Friday's top 10 Arizona Fall League performers

Here are the top 10 performers from Friday, Oct. 18 in the Arizona Fall League.

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Reggie Lawson, RHP, Padres No. 21; Logan Driscoll, C
Two Padres prospects stood out on Friday for Peoria. Lawson’s first AFL start was a success, as he worked four scoreless innings. The right-hander, who missed most of the 2019 regular season to injury, racked up six strikeouts to go with a hit and a walk allowed. He’s posted a 0.71 WHIP over seven innings of work this fall. Driscoll continued to rake early in his Fall League campaign, recording three hits, including an RBI single in the eighth inning, and scoring two runs. In seven at-bats over two games, the 21-year-old has five hits after cranking two homers in his debut. More »

Spencer Howard, RHP, Phillies No. 2
Even when he’s working on stuff and without great command, Howard is extremely difficult to hit. The Phillies’ right-hander went four scoreless against Mesa on Friday night, allowing just one hit while striking out four. He did walk three, largely because he was trying some new things out in his fifth Fall League start.

“I had a plan going in to work on changeups to righties and fastballs inside, just to start trying to implement that into my gameplan,” Howard said. “When you work on new stuff, you’re not always going to have feel for it. With eight righties in their lineup, it was a good time to work on it. Overall, I think it was productive and it’s a step in the right direction.”

The outing brought Howard’s AFL ERA down to 2.45 and was much sharper than his previous two (five earned runs over 8 1/3 IP). He now leads the league with 23 K’s in 18 1/3 total innings. He’s given up just nine hits and walked seven for a 0.87 WHIP.

C.J. Chatham, SS, Red Sox No. 9
Chatham plated a run with each of his two hits, as he delivered a run-scoring single in the second inning to put Peoria on the board before adding an RBI double in the eighth. The 2016 Draft pick (2nd round) finished the game 2-for-4, snapping a 1-for-20 skid at the plate, and overall he’s batting .250 with eight RBIs through 15 games.

J.J. Matijevic, 1B/OF, Astros No. 17
Matijevic’s third AFL homer was a ninth-inning solo shot to left center field that had an exit velocity of 106.2 mph. The dinger highlighted a big day at the plate for the Astros’ No. 17 prospect, who finished 1-for-3 with two walks and two runs scored from the three spot in Peoria’s lineup. He’s having a strong campaign in the desert, batting .304 with 24 hits and 13 RBIs through 21 games.

Logan Warmoth, SS, Blue Jays
Warmoth put an exclamation point on Scottsdale's offensive performance. After the Scorpions put three runs on the board in the first, it was nothing but zeroes until there were two outs in the ninth. That’s when Warmoth crushed a 3-1 pitch out to left-center field for his first Fall League home run. He went 1-for-3 and is now hitting .306 this fall.

Jacob Heyward, OF, Giants
Heyward served as Scottsdale’s designated hitter and cleanup hitter on Friday night and contributed most of the Scorpions offense in their 4-0 win over Mesa. Batting with one out and two men on in the top of the first, Heyward took a 1-0 offering from Tigers starter Anthony Castro out to left field for his first home run of the fall. He doubled in his next at-bat and finished 2-for-3 with a walk. After a very slow start to the AFL, Heyward has gone 5-for-12 with three doubles and a homer over his last four games to bring his average up to .233 and his slugging percentage to .533.

Gerrardo Carillo, RHP, Dodgers No. 22
Carillo put together an impressive start for Glendale, tossing four scoreless innings in which he yielded just one hit. The right-hander lit up the radar gun as high as 98 mph with his fastball, which helped him to tally six strikeouts, tying for his most in a Fall League start. He did struggle with his command, throwing just 40 of 71 pitches for strikes in addition to walking three batters, but he worked around trouble on the basepaths to ultimately lower his ERA to 2.66.

Glenn Otto, RHP, Yankees
Otto was virtually untouchable for the majority of his start against Glendale, retiring the first 11 batters that he faced. The only blip on his radar came in the fifth when he yielded a pair of singles that produced a run, only his third allowed this fall and the first that came via means other than a home run. The right-hander finished with eight strikeouts, sitting consistently at 93-96 mph with his fastball. After having been converted to the starting rotation upon joining the Yankees out of Rice University, Otto appears to be a turning a corner in the Fall League, where he owns a 1.35 ERA across five starts.

Jose Azocar, OF, Tigers
Azocar went 2-for-4 and stole a base for the second time in three games. He’s having a strong Fall League campaign, batting .262 with five steals through 12 games.