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MLB announced the rosters for the 2026 Arizona Fall League on Tuesday, featuring 12 players in MLB.com's top 100 prospects, ahead of the minor league showcase's opening day on Saturday, Oct. 3.

The AFL has six teams – with each representing five MLB organizations – that play 30 games during the course of a month in Arizona. Every MLB team has at least seven players participating in this year's AFL, according to the league.

The championship game is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 14 in Peoria at the spring training home of the San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners. All six teams reach the "postseason" with the top two getting a bye to the semifinals. The AFL Fall Stars Game will take place on Nov. 8 with the league's Home Run Derby that day.

Past MVPs of the Arizona Fall League include Ronald Acuña Jr. (2017), Kris Bryant (2013) and Nolan Arenado (2011). Last year's winner, Kevin McGonigle of the Detroit Tigers, is expected to win the AL Rookie of the Year award in 2026.

Here's a look at every team's roster for the 2026 AFL:

The Houston Astros player development department has named C Jason Schiavone the Astros 2026 Minor League Player of the Year, RHP Bryce Mayer the Astros 2026 Minor League Pitcher of the Year, OF Anthony Huezo the Astros 2026 Minor League Baserunner of the Year, IF Max Holy the Astros 2026 Minor League Defender of the Year and IF Yamal Encarnacion the Astros 2026 Standard Award recipient. All five players will be recognized in a pregame ceremony at Daikin Park on Sunday, September 20.

Schiavone, 23, has batted .246 (104×422) with 84 runs, 23 doubles, 31 HR, 87 RBI, 90 walks, 29 stolen bases and a .907 OPS in 118 games between High A Asheville (35 games), Double A Corpus Christi (79 games) and Triple A Sugar Land (four games). He leads the Astros minor league system in OPS, slugging percentage (.521), RBI and home runs, while also ranking second in runs,  fifth in OBP (.386), fifth in doubles, fifth in walks and eighth in stolen bases (min. 200 AB). Schiavone was also named the Astros Minor League Player of the Month in April and May. The Astros selected the catcher in the 11th round of the 2024 MLB Draft from James Madison. The 23-year-old is rated as the Astros number six overall prospect by MLB.com.

Mayer, 24, has gone 6-4 with a 3.21 ERA (35ER/98IP) in 23 appearances, including 20 starts between Double A Corpus Christi and Triple A Sugar Land. The right-handed pitcher also recorded 132 strikeouts, a 1.19 WHIP and a .202 opponent batting average. Mayer ranks first strikeouts per nine innings (12.12), first in ERA, first in opponent batting average, second in WHIP and seventh in walks per nine innings (4.32) in the Astros minor league system (min 90 IP). Mayer has now earned the Astros Minor League Pitcher of the Year in consecutive seasons. He was also the Astros Minor League Pitcher of the Month in July after he recorded a 0.47 ERA (1ER/19IP) with 29 strikeouts for the month. The 24-year-old was drafted by the Astros in the 16th round of the 2024 MLB Draft from the University of Missouri. He is rated as the Astros number eight overall prospect by MLB.com.

Huezo, 20, batted .242 (105×433) with 79 runs, 31 doubles, four triples, 22 HR, 73 RBI, 58 walks, 47 stolen bases and an .825 OPS in 112 games between Single A Fayetteville, High A Asheville and Double A Corpus Christi. The 20-year-old stole 47 bases and was caught only 12 times for a 79.7 percent success rate. He ranks third in the Astros minor league system in stolen bases this season. Huezo was drafted by the Astros in the 12th round of the 2023 MLB Draft from Etiwanda High School in California. The 20-year-old is rated as the Astros number 10 overall prospect by MLB.com.

Holy, 24, appeared in 110 games this season between High A Asheville and Double A Corpus Christi, making starts defensively at shortstop (100), second base (five) and third base (five). He committed just 10 errors in 391 total chances for a .974 fielding percentage, while turning 42 double plays. Holy was signed by the Astros as an undrafted free agent on July 20, 2024, from Central Missouri University. He is rated as the Astros number 29 overall prospect by MLB.com.

The Astros Standard award, which was established this season, highlights a player who represents the core values of the organization in a positive way both on and off the field. Encarnacion, 23, spent the entire season with Double A Corpus Christi, batting .266 (93×349) with 61 runs, 18 doubles, four triples, five home runs, 48 RBI, 37 walks, 48 stolen bases and a .720 OPS in 95 games. The 23-year-old was signed by the Astros as an undrafted free agent on January 15, 2021, from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Back in early September, we asked Purple Rowers to tell us the stories they wanted to read, and we got some great suggestions. Among those questions was this one from DaveN5280:

While this probably falls into the “playing time distribution” category, I’m pretty sure a lot of us here on PR want to know where all those lineup construction and late-inning PH decisions are coming from. Is it just old-school “lefty-righty” kinda stuff from Schaef and the bench coach or hitting coach? Or is it coming from real data provided by the analytics dept and/or GM—level direction to always “optimize the situation?” And is there any awareness of how these decisions in the 6th/7th innings affect the game situation in the 8th/9th?

Or maybe that’s a deeper dive that should be covered in an off-season story 🤷‍♂️

I don’t know how many people know this, but Colorado Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer is a chess enthusiast — he loves strategy. (In fact, Schaeffer and CJ Cron used to play regularly.) I share this because I was thinking about his chess background while listening to his rationale for the line ups he constructs.

When I asked this question, on Saturday, September 5, the Rockies had lost to the St. Louis Cardinals the night before. With that game over, Schaeffer was looking to the evening’s game against LHP Matthew Liberatore.

I have decided largely to run this as a transcript — I want you to have a sense of Schaeffer’s thinking — but I have corrected players’ nicknames for clarity’s sake and done some light editing.

Here’s my question: What’s your approach whenever you’re setting up a lineup?

This is Schaeffer’s answer:

It’s multifaceted.

There’s a lot of work and time that gets put into it.

Jake (McCarthy’s) going to lead off. Period. That hasn’t moved. That hasn’t changed in a very long time because he sets the tone. He’s been good against lefties. He doesn’t punch out. When you flip the order over, he can offer thump. He can drive runs in, which you’ve shown that he does.

Then after that, so let’s see here.

Today we’re facing a left-handed pitcher, so that third time through, the left-handed pitcher coming through, which is tough on a pitcher. We all know that. If you match him up with guys that are more likely to do damage against him, which today it’s Connor Norby right-handed, it’s Hunter Goodman right-handed, TJ Rumfield in the four hole, he’s left-handed.

It makes it difficult when you go left, right, right, left for them to match up later in the game.

A lot of the stuff that is constructed, especially in the lower part of the lineup, because Goodman’s going to hit three most days, Rumfield’s going to hit four most days, McCarthy’s going to lead-off most days, Moniak’s going to hit second against a right-handed pitcher, especially at home, because that’s where he does all his damage, and you want him up that third time through against the right-handed pitcher.

The bottom of the lineup is constructed a lot of the time for later-game matchups.

Today, Rumfield’s in the four, Cole Carrigg’s in the five, switch hitter. Jordan Beck is in the six.

So you’ve got right, right, left with Troy Johnston.

Right, right, Adael Amador, Ezequiel Tovar.

This is just being totally open with you.

I had it earlier, where at first I had Amador, Johnston, Tovar, and then I flipped it because I thought it was too easy of a for them to match up with their left-handers in the pen with Johnston hitting there.

So you could go left-hander at Troy, who I’m probably not going to hit for Tovar in the nine, and then left-hander at McCarthy, who I’m not going to hit for, and they get the matchup that they want in that spot. So you try to avoid that as much as you can.

That’s why a lot of our times our our I would say five-through-nine looks different on a daily basis. It’s later game matchups that you’re thinking about.

It’s knowing what the other club does as well and who’s available in their bullpen.

Sometimes you’re wrong. Like last night, I didn’t think that O’Brien was going to come in in the ninth inning. He had thrown back to back against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Long night flight, and he went three in a row for the first time in his career. Good for him, and he was he was nails. But that was something that was different. I wasn’t prepared for it.

Now I wouldn’t have done anything different, but that just it’s a testament to you can plan and plan and plan, and then sometimes it just the game throws itself at you.

MLB.com’s Thomas Harding asked this question: How much of it is information that’s given to you, looking at usage and everything else for the other bullpen. How much of it is gut?

Here’s what Schaeffer said.

When I construct the lineup, both (information and intuition) are in play. You know, for me, it’s hard.

Maybe even if Goodman’s struggling, it’s hard for me to take him out of the three-four hole because he’s a force to be reckoned with at any moment.

You’ll see Moniak not quite as much in the two-hole on the road against right-handed pitching because he’s typically better at home. These are just things that exist. I don’t know. It’s both (information and intuition). I’m having a tough time thinking of like gut stuff that overrides matchup stuff.

Everybody knows who hits and who doesn’t hit.

And you want your guys, typically your better hitters, one through five. That’s it basically.

And I think maybe some people could want to say, “Move McCarthy out of a leadoff spot against left-handed pitching because that spot’s coming around, and you want the right-hander at the top,” but not me. That’s more gut. That’s more gut because there is something to leaving a guy like that in a spot that he’s comfortable with, and he doesn’t even think about it, and he knows he’s earned it, and he does a really good job at it, so it’s good to have that spot covered.

I love talking about lineup construction.

I’ve evolved in my in my thought process on lineups, as well, especially with when you get to the big leagues and the late-game matchups are so important to get, and especially with the way our team is built. We need the best matchups, and we’ve been doing it all year.

And our offense has been really good all year, just in general, compared to the league. And a lot of that is late-game matchups.

You prepare also for where you’re going to pinch hit, and you know who you’re going to pinch hit, and when and where. And the lineup is constructed based on that as well at certain points.

It’s definitely been good because when I was in the minor leagues and old school thought. . . . But old school, people used to say, some teams can be constructed like that, where one through nine, they know. Like the Dodgers, they know one through nine what the order they’re going to be in every night, pretty much, for the most part over the past five years.

And there’s something to that. There’s something to a guy knowing, “I’m going to hit third and play first base every day.”

We’re not built like that. Our team is not built like that. We need matchups.

The Rockies won that game, 10-7. Here’s the box score, so you can judge for yourself how Schaeffer’s line-up strategy went.

Closing thoughts

Obviously, line-up construction doesn’t win a baseball game. Rather, it’s a strategy for maximizing talent.

And as Skyler Timmins showed recently, the Rockies hitting problems are not due to platooning; rather, they are the result of not having enough effective right-handed hitters. As Skyler wrote: “With Goodman and Karros on the Injured List, Freeman in Triple-A, and the other options not exactly thriving on either side of the platoon, it’s showing cracks in the offense. More than ever, the Rockies need better right-handed hitters.”

It’s also easy to see the value of switch hitters given how the Rockies are constructed. Switch hitters give Warren Schaeffer another tool in his strategy arsenal. When Willi Castro is healthy, the Rockies have three of them (and I wondered throughout the Cardinals series if his bat would have made a difference). I expect the Rockies to give Amador serious innings throughout September. If he can hit, they will have found their second base man and solidified another switch hitter in their arsenal.

That’s what I learned. Let us know what you think in the comments!

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

Late last night, the news got out that Reynaldo López would be heading back to the IL with shoulder inflammation and that JR RItchie would be coming up as a result. Ritchie will reportedly be making the start on Wednesday, so none of these moves were particularly surprising when the Braves announced it.

However, Atlanta ticked on an encouraging rehab assignment for a relieve that we haven’t seen for a very long time.

Well, would you look at that! Joe Jiménez is beginning a rehab assignment. I’d imagine that a lot of folks probably expected to see Robert Suarez’s name here considering that he’s been the one that we’ve seen most recently on a big league mound for the Braves.

With that being said, Jiménez had been throwing live BP recently and and there had been indications that he was doing that just to finally get back on the mound before the 2027 season. That honestly might still be the case as far as this rehab assignment goes, as it would be asking a ton of Jiménez to return at this juncture of the season with a Postseason run on the horizon.

Still, it’s good to see that Jiménez appears poised to make a return to the Braves — whether it’s this season or next. It’s been a long, long road to recovery for Jiménez and hopefully there are no more setbacks for the veteran reliever.

Before he was known as Slow Joe, Judd Bruce Doyle was a right-handed pitcher growing up in the middle of Kansas. Like most of the time, his love of baseball was not born in an organized league, but in the school lot and in local games in his community featuring players of all ages.

Judd Bruce Doyle
Born: September 15, 1881 (Clay Center, KS)
Died: November 21, 1947 (Tannersville, NY)
Yankees Tenure: 1906-1910

Born before the turn of the century, Doyle was small even by the standards of the time. He was reported by most accounts at 5-foot-8 and 150 pounds. However, growing up working on the family farm made Doyle what many call country strong or stout. Despite having some strength behind his small frame, Doyle relied on changing pace and his arm slots to keep hitters off balance, much like former Yankee folk hero Nestor Cortes. Doyle and his mix of overhand and submarine deliveries tossed a drop ball, rise ball, changeup, and the legendary spitball.

Doyle’s professional baseball journey started right after he graduated from Clay Center High School in 1901. This kicked off a five-year run through the amateur ranks. In 1902, Doyle suited up for the Fort Worth Panthers and the New Orleans Pelicans. Then, in 1903, Doyle joined the Baton Rouge Red Sticks in the Cotton States League. In his first season in Baton Rouge, Doyle went 16-9 and helped the team win the league championship. He started the 1904 season back in a Red Sticks jersey, but would finish that season and play the 1905 season for the Wheeling Stogies.

After playing well for the Stogies, Doyle finally landed the coveted contract with a professional team when his rights were sold to the New York Highlanders in August of 1905. Slow Joe burst onto the scene a few days later, making his debut on August 25, 1906. In his first start, Doyle threw a six-hit shutout against the Cleveland Naps. He followed that up with another shutout against the Washington Senators in his second game. The rookie appeared in nine games total, tossing 45.1 innings with a 2-1 record and 2.38 ERA.

Following the hot start to his career, Doyle came into the 1907 season expecting to be a big part of the Highlanders rotation. Doyle appeared in 29 games, making 23 starts. This led to what would stand as his career-high 193.2 innings with an impressive 2.65 ERA and an 11-11 record. Doyle led the Highlanders with 15 complete games and 94 strikeouts. It was also during this run that his reputation for slow playing really took hold. The Washington Times referred to Doyle as the Human Snail due to his long stretches between pitches.

In 1908, Doyle’s third season, Slow Joe was officially the name adopted and used by the press as an unofficial, official name. Doyle’s arm did not handle the large workload from the year before well, and he was limited to 12 games, only four starts, and only 48 innings. Despite being effective when he pitched, the lack of availability started to be the story.

Doyle asked for extra days of rest between starts in 1909, and it led to a rebound. He pitched in 17 games, making 15 starts, tossing 125.2 innings, and going 8-6 on the year. Still just 27 years old, Doyle’s arm simply could not handle the workload of a normal pitcher of the time.

The Highlanders had Doyle on their roster to start the 1910 season but ended up cutting him halfway through the year. The Cincinnati Reds signed Doyle, and he pitched the final part of the season for them. After making five relief appearances for the Reds, Doyle’s major league career was over at just 28 years old after the 1910 season.

Beyond his memorable nickname, Slow Joe Doyle holds a legendary status among modern sports collectors due to one of the rarest and most valuable printing blunders in baseball history: the 1910 T206 “Slow Joe” Doyle error card. During the production of the iconic tobacco card set, the American Lithographic Company accidentally designated Doyle as playing for “Nat’l” rather than “Amer” in his New York uniform. After catching the mistake, the printers pulled the printing plate, scrapped off the “Nat’l” letters, slapped the plate back into the machine, and continued printing. Today, fewer than a dozen authentic copies are known to exist, making it more rare than the famed Honus Wagner T206 card.

Happy birthday, Slow Joe!

Vidal Brujan

Week: 6 G, 23 AB,.391/.500/.696, 9 H, 1 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 5 BB, 6 K, 1/2 SB (Triple-A)

2026 Season: 60 G, 198 AB, .268/.381/.399, 53 H, 10 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 33 BB, 39 K, 15/20 SB, .318 BABIP (Triple-A) / 9 G, 11 AB, .091/.167/.091, 1 H, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 1 BB, 1 K, 0/1 SB, .100 BABIP (MLB)

Had the McNeil Rule not been activated, MJ Melendez would be our Hitter of the Week. He hit .381/.519/1.000 with four homers this week and has been on an absolute tear over the last couple of weeks. Since August 1st, he is hitting .301/.368/.707 in 33 games with 12 doubles, 1 triple, and 12 home runs. Because Melendez is not eligible, Vidal Brujan is instead the Hitter of the Week.

The Mets traded for the veteran back in January, sending cash to the Minnesota Twins to complete the exchange. Not that he had much of a chance making the big league club, but he performed poorly in spring training, making it moot, and was assigned to Triple-A Syracuse. He ended up spending only a few weeks there before the Mets called him up to Queens, as Ronny Mauricio hit the injured list with a broken thumb at the beginning of May, joining Francisco Lindor.

Brujan did not play much, and when he did, his stats were unimpressive. A former top prospect in the Rays’ minor league system around the beginning of the decade, the same thing happened every time Tampa Bay gave him an opportunity. They eventually gave up on him, leading to a trade in November 2023 to the Miami Marlins. Almost a year later, the Marlins traded him to the Chicago Cubs for cash. He didn’t last the season with Chicago and was claimed by the Braves on waivers that August. Designated for assignment by Atlanta in January, he was claimed by the Minnesota Twins. Designated for assignment by them a week after being claimed, he was finally traded to the Mets for cash.

A light-hitting utility infielder, it is hard to imagine too many scenarios where the Mets would be in need of his services in 2027 at the major league level. He has performed fairly enough in Syracuse, and if he were re-signed and re-assigned there in the future, I’d have no problems with it, but at the same time, if he was signed elsewhere, I would lose no sleep over it.

Jonathan Santucci

Week: 1 G (1 GS), 5.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K (Triple-A)

2026 Season: 19 G (19 GS), 68 H, 42 R, 36 ER (3.57 ERA), 45 BB, 120 K, .314 BABIP (Double-A) / 7 G (7 GS), 29.0 IP, 31 H, 19 R, 17 ER (5.28 ERA), 18 BB, 37 K, .351 BABIP (Triple-A)

Now that the Single-A seasons are over, our player pool has decreased by 50%. As such, with only pitching performances from the Binghamton Rumble Ponies and Syracuse Mets to choose from, and of those two teams, Jonathan Santucci had the best week. In past weeks, Santucci’s performance might not have passed muster to be Pitcher of the Week, but here we are.

The left-hander really struggled after being promoted to Triple-A Syracuse at the beginning of August. In his first four starts, he posted a 7.71 ERA in 14.0 innings, allowing 16 hits, walking 16, and striking out 18. He seems to have settled down and adapted a bit, posting a 3.00 ERA over his next three starts, allowing 15 hits, walking 2, and striking out 19 over those 15.0 innings. The drop in his walk rate stands out the most, shrinking the free passes he issued eightfold, from 16 to 2. Seemingly, a biproduct of issuing fewer free passes and throwing in the zone more, Santucci’s home run rate has increased over this “good” streak, allowing four homers in those 15.0 innings as opposed to the 1 that he allowed during his “bad” string of starts. Hopefully, that does not continue and become a trend.

With four Pitcher of the Week wins, the McNeil Rule is being activated. Santucci is the second player—and the first pitcher—to have the McNeil Rule activated this season. He is the first pitcher to be McNeil’ed since Jonah Tong in Week Eleven of the 2025 season (June 3-June 8) and the first left-handed pitcher since Zach Thornton a few weeks earlier in Week Nine (May 20-May 25).

Players of the Week 2026

Week One/Two (March 27-April 5): Hayden Senger/Cam Tilly

Week Three (April 7-April 12): A.J. Ewing/Christian Scott

Week Four (April 14-April 18): Randy Guzman/Jose Chirinos

Week Five (April 21-April 26): A.J. Ewing/Channing Austin

Week Six (April 30-May 3): A.J. Ewing/Jonah Tong

Week Seven (May 5-May 10): Ryan Clifford/Jonathan Santucci

Week Eight: (May 12-May 17): Jacob Reimer/Zach Thornton

Week Nine: (May 19-May 24): Ryan Clifford/Channing Austin

Week Ten: (May 26-May 31): Ryan Clifford/Jose Chirinos

Week Eleven: (June 2-June 7): Vincent Perozo/Frank Camarillo

Week Twelve: (June 9-June 14): JT Benson/Nicolas Carreno

Week Thirteen (June 16-June 21): Nick Morabito/Jonathan Santucci

Week Fourteen (June 23-June 28): JT Benson/Daviel Hurtado

Week Fifteen: (June 30-July 5): MJ Melendez/Daviel Hurtado

Week Sixteen: (July 7-July 12): Daiverson Gutierrez/Jonathan Santucci

Week Seventeen (July 13-July 19): MJ Melendez/Noah Hall

Week Eighteen: (July 21-July 26): Ronny Mauricio/Conner Ware

Week Nineteen: (July 28-August 2): Mitch Voit/Jonah Tong

Week Twenty (August 3-August 9): Mitch Voit/Noah Hall

Week Twenty-One (August 11-August 16): Elian Peña/Jose Chirinos

Week Twenty-Two (August 18-August 23): Yonatan Henriquez/Xzavion Curry

Week Twenty-Three (August 25-August 30): MJ Melendez/Jonah Tong

Week Twenty-Four (September 1-September 6): MJ Melendez/R.J. Gordon