Article: Red Sox Arizona Fall League Wrap-Up: Brooks Brannon Runs To First, Caden Rose Walks There

[Randy Holt]

With the Salt River Rafters’ victory over the Surprise Saguaros on Saturday, the Arizona Fall League season officially reached its end. Let's review the week that was for Red Sox prospects.

The AFL features a concise playoff format, with a semi-final play-in on Friday followed by Saturday’s championship game. Unfortunately for the 14-16 Mesa Solar Sox, their fifth-place finish didn’t afford them a chance to even compete for a spot in the title game. Nevertheless, there’s plenty worth talking about from the Boston Red Sox contingent in the 2024 Arizona Fall League. 

Most notable among the eight players Boston sent to Mesa was Brooks Brannon. The team’s no. 27 prospect (according to MLB Pipeline) was set to use the AFL to get some at-bats after missing time in each of the last two seasons due to back and knee injuries. Brannon appeared primarily as Mesa’s designated hitter, with the Cubs’ Moises Ballesteros grabbing the bulk of the starts behind the plate. Brannon did, though, use his time to his advantage, slashing .309/.347/.456/.803 with a pair of homers and four doubles. He’ll have to rein in the discipline moving forward, given a 21-4 K-BB ratio that wasn’t terribly different from his time in Salem this year. 

Beyond Brannon, the offensive output for the Red Sox representatives presented its level of intrigue. Caden Rose paced the team with 102 PAs – entrenching himself in centerfield for the majority of the time – but hit just .224 and struck out 29 times. He did, though, walk 16 times and post a respectable .353 on-base percentage. His five steals were second on the Solar Sox. Infielder Max Ferguson posted an eerily similar group of numbers. He went for an average of only .235 but reached base at a .357 clip, thanks to a respectable 20-14 K-BB ratio. He swiped three bags of his own. 

Rose does project as the higher-upside hitter, but both bring a fair bit of discipline to the table in conjunction with quality defense. It had to be pleasant for Sox brass to see some of those traits on display, even if they were a bit scattered throughout the fall season. 

While one might have to dig a little deeper to find the elements of success on the positional side, the threshold for success on the mound was of a much more black & white variety. As in, there was a lot of it. 

Former Oakland Baller Danny Kirwin was among Mesa’s leaders in innings at 12.2. He struck out 16 and surrendered just a single walk while pitching to a 2.84 ERA. It was more of what the organization saw in Single-A, as he struck out 69 hitters in 69 innings. That fastball-slider-cutter combo is going to be tantalizing moving forward. 

With almost every other Boston arm being utilized in relief, their usage was a little bit more inconsistent. The success wasn’t, however. Zach Fogell turned in a 0.96 ERA in 9.1 innings, striking out ten and allowing only two hits. Conor Steinbaugh threw only five innings but only allowed one run. However, he did strike out eight hitters, courtesy of his fastball-slider combination. Tyler Uberstine’s ERA came in at 3.12 in 8.2 innings. An impressive mark considering he allowed 19 baserunners in that span. 

If there’s a notable struggle among Red Sox pitchers, it comes in the form of Cooper Adams. Among the leaders in IP, Adams wasn’t quite as successful as his high-volume counterpart in Kirwin. While throwing 12.1 innings, Adams had difficulty navigating AFL hitters. He walked seven and allowed allowing 16 hits. His six wild pitchers were more than anyone else on Mesa’s roster. In fact, it was a mark twice as high as anyone else on the roster outside of Tampa Bay’s Alexander Alberto, who threw four.  

Boston sent to Arizona an intriguing group comprised largely of recent draftees, undrafted signees, or guys working their way back from injury. What appears evident, though, is that elements of each individual skill set were demonstrated throughout the fall slate. This could serve as an effective springboard as this group prepares for their offseason work, and the front office begins to think about their short—and long–term directions ahead of 2025. 

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