Arizona Fall League Oct 30

RBI – 17 – Billy McKinney (NYY) leads the fall league with 17 RBI. He is batting .306 with 1 HR and 5 R in 36 at bats over nine games.
Last season McKinney hit .277, with 16 HR, 64 RBI, 66 R and 2 SB between Double-A and Triple-A. He was expected by some to get the call up in September but he did not.

SB – 7 – Yonathan Daza (COL) has been successful in seven of eight stolen base attempts this fall. I am not trying to pick this guy apart, but he puts on a little show every time he approaches the batters box and he never stops moving the bat. This may work for him but I wouldn’t miss it if he stopped acting like a showoff.

He is hitting .371 after 35 at bats in 11 games so far this fall, with 7 R and 4 RBI. He has walked once and struck out five times. He makes great contact against right-handed hitters but watch out when a lefty takes the mound.

Here he is kissing his bat, and you can see that his bat never stops moving around…

Here you see how he gets in the batters box, one step at a time:

K- 23 – Max Fried (ATL) had another great outing Saturday, allowing only one hit, striking out five and walking one over six scoreless innings. He maintained great composure even when his defense was looking like a bunch of third-graders playing catch at recess.

K/BB – Kyle McGowan (WAS) ranks third with 16 strikeouts and still hasn’t walked a batter. He has a 2.25 ERA after 12 innings and three starts.

He is 25 and has yet to make his major league debut. His stats do not tell a pretty story, but I took a look at his BABIP and strand rate to conclude that it might not be all his fault. If he keeps striking out batters without issuing walks we can expect to see him in the bigs in 2018.

HR – 5 – Alex Jackson (ATL) leads the Fall League with five home runs. He is batting .348 over 46 at bats in 11 games, with 13 RBIs and 13 runs scored.
Jackson was drafted sixth overall as an outfielder in 2014. He struggled with a shoulder injury as well as his plate discipline until the Mariners traded him to Atlanta last November.
The Braves moved him back to catcher, where he played in high school, and has been playing that position since.
He has 10 strikeouts in 46 at bats which is on par with last season, when he struck out 26% of the time. He needs to work on his plate discipline but if his power continues to develop and he can get the job done behind the plate, he could be a nice player to watch this spring for keeper and dynasty leagues

Runs – 17 – Ronald Acuna (ATL)

Acuna is not even going to turn 20 years-old until December, but the Braves top prospect makes everything look easy. He is tearing up the Fall League, hitting .378 with 9 RBI, 2 SB, and 3 HR in 45 at bats over 13 games.
In 2017 he spent time at three minor league levels, and actually improved at every level and hit a homerun the same day he was promoted to Triple-A Gwinnett, on July 19th.
Acuna has the potential to provide both speed and power and is expected to make his major league debut sometime in April 2018.

Austin Riley (ATL) is a decent third baseman with a lot of power. He is hitting .345 in 29 at bats over seven games, with 13 RBI, 6 R, 3 HR and 1 SB.

He hit for the cycle Thursday, scored 3 runs on four hits and drove in five. Pretty impressive.