Spotlight On A Pair of AFL Prospects

Plus scores and performances from around the Fall League last night

Prospect Spotlight 🔦

Kevin Alcántara - CF - Mesa Solar Sox (Chicago Cubs)

For me, Kevin Alcántara is one of the more important evaluations out of all of the players at the Arizona Fall League. Last season, the Cubs decided to add him to the 40-man roster, and then burned his first option year by having him spend most of the season in High-A South Bend, with a late season promotion to Double-A Tennessee. 40-man shenanigans aside, what I am most interesting in see is how well he is playing defense in center. With his power, if he can stick in center, a below-average hit tool will make him an above-average regular. That changes if he is limited to the corners. The other concern with Alcántara is his hit tool, which has been a concern throughout his entire career, but I think it’s easier to get caught up in noise than it is to decipher any meaningful changes to his hit tool when looking at AFL performance. He finished up the year with a 8.3% walk rate versus a 24.1% strikeout, which isn’t horrible, but it’s still below average. The concerning number is his swinging strike rate, which was 15.6% in High-A this year. I’d also like to see a slight swing change to get him to lift the ball more, as he hit nearly 50% of his batted balls into the ground this past year, which limits the in-game effectiveness of his 70-grade raw power. That being said, it's tricky to both increase loft in the swing while also cutting down on whiffs, so it might not be possible for him to change. Still, this is a 21-year-old who is growing into his 6’6’’ frame, so patience is required. Putting him on a fast track to the big leagues is a bit strange in my mind because he’s still so raw, but if he can at least stick in center, it at least gives some breathing room.

Ricky Tiedemann - SP - Surprise Saguaros (Toronto Blue Jays)