 2025 Arizona Fall League season is over, it’s time to digest the numbers. Now, the AFL isn’t the be-all, end-all. However, it is a good barometer to see how prospects who need the extra time do against competition from various levels. Our look into the 2025 AFL standout covers the traditional and advanced numbers.
The traditional stats
Before going deeper into the advanced numbers, let’s start with the ones that are easier to calculate.
Starting with the hitters, no players had more hits than White Sox infielder Sam Antonacci and Rockies outfielder Charlie Condon (28). Leo Balcazar (Reds), Raudi Rodriguez (Angels), and Daniel Vazquez (Royals) came close with 26.
As for home runs, Esmerlyn Valdez led the AFL with home runs. Kevin McGonigle, the league’s MVP, and Mets C/OF Chris Suero tied for second.
Lastly, Pat Clohisy (22) and Enrique Bradfield Jr. (17), two speed demons down in the Minors, were the league leaders in stolen bases.
Moving to the pitchers, seven had 20+ strikeouts: Jake Bennett — the league leader with 25 — of the Nationals, Karson Milbrandt, Luis De Leon, Anderson Brito, Hagen Smith, Luke Sinnard, and Dominic Perachi.
James Hicks, the AFL Pitcher of the Year, only gave up six hits in 14 innings, struck out 19, and didn’t allow a run. Hicks is a member of the Astros’ system.
A look at the hard-hit machines
Given that Max Anderson led the AFL in batting average (.447), it shouldn’t be a surprise that the Tigers prospect led the circuit in other categories. Anderson also led the Arizona Fall League in hard-hit rate, which measures the number of balls with at least a 95+ exit velocity.
Anderson posted an impressive 69% Hard-Hit Rate, a byproduct of how well he played and the small sample size. He was one of two players to have a 60+% Hard-Hit Rate. Here’s a look at the top ten:
| Player | Team | Hard-Hit Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Max Anderson | Tigers | 69.0% |
| Jack Hurley | Diamondbacks | 64.9% |
| Jared Thomas | Rockies | 59.0% |
| Chris Suero | Mets | 57.8% |
| Fenwick Trimble | Marlins | 57.4% |
| Seaver King | Nationals | 57.1% |
| Dylan Dreiling | Rangers | 56.4% |
| Miguel Ugueto | Red Sox | 55.3% |
| Daniel Vazquez | Royals | 55.2% |
| Dylan Campbell | Phillies | 54.2% |
Interestingly enough, the AFL home run leader, Esmerlyn Valdez, didn’t make this list. Nor did power hitters Parks Harber and Ethan Petry, although all three did make the top 20.
Be mindful that it also includes ground-balls with a 95+ exit velocity; hence, why metrics aren’t exactly perfect.
Swing-and-miss time
Twelve hitters in total had Whiff% north of 40% this season in the AFL.
For those who followed along with our AFL coverage, we documented several of the offenders who’ll be noted here. Carson Roccaforte had the highest Whiff% among hitters with 100+ swings this year at 45.7%. Alfonsin Rosario and Billy Amick would have led the circuit had either met the 100+ swing criteria.
Pirates slugger Tony Blanco Jr., along with Walker Martin, Jack Hurley, Brandon Winokur, Maui Ahuna, Walker Janek, PJ Morlando, and Jonny Farmelo, also had 40+% Whiff% rates.
On the flip side, Sam Antonacci had the best contact rate. Antonacci had a 14.7% Whiff% rate, slightly ahead of Brewers prospect Luke Adams (15.3%).
Owen Ayers, Joshua Kuroda-Grauer, Josh Kasevich, Dante Nori, and Esmerlyn Valdez were among the other notables to have a sub-20% Whiff%.
Velocity kings
Let’s take a look at the five hardest-throwing pitchers, looking at the highest average four-seamers:
| Player | Team | AVG Four-Seam |
|---|---|---|
| Luis Perales | Red Sox | 99.1 |
| Drey Jameson | Diamondbacks | 98.1 |
| Anderson Brito | Astros | 98.1 |
| Hunter Parks | Reds | 97.9 |
| Jhancarlos Lara | Braves | 97.8 |
There are some intriguing names on this list, namely two premier pitching prospects in Luis Perales and Anderson Brito.
Aside from those two, Drey Jameson was throwing hard in the AFL. Diamondbacks fans should know Jameson’s name well, as he was a former first-rounder and has MLB experience. The 28-year-old struck out four but walked four over 5.2 IP.
Hunter Parks, a Rule 5-eligible reliever, is also here.
Speaking of Rule 5 eligibility, JP Wheat ranked as the pitcher with the hardest sinker. Wheat was regularly hitting the triple digits. However, the Cubs prospect had a brutal run in the AFL, as he walked 16 over 5.1 IP. That number led the AFL.
For those wondering, Royals prospect LP Langevin (88.6 MPH) and Anthony Flores (88.9) had the slowest average four-seamers.
Moving back to swings-and-misses
One would expect high swing-and-miss pitchers to have high strikeout totals — and you’d be correct in that assumption.
Jake Bennett, one of the more interesting pitchers in the Nationals’ farm system, had the most total swings-and-misses in the circuit with 69. Karson Milbrandt wasn’t too far away with 62.
Milbrandt, though, had the highest overall Whiff% with 49.2%.
Let’s expand on this for just a second and look at individual pitchers. starting with the sliders & sweepers. Jhancarlos Lara, who was called up briefly by the Braves in September, was nearly unhittable with his breaking ball. Out of 29 swings, 21 resulted in a whiff.
Among pitchers who induced at least 10 swings, Lara was easily first among his peers in that pitch group. Second was Tanner Smith with a 61.5% Whiff%. Smith was one of several prospects to go from San Diego to Baltimore in the Ryan O’Hearn/Ramon Laureano deal.
For splitters/changeups, Anderson Brito had the highest Whiff% at 69.2%, with Luis Martinez-Gomes nearby at 60%. The most whiffs were via Koen Moreno with 30. Johnathan Harmon, A.J. Causey, and Jake Bennett rounded out the top four.
Jack Sellinger, who struck out 12 over seven innings, had a lot of success with his curveball. Sellinger had 17 swings-and-missed off it, three ahead of Cade Denton for the most in the AFL.
Lastly, let’s look at the four-seamers. Karson Milbrandt had the most swings-and-misses off his fastball; the Marlins pitcher had a 41.8% Whiff% off that pitch. Winston Santos, Jaydenn Estanista, Koen Moreno, and Hagen Smith rounded out the top five.
On the other end of the spectrum, it was not a good campaign for Bryce Cunningham. Cunningham, the Yankees prospect who looked very good in abbreviated action with Hudson Valley (A+), walked nine and gave up 20 hits over 13 innings.
Cunningham had the second-lowest Whiff% in the AFL (min. 90 swings), behind only Pirates prospect Joshua Loeschorn (14.9%). The former Vandy product posted just a 16.0% Whiff% with Mesa.
Coming in third was Tigers knuckleballer Kenny Serwa (16.4%).
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