Pitching prospects Espino, Cunningham, Perales back in spotlight in Fall League

MESA, Ariz. -- The Guardians' Daniel Espino, the Yankees' Bryce Cunningham and Luis Perales of the Red Sox are three of the best arms in the Arizona Fall League and looking to get more innings after missing most of the season. They all took the mound on Tuesday for their AFL debuts, with Perales starting in an afternoon game and Espino and Cunningham opposing each other in a night contest.

Though their results varied, all three expressed relief to be recapturing their stuff and pitching again.

The most impressive of the trio was Espino, a 2019 Guardians first-rounder from a Georgia high school who was dominating Double-A while showcasing the best stuff in the Minors in April 2022. Then the Guardians' No. 29 prospect came down with tendinitis in his right knee, developed shoulder soreness while rehabbing and wound up having two surgeries, getting a muscle strain and capsule tear repaired in May 2023 and damage to his shoulder capsule and rotator cuff fixed in March 2024.

Espino didn't pitch in a Minor Leagjue game for 1,250 days, finally returning to the mound on Sept. 20, giving up three runs while recording two outs in a Triple-A game. The Guardians are handling him with extreme care, so he was scheduled to work just one inning for the Surprise Saguaros.

While Espino didn't push his fastball to 103 mph or his slider to 93 like he did before he got hurt, his stuff still looked very crisp. He averaged 97 mph and topped out at 99 with his heater, while his slider ranged from 85-89 mph.

Espino needed just 16 pitches to navigate a scoreless first inning against Mesa, throwing 11 for strikes and surrendering only an infield single to Starlyn Caba (MIA No. 5). He struck out rehabbing big leaguer Max Muncy (Athletics) looking on a 97-mph fastball and Brailer Guerrero (TB No. 9) swinging on a 98-mph heater with good carry up in the zone. The biggest difference between this outing and his Triple-A return was that he had much better command of his fastball.

"I've been really happy with the way I've been throwing strikes and getting in the zone," Espino said. "I'm really happy with how the slider is working and especially the fastball and how in control I am. I definitely feel like I'm able to throw where I want to throw the baseball."

Seven Espino family members came up from Panama to see his Triple-A outing, and his mother and two brothers were in attendance for his Fall League debut. They plan on staying throughout the six-week season, and he said he appreciates getting spoiled by his mom's cooking. He's also enjoying being able to pitch on a regular basis again.

"I wish I could go out and go another inning, but you just got to be patient," Espino said. "It's tough because I'm a competitor, and once I get the adrenaline pumping and all that I want to keep going, but also I have to keep in mind that I'm doing this for next year and the years next. I want to be in the big leagues for the longest time I can be, so I'm keeping that in perspective as well."

A Yankees' second-round pick out of Vanderbilt in 2024, Cunningham overmatched High-A hitters at the outset of his pro debut this year until he developed shoulder issues in mid-May. The club's No. 5 prospect missed two weeks, returned briefly in early June, then sat out two months before making four short starts at the end of the season and joining the Mesa Solar Sox.

Cunningham had the longest outing of the three but also got hit the hardest, surrendering four runs in the first inning on five hits, including three hard-hit doubles and a 381-foot homer by Wuilfredo Antunez (Guardians) off a 77-mph curveball. He used his best pitch (a lively changeup with nice depth) just once in the frame and it retired Blake Mitchell (KC No. 2/MLB No. 62) on a fly ball to left field. He went to his cambio more often during a scoreless second and left after a full-count walk to Luke Adams (MIL No. 8) to open the third, taking the loss in Surprise's 9-6 victory.

Cunningham threw 30 of his 51 pitches for strikes but generated only three empty swings. He operated at 93-94 mph and maxed out at 96 with his fastball, though it got hit hard. He had difficulty landing his mid-80s slider and mid-70s curveball, while the changeup ranged from 83-90 mph and accounted for two of his six outs even though he deployed it just seven times.

"Physically, I felt really good," Cunningham said. "Overall, I'd love to start off a little better than that, but it just gives me some things to work on going forward. I think the heater command early was probably pretty good. It was just the secondary pitches, just a tough time commanding them early on...

"The second inning, I felt a lot more like myself, just kind of getting in a rhythm and getting comfortable. I think using the changeup more was a big part of it."

Signed for just $75,000 out of Venezuela in July 2019, Perales reached 95 mph with his fastball a month later at age 16. He reached Double-A and developed into Boston's best pitching prospect by June 2024, but he blew out his elbow in his second start there and required Tommy John surgery. He came back with three brief appearances in the final weeks of the Double-A and Triple-A seasons this September before becoming a Salt River Rafter.

Slated for two innings or 35 pitches against Glendale, Perales showcased live stuff but had trouble locating it. He walked three of the seven batters he faced while delivering 17 of his 33 pitches for strikes in a 7-3 Rafters win.

Perales' fastball parked at 99 mph and peaked at 101, though it generated just one swing-and-miss in 13 opportunities. The best offering by the Red Sox No. 9 prospect was a cutter that ranged from 86-94 mph, including one at 91 that caught Ryan Galanie (White Sox) looking for a strikeout. His 85-88 mph slider wasn't sharp but his lone changeup provided a swinging K of Travis Honeyman (Cardinals) at 86 mph.

"It just felt good being out there competing and just kind of building off of that," Perales said via translator/Rafters pitching coach Tyler Mark (D-backs). "I felt good, felt strong. The cutter is one of my better secondaries, so just seeing it perform today felt good. It also was just kind of a testament to the hard work I put in during the rehab and on to right now."