The Arizona Fall League Begins Tonight
The Detroit Tigers are in full playoff mode, with a chance to clinch the ALDS at home. That’s probably more than enough fall baseball for most fans. But, if you’re a sicko, we have some more fall baseball for you. Arizona Fall League baseball, to be more specific.
About a month ago we guessed which Detroit Tigers prospects would head to the AFL. And we were right…about three of them. Now it’s time to look at the seven players the Tigers are sending to Arizona, as well as some general AFL information worth knowing.
Arizona Fall League Basics
This year Tigers prospects are playing for the Scottsdale Scorpions, with their home games coming at the creatively named Scottsdale Stadium, which is also the spring training home of the San Francisco Giants. And the Giants are one of the four other teams with prospects on the Scorpions, along with the Houston Astros, New York Mets, and Washington Nationals.
Unfortunately, Scottsdale Stadium is not equipped with publicly available Statcast data. So we’ll have to just read box scores and guess, like the cavemen did. But there are a few parks in the AFL with data, and many of the games are streamed live, so we’ll be providing video clips.
Scottsdale and Peoria are the only teams playing tonight. All teams then have every Monday off until November 10th. You can see the full schedule here, but here’s a quick rundown of other notable AFL dates:
- Saturday, November 8 – Home Run Derby
- Sunday, November 9 – Fall Stars Game
- Thursday, November 13 – Quarterfinals
- Friday, November 14 – Semifinals
- Saturday, November 15 – Championship Game
And one last note. This year’s Scorpions squad is being managed by René Rivera, who spent 13 years in the big leagues. Rivera also just helmed the Lakeland Flying Tigers to a Florida State League championship, winning FSL Manager of the Year in the process.
Detroit Tigers Position Prospects in the AFL
Kevin McGonigle – IF
As we suspected, this year’s crop of Tigers prospects is headlined by Kevin McGonigle, the number two prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline. When we last discussed McGonigle, we talked about how he was slowing down a bit in August and September. He then ended his season on a strong run, batting .279/.407/.581 over his final 12 games. Unfortunately, that included an 0-for-8 performance with four strikeouts and two errors in the final two games of the Eastern League Championship.
But the AFL will offer McGonigle a chance to continue working on his defense. He may see time at third base, second base, and shortstop for Scottsdale. And just call him Zen Garden, because he is going to rake in the sand.
Here’s every defensive chance for Kevin McGonigle through the first two games of the Eastern League Division Series. pic.twitter.com/R8Zsgi8nqx
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) September 19, 2025
Max Anderson – IF
It was a mild surprise to see Max Anderson head to the AFL this year. He saw 122 games of action during the regular season, and he performed well, batting .296 with 19 home runs and 31 doubles. But we assume Anderson is there for the same reason McGonigle is: to work on defense.
Anderson has primarily been a second baseman in pro ball. But he added third base to his résumé in late June, and then split his time pretty evenly between the hot corner and the keystone. Anderson has power and he’s a quality hitter. But he’s also an aggressive swinger who won’t add much value with walks or speed. So becoming a decent defender at multiple infield positions is likely his best path to MLB time.
Max Anderson crushes a 2-run homer to right center to give Toledo an early lead. It’s his 4th home run with the Mud Hens, and his 18th overall this year. pic.twitter.com/8qMMR7yrHE
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) September 7, 2025
Jack Penney – IF
We projected Penney to head to the AFL because he missed more than a month of action in the middle of the season. Penney isn’t one of Detroit’s top prospects, and there’s probably not an above-average tool on his scouting report. But he’s an interesting player, because he does everything pretty well.
Penney stands out most for his approach at the plate, where he consistently works deep counts. He can yank home runs to the pull field, but he’s mostly a doubles hitter, and he’s a fringy runner with solid instincts. Penney is probably best suited for second base, but he’s a reliable defender who can handle shortstop in the low minors. He seems like a more athletic, left-handed version of former Tigers prospect Andre Lipcius, albeit with a little less power.
Jack Penney saw 13 pitches in his first AB, and now he crushes a 3-run homer to right to put the Whitecaps up 5-0. pic.twitter.com/2oIyCZIMRV
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) July 25, 2025
Detroit Tigers Pitching Prospects in the AFL
Jake Miller – LHP
Our returning champion, Jake Miller heads back to the AFL after missing most of the 2025 season with an injury. Miller’s 2024 campaign in the AFL helped solidify his prospect status, despite a gruesome 9.18 ERA in 16.2 innings. His 2nd and 3rd outings resulted in 13 ER on 17 hits over just 4.1 innings, which will hurt the old ERA. But he was stellar in his final three outings, allowing just two earned runs while striking out 18 over 9.2 innings.
That was enough to earn him Pitcher of the Week honors in the AFL. And his 128-to-20 strikeout-to-walk ratio landed him a Best Control award from us. At his best, Miller pounds the zone with a deceptive low-90s fastball as well as a slider, sweeper, and changeup that can all miss bats. He’ll likely be added to Detroit’s 40-man roster soon, and he could help in the big-league bullpen in 2026.
Jake Miller looked healthy and good in his first rehab outing. Ran into a little hard luck, but 30 of his 40 pitches were strikes, and he picked up 11 whiffs (4 FB, 5 SL, 2 CH). pic.twitter.com/x86ZL1BSJN
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) August 30, 2025
Kenny Serwa – RHP
Kenny Serwa’s high-velocity knuckleball made him viral. And in January the Detroit Tigers made him a professional baseball player. It’s basically impossible to project MLB success for a knuckleballer until they actually do it. But the 28-year-old Serwa had a solid first season in affiliated ball, posting a 3.58 ERA in 118 innings between High-A West Michigan and Double-A Erie. It seems likely he will give up a lot of runs in the AFL, but who knows, perhaps the desert breeze will make his knucklers dance?
Dariel Fregio – RHP
Dariel Fregio was another off-the-radar independent ball signing by the Tigers in 2025. And he’s another pitcher who saw a bullpen session go viral. Fregio spent college at DII St. Leo University in Florida, before joining the Washington WildThings of the Frontier League. Fregio’s low-90s fastball doesn’t jump off the page, but he really knows how to spin the ball, and he can kill spin, too. The result is multiple secondary offerings that miss bats.
The Tigers have been signing pitchers from indie leagues recently and another one made his home debut in Dariel Fregio, who is a former @PerthHeat pitcher.
So far for Lakeland: 11IP 4H 1ER 14K pic.twitter.com/AWpKjXALkg
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) June 25, 2025
Carlos Lequerica – RHP
Carlos Lequerica, like Serwa and Fregio before him, was an undrafted free agent pickup by the Tigers. But Lequerica signed back in 2023, and has spent the last two seasons working exclusively as a reliever in the low minors. He features a riding fastball in the low-90s, as well as impressive changeup and a promising slider that both generate weak contact. He doesn’t scream prospect, but pitching well in the AFL could do a lot for Lequerica’s status.
West Michigan Whitecaps RHP Carlos Lequerica with the immaculate inning. 9 pitches 9 strikes, 3 strikeouts. pic.twitter.com/aQLE1eQC1Q
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) September 12, 2025
We will keep you updated on the performances of all seven of these prospects during the AFL campaign.
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