Arizona Fall League Oct 24, 2024 / Scottsdale v Mesa
Sloan Park / Mesa, AZ
Oct 25, 2024
Author: 3-1Count.com
It was a day game for me, hitting Sloan Park in Mesa to see the Scottsdale Scorpions take on the Solar Sox. Driving over I’m thinking of all the star prospects on these lineups. For Scottsdale there’s Bryce Eldridge, Jett Williams, Termarr Johnson and Drew Gilbert. For Mesa Xavier Isaac, Moises Ballesteros, Tre’ Morgan, Daniel Susac, and Denzel Clarke.
So, of course, the lineups threw me the old curveball though. Both teams took today to rest most of their marquee players. As a result my focus shifted to Josue Briceno for Scottsdale, who I have not seen in person yet, as well as Tre’ Morgan and Denzel Clarke for Mesa.
I also wanted to share some of the Arizona ballparks with you so I’ll start with Sloan in Mesa. This is the Spring Training home for the Chicago Cubs and is a really great ballpark! I like pretty much all of the spring training ballparks in Arizona but Sloan is definitely up towards the top. The central location is a big plus but the real draw is it’s clean and well laid out design. There’s not a bad seat in the house and when the weather is cooler sitting in the “bleacher” grass is a great way to enjoy baseball!
Pre-game behind home plate
View from the LF line
Today was the unusual low scoring AFL game as Mesa beat Scottsdale 4-1. We did have a couple of home runs with Peyton Williams going deep for Scottsdale and Jonathon Long for Mesa. Neither of which I have video of. Of course.
My video today was limited to Josue Briceno, Tre’ Morgan, and Denzel Clarke. When they weren’t batting I just sat back and enjoyed being at the ballpark.
So, let’s talk about Briceno. He’s a 20yo prospect in the Detroit Tigers organization. Listed as a C/1B Briceno split his time pretty evenly between the two positions in 2024 and he also grabbed a number of games at DH. Fangraphs has Briceno as a 40+ FV prospect yet he is not on many prospect radars. Well, at least, he wasn’t.
Currently Briceno is tied for the AFL home run lead with 6. He also came into today’s play hitting .439 with 12 RBI and 9 runs scored. And a .489 OBP. It’s the Fall League and guys regularly put up big stats from the box. But it’s not so often that a somewhat unheralded 20yo does this. Briceno is out of Venezuela and made his pro debut in 2022. So far he has delivered a high walk rate, a modest strikeout rate, and a quality batting average at each level he has played. Yet nothing necessarily screamed breakout coming.
What actually gets my attention is Briceno’s swing. It’s surprisingly simple and fairly short for a player his size (listed 6’4 200 and likely bigger). With the type of power he seems to have keeping the swing tight like this should be a big plus as he faces more advanced pitching. You can take a look at Briceno in the couple of videos that follow.
I came into the AFL knowing nothing about Josue Briceno and now he is very much on my radar (and a lot of other people’s as well). This happens every year in the AFL. A few years ago it was Logan O’Hoppe for me. At the time O’Hoppe had little to no hype and he has since become the starting catcher for the Los Angeles Angels. It’s not to comp Briceno to O’Hoppe but to use him as an example of how a strong AFL can impact the career path for players.
I’ve written about Tre’ Morgan many times this year. I’m an LSU guy so of course I write about Morgan! But to watch him play is to understand the appeal. He’s a throwback type who you appreciate more and more when you see him on the field.
Below is a video of one of his at-bats today. What I want you to notice is that with 2 strikes he chokes up even more than normal. It’s an old-school move and shows you just how determined Morgan is to not give up one single at bat. A mindset I absolutely love in today’s power driven, home run happy game. Morgan was 1-4 today and that one hit came in this at-bat where he refused to give in with an 0-2 count.
And finally, the tooled up Denzel Clarke. Clarke led off for Scottsdale today and went 0-4 with a K. And during his last plate appearance he sacrificed this bat to the baseball gods.
The plan for tomorrow is to catch the Salt River Rafters taking on the Glendale Desert Dogs at Camelback Ranch. Another great ballpark and my first look at both teams this season.
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