October might be my favorite baseball month, with the playoffs and the Arizona Fall League in full swing. It's also hard to argue with March (Spring Training, Spring Breakout, Opening Day), June (college baseball playoffs) and July (Futures Game, Draft). Let me stop pondering that to answer some of your questions...
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I enjoyed interviewing Tigers shortstop Kevin McGonigle for the Oct. 7 Pipeline Podcast. He's the No. 2 prospect on our Top 100 list, the best pure hitter in the Minors and a commanding presence. @SauceBoss0824 isn't the first person to ask me about his comments related to his father and his sweet left-handed stroke.
"It was always just me and my dad going to the local field and just working on some things," McGonigle said. "I never listened to anyone else other than my father when it came to hitting. … Nowadays, you're on social media seeing everyone teaching different ways to swing a bat, but I think the best way you can swing a bat is just the way you swung it when you were 10 years old."
That quote and the rest of our discussion didn't bother me at all. My sense is that McGonigle knows his swing very well and is very confident in his ability at the plate. Why wouldn't he be after hitting .308/.410/.512 in his first three seasons and getting to Double-A a month before he turned 21?
McGonigle has yet to face any adversity in pro ball, so we don't know that he won't be willing to listen or make adjustments when he does. I get the sense that he wants to be great, and if he needs to make changes, he will.
I spent the first week of the Arizona Fall League season taking in six games, and I would have seen at least nine if weather hadn't intervened. I'll repeat my usual line that the AFL is baseball's hidden gem. It has all of the best parts of Spring Training without the crowds and the high prices.
I saw most of the Fall League's 10 Top 100 Prospects in action, as well as several intriguing unranked players. Outfielder Wuilfredo Antunez has decent all-around tools and is one of the better sleeper hitters in the Guardians system. I saw him homer twice in two games before he left the second contest with a shoulder injury.
The Cubs' Owen Ayers is off to a hot start with the bat in the AFL. He's 6-for-18 with a pair of homers and has thrown out seven of the 18 basestealers (39 percent) who have tested him.
I focused on watching a lot of the Fall League's most famous arms: Bryce Cunningham (Yankees), Daniel Espino (Guardians), Luis Perales (Red Sox) and Hagen Smith (White Sox). One unranked pitcher who stood out is Astros right-hander Hudson Leach, who worked with a 95-97 mph fastball, high-spin (up to 3,116 rpm) curveball in the low 80s and tough upper-80s slider while striking out three of the four batters he faced. He had three elbow surgeries in college, which is why he was a non-drafted free agent out of Miami (Ohio).
MLB Pipeline announced its Minor League hitters and pitchers of the year for every organization last week, with five teams having current Top 100 Prospects claim both of its honors and another pairing a guy who ranked No. 1 overall before he graduated with a Top 100 dude. I'd rank them in this order:
Red Sox: OF Roman Anthony (former No. 1), LHP Payton Tolle (No. 28)
Mariners: SS/3B Colt Emerson (No. 9), RHP Ryan Sloan (No. 44)
Pirates: OF Konnor Griffin (No. 1), LHP Hunter Barco (No. 78)
Cubs: OF Owen Caissie (No. 47), RHP Jaxon Wiggins (No. 67)
Marlins: C Joe Mack (No. 70), LHP Robby Snelling (No. 51)
Yankees: OF Spencer Jones (No. 99), RHP Elmer Rodriguez- Cruz (No. 97)
The two best that aren't both present or past Top 100 Prospects belong to the Tigers (SS Kevin McGonigle, No. 2; RHP Troy Melton) and the Mets (3B/1B Jacob Reimer; RHP Jonah Tong, No. 46). Speaking of New York ...
Among Mets pitching prospects who have yet to reach Citi Field, Jonathan Santucci stands out the most because he has the deepest repertoire and reliable control. Being left-handed helps his cause, too. He might have been a first-round pick out of Duke in 2024 if his strike-throwing hadn't gotten inconsistent and a rib injury hadn't cost him three starts, which dropped him to the second round.
Santucci misses bats with all four of his pitches, working primarily with a fastball that ranges from 92-95 mph and touches 97 and a plus upper-80s slider. He doesn't use his low-80s curveball or upper-80s changeup as much but both can be tough to handle. Making his pro debut this year, he posted a 3.06 ERA, .219 opponent average and a 138/41 K/BB ratio in 117 23 innings between High-A and Double-A.