Demetrio Crisantes is off to a sizzling begin within the Arizona Fall League. The 22-year-old second baseman has gone 8-for-20 with a triple and a pair of doubles for the Salt River Rafters. That hardly comes as a shock. As our personal Brendan Gawlowski wrote previous to the common season, “Crisantes has a case as the perfect pure hitter within the D-backs system.”
The Tucson native’s monitor report largely backs up that opinion. Since being drafted within the seventh spherical by his home-state staff in 2023 out of Nogales Excessive College, Crisantes has slashed .312/.399/.473 with a 125 wRC+. Furthermore, this previous season he batted .296 with 10 residence runs over 335 plate appearances between three ranges, topping out at Triple-A. Notably, Arizona’s No. 3 prospect performed all however the ultimate two weeks as a 21-year-old.
Staying on the sector has been a difficulty. Crisantes has undergone a pair of Tommy John surgical procedures — the primary at age 15, the second two years later — and he has subsequently handled hamstring and shoulder accidents. That makes his stint within the desert particularly significant. Eric Longenhagen put it this fashion in his Fall League preview:
“He has actually hit when he’s been wholesome, and the way he appears to be like within the AFL would possibly assist inform whether or not the D-backs really feel comfy buying and selling Ketel Marte this offseason. He’s arguably an important eval in all the league.”
Requested for a self-assessment of his strengths as a hitter, Crisantes cited the plus contact expertise described in Gawlowski’s scouting report.
“Once I was little, I by no means favored putting out,” stated Crisantes, who logged a 17.5% Okay-rate and a ten.9% stroll charge this.season. “My bat-to-ball expertise have at all times been fairly good, and I’ve at all times labored on that with my dad again residence. I’m making an attempt to lean into my energy a bit of extra as I become old, however that’s one thing I at all times return to: my bat-to-ball expertise.”
Making constant contact in opposition to the perfect pitchers on the planet is particularly difficult, and Crisantes is already getting ready for that. The Rafters play their residence video games at Salt River Fields at Speaking Stick, the Diamondbacks’ top-notch spring coaching facility, which implies that he’s getting a chance to face a few of baseball’s finest on a Trajekt. Admittedly, his outcomes haven’t been nice.
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“They’ve plenty of Dodgers on there, so I’ve hit off of [Yoshinobu] Yamamoto and [Shohei] Ohtani, Crisantes stated of his machine efforts. “I bought a single off of Yamamoto, a line drive single, however Ohtani type of owned me a bit of bit. It’s good to see all of these totally different shapes and velocities, although — how the big-leaguers can look.
“Pitchers are getting higher; their stuff is lots higher than ever earlier than,” the promising teenager went on to say. “Generally hitting comes naturally, however there are additionally instances while you’re within the dumps and all the pieces appears to be like nasty, and also you don’t know what to do. You simply must reset and keep in mind who you might be.”
When issues are going nicely, hitting is enjoyable. Proper?
“Then hitting is enjoyable,” Cristantes replied with a smile. “So enjoyable.”
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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Eddie Yost went 4 for 4 in opposition to Leo Cristante.
Jose Iglesias went 3 for 4 in opposition to Nabil Crismatt.
Tony Criscola went 3 for 3 in opposition to Invoice Trotter.
Coco Crisp went 3 for 3 in opposition to Hayden Penn.
Dode Criss went 3 for five in opposition to George Mullin.
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Left on the cutting-room flooring from my late-September characteristic on Nick Sogard had been his reminiscences of taking part in for Blake Butera in 2019. Drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays that very same summer time, the now-Boston Pink Sox infielder was starting his skilled profession with the Hudson Valley Renegades, who had been led by the present Washington Nationals supervisor. Then simply 26 years outdated, Butera was in his second yr on the helm of the short-season affiliate.
“It was superior,” Sogard stated of the expertise. “I actually loved taking part in for Blake. He was my first supervisor, and an actual participant’s supervisor. He additionally performed to win. I keep in mind that very clearly. We had been a successful staff (the Renegades completed tied for the perfect report within the New-York Penn League) and I really feel he performed an enormous half in that. He did job of meshing individuals who had been new to professional ball, in addition to guys from all around the world.”
Might Sogard have imagined that his younger skipper would go on to handle within the majors?
“I felt he had a fantastic baseball thoughts,” he stated. “That was my solely taking part in expertise with the Rays, as a result of the 2020 season was cancelled after which I bought traded over right here [in February 2021]. However I’ve recognized that he went on to tear by way of the ranks. It’s tremendous cool. I’m actually comfortable for him, and glad I bought to play for him.”
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I’m at present studying Peter Gammons’s new e book, It’s All Concerning the Gamers, and it’s predictably incredible. Listed below are two temporary passages, one on Wade Boggs, the opposite on Ichiro Suzuki:
Fifth pitch in Kansas Metropolis, he hit the waterfall. The Stadium? Over the wall. He would drive opposing managers loopy. When Ray Miller managed the Twins, he stated “Boggs will get to 2 strikes, then begins fouling balls off to get his pitch, like a man sorting by way of his mail on the lookout for a verify.”
Ichiro instructed Raul [Ibanez] that he swung a bat 360 days a yr and took a bat with him on trip journeys… “He might have received any residence run hitting contest,’ Ibanez stated. ‘I keep in mind one time in BP he hit twenty-one straight pitches out of the park, then within the sport bought 4 mushy contact hits.”
The e book is a must-read for baseball followers. Gammons — whose erstwhile Sunday Notes column in The Boston Globe significantly influenced alone writing type — is a grasp storyteller.
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A four-part quiz:
9 pitchers have recorded 400 or extra saves. Of them, which has (1) probably the most wins, (2), probably the most losses, (3) probably the most residence runs allowed (4) probably the most strikeouts. (A touch: two are right-handers and two are left-handers.)
The reply might be discovered beneath.
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NEWS NOTES
SABR introduced yesterday that Janet Marie Smith has been honored with the 2026 Dorothy Seymour Mills Lifetime Achievement Award. Extra info might be discovered right here.
The Latino Baseball Corridor of Fame introduced on Wednesday that Alex Cora is the primary recipient of the Roberto Weill Award, which honors extraordinary contribution to Latin American baseball.
Sam McDowell, a six-time All-Star with the Cleveland Indians who led the junior circuit in strikeouts fives instances, died Monday at age 84. A tough-throwing southpaw, “Sudden Sam” went 171-11 with a league-best 2.18 ERA and 325 strikeouts in 1965, and 20-12 with a 2.92 ERA and 304 strikeouts in 1970. A heavy drinker throughout his taking part in days, he turned an alcohol counselor after retiring following the 1975 season, which he spent along with his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates.
Dave Rosello, a utility infielder who performed for the Chicago Cubs from 1972-1977, after which for the Cleveland Indians from 1979-1981, died on September 30 at age 76. A local of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, Rosello recorded 206 MLB hits, 10 of which left the yard. One in every of his blasts got here off Jon Matlack, in opposition to whom he went 6-for-10.
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The solutions to the quiz are 1. John Franco with 90 wins, 2. Lee Smith with 92 losses. 3. Trevor Hoffman, with 100 residence runs allowed, 4. Aroldis Chapman with 1,402 strikeouts.
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Easton Carmichael caught Seth Hernandez in Excessive-A Greensboro this previous season. The 22-year-old Pittsburgh Pirates prospect’s evaluation of the 20-year-old right-hander, who at present ranks seventh on The Board with a 60 FV?
“An excellent-talented arm,” Carmichael instructed me on Arizona Fall League media day. “He’s super-raw and super-young, which is barely going to assist him, as a result of he has plenty of time to develop. However he’s mature for his age — he goes about his enterprise in the correct method — and he’s already far forward of most guys his age.
“Whereas he’s uncooked, there are some polished points,” the College of Oklahoma product went on to say. “His changeup is an excellent pitch. The fastball velocity is clearly tremendous, tremendous excessive. There may be plenty of upside with plenty of room to develop.”
Earlier this summer time, Eric Longenhagen and Brendan Gawlowski described Hernandez’s repertoire as “bonkers.” Our lead prospects analysts wrote that the righty “may need the perfect changeup in baseball at peak” and that he’s “touching 101 [mph] with seven ft of extension.” Numerous upside certainly.
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Which of the pitchers you confronted this season most had you strolling out of the batter’s field pondering, “Man, that man is nasty?” I’ve requested variations of that query to plenty of minor-league hitters lately, with Dante Nori being among the many newest. Drafted twenty seventh total by Philadelphia in 2024, the 22-year-old left-handed-hitting outfielder performed primarily with Double-A Studying this season.
“I’m a type of guys the place proper after the sport it’s type of flushed,” replied Nori, who ranks thirteenth within the Phillies system and is at present competing within the AFL. “However let me assume… there was a lefty from Hartford. This might have been the second to final week of the season, and he threw from the primary base aspect. It was type of a crossfire invisi-ball, as a result of it comes from up to now behind [a left-handed hitter]. I can’t consider his title, however he was a starter and the board confirmed him having one thing like a 1.80 ERA. He had good things. I keep in mind that it was a troublesome day that day.”
Primarily based on Studying’s sport logs, the pitcher would have been 26-year-old (as of earlier this month) Stu Flesland III. Drafted within the eleventh spherical by the Colorado Rockies in 2023, the College of Washington product posted a 1.86 ERA over 86 innings with the Yard Goats. Flesland bookended his Hartford stint with a smattering of video games in Excessive-A and Triple-A.
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FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Doubtlessly-MLB-bound Hanshin Tigers slugger Teruaki Sato completed the NPB common season with a 198 wRC+, a .308/.385/.613 slash line, 39 residence runs, and 106 RBIs. The 27-year-old left-handed-hitting third baseman/outfielder received the Triple Crown within the Central League.
Former MLB outfielder Franmil Reyes led all NPB hitters in batting common whereas slashing .313/.375/.571 with 32 residence runs and a 173 wRC+ for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks third baseman Ryoya Kurihara led NPB in residence runs (40) and RBIs (118) whereas slashing .271/.365/.557 with a 169 wRC+.
Kensuke Kondoh clubbed a profession excessive 32 residence runs whereas slashing 309/.431/.569 with a 191 wRC+. The 33-year-old Hawks outfielder has a .307 batting common and a .419 OBP in 1,503 video games throughout 15 NPB seasons.
Hanshin’s Takumu Nakano led NPB hitters with 27 sacrifice hits whereas additionally logging a .287 batting common that ranked eleventh finest within the circuit. The 30-year-old second baseman was additionally charged with simply three errors. Over the previous two seasons, the Gold Glover has dealt with 1,427 possibilities and dedicated 5 errors.
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Miguel Amaya is a proud Panamanian. A local of Chitre, the 27-year-old Chicago Cubs catcher represented his homeland on this yr’s WBC, and he additionally is aware of his hardball historical past. MLB annals has included 83 Panama-born gamers, of which Amaya talked about a number of once I requested which ones most stand out in his thoughts.
“That I watched rising up, I can say Ramiro Mendoza,” he instructed me on the ultimate Friday of the common season. “He performed for the Pink Sox and the Yankees. Mariano [Rivera] after all. Carlos Lee and Olmedo Saenz. These are people who find themselves near Los Santos, the place I’m from. I watched Rubén Tejada, too. He was with the Mets and had that harm with Chase Utley sliding into second base.
“These are guys I grew up watching, however after all there may be additionally Rod Carew,” Amaya added. “He can be on the highest three record for Panamanian gamers. It could be Mariano, Rod Carew, and Carlos Lee.”
On condition that he dons the instruments of ignorance, I requested if he was acquainted with Panama’s most achieved participant at his place.
“Manny Sanguillen,” Amaya replied, simply naming the Nineteen Seventies Pittsburgh Pirates backstop. “I don’t know lots about him to be sincere, however after all I do know of him. And there may be additionally “Chooch,” Carlos Ruiz. He was vital for us, particularly catching two no-hitters, an ideal sport, and taking part in within the World Sequence for the Phillies. That was enormous for the game in Panama.”
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A random obscure former participant snapshot:
Katsy Keifer pitched in a single major-league sport, that for the Indianapolis Hoosiers in 1914. It happened on the ultimate day of the Federal League season — and it was significant. A win over the St. Louis Terriers would give the Hoosiers the pennant, and so they did simply that by a rating of 4-2. Taking advantage of his alternative, Keifer not solely tossed a whole sport, he helped his personal trigger by driving in Corridor of Famer Edd Roush for what proved to be the successful run.
The remainder of Keifer’s profession was spent down on the farm. The southpaw from California, Pennsylvania noticed motion with quite a few groups at a number of ranges, with the 1914 season being his most profitable. Previous to becoming a member of Indianapolis, he went 22-11 within the Southern Michigan League whereas taking the mound for each the Battle Creek Crickets and South Bend Benders. His SABR BioProject entry might be discovered right here.
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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE
At CBS Sports activities, Matt Snyder addressed the professionals and cons of MLB’s proposal of a 154-game season and an extended LDS.
Purple Row’s Joelle Milholm wrote about how Coors Subject had its lowest attendance since 2005 (but noticed extra followers than the Cleveland Guardians, Chicago White Sox, and Tampa Bay Rays.)
Invoice Greason, the oldest dwelling MLB participant, and final surviving Negro Leaguer, celebrated his 102nd birthday final month. Anne R. Keane wrote about the erstwhile St. Louis Cardinals and Birmingham Black Barons right-hander for the Navy Occasions.
The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney paid tribute to longtime Los Angeles Dodgers government Fred Claire, who died Monday on his 91st birthday.
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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS
The Milwaukee Brewers hit 154 residence runs and had a 22.0% strikeout charge this season. In 1982, the yr they made their solely World Sequence look, the Brewers hit 216 residence runs and had an 11.3% strikeout charge.
Within the 2013 common season, Koji Uehara had a 1.09 ERA to go together with 101 strikeouts and 9 walks over 74-and-a-third innings. Within the 2013 postseason, Uehara threw six scoreless innings with 9 strikeouts and no walks.
Milt Pappas logged 209 wins and a 3.40 ERA whereas pitching for 4 groups throughout the 1957-1973 seasons. What he did as a hitter was much more outstanding. He slashed simply ,123/.157/.197 with a 43.4% strikeout charge and a minus-5 wRC+, but one way or the other managed to slug 20 residence runs. Solely 11 pitchers in MLB historical past have gone yard extra instances. Of the practically 100 pitchers who’re double figures for homers, Pappas is the one one with a damaging wRC+.
Vladimir Guerrero had 972 extra-base hits, together with 449 residence runs, and a 136 wRC+. Carlos Delgado had 974 extra-base hits, together with 473 residence runs, and a 135 wRC+.
The Cleveland Indians received the World Sequence on as we speak’s date in 1948. Bob Lemon bought the win, and Gene Bearden the save, within the Recreation 6 conquest of the Boston Braves. The ultimate rating was 4-3.
On as we speak’s date in 1943, the New York Yankees captured the tenth of their 27 World Sequence titles by defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0. Spud Chandler went the gap, permitting 10 hits and a pair of walks, with St. Louis batters going 0-for-10 with runners in scoring place.
Gamers born on as we speak’s date embody Invoice Roman, a College of Michigan product whose profession comprised 24 video games for the Detroit Tigers within the 1964-1965 seasons. Employed usually as a pinch-hitter, Roman recorded 5 hits, together with a house run at Yankee Stadium in his first big-league at-bat. Jim Bouton served up the gopher..
Additionally born on as we speak’s date was Buttercup Dickerson, an outfielder who suited up for quite a few groups throughout the 1878-1885 seasons. Amongst them had been the Cincinnati Reds, Louisville Eclipse, St. Louis Maroons, and Worcester Ruby Legs. Dickerson is within the Nationwide Italian American Sports activities Corridor of Fame.