Enrique Bradfield Jr., OF, Orioles: When he's going right, Bradfield Jr. can do it all. The Vanderbilt alum had a brief injury scare on Thursday when he tweaked his wrist on a diving attempt in center field, but he recovered to put on an all-around show in his team's win over Mesa. At the plate, he went 3-for-5 with a double, a run, three RBIs and three stolen bases. Two of his hits produced EVs of louder than 103 mph, including a 107.1 mph double. As impressive as he was in the batter's box and on the bases, he saved his best trick for the outfield grass. With two outs and a runner on in the bottom of the ninth, Marlins prospect Fenwick Trimble launched a drive into the left-center field alleyway. Bradfield raced to the wall, leaped and plucked the ball out of the air just before it could leave the yard. The impact momentarily jarred the ball loose, but Bradfield showed enough composure to snap his glove shut once more and secure the catch and the victory for the Javelinas.

Karson Milbrandt, RHP, Marlins: Milbrandt has made a strong impression in the early days of the Arizona Fall League. In his first start, he struck out four hitters but was undone by a three-run home run. In his next try, on Thursday against Peoria, he allowed just one run and punched out seven hitters over three frames. He did issue three walks, bringing his AFL total to five in 6.2 innings. Milbrandt racked up 13 whiffs on 31 swings, good for a rate of 41.9% for the day.

Luis De León, LHP, Orioles: De León was the unquestioned pitching star of the first week of the Arizona Fall League. In his debut outing, he punched out seven over four one-run innings. This time out, he racked up five strikeouts over 4.1 innings of one-run ball with with just three hits and two walks on his ledger. Once again, his sinker and slider were his go-to weapons. The latter pitch was particularly effective, drawing nine misses on 14 swings, good for a 64% rate. He also mixed in a splitter and changeup. In all, De León has 12 strikeouts in his first 8.1 AFL frames.

Hagen Smith, LHP, White Sox: So far, so good for Smith. The 2024 first-rounder has yet to allow a run through two AFL starts. This time out, on the road at Scottsdale, the Florida State alum struck out five over three innings while allowing just a hit and a two walks. Smith got five swings and misses over the course of his outing, including four on his low-80s slider. He now has nine strikeouts over six shutout frames.

Esmerlyn Valdez & Tony Blanco Jr., Pirates: Esmerlyn Valdez and Tony Blanco Jr. each went deep in their team's loss to Surprise on Thursday. Valdez went deep first, slamming a two-run shot off of Surprise starter Trenton Denholm in the first inning. It was his fifth home run of the AFL and was part of a 2-for-2 day that also included a walk. Three innings later, Blanco Jr., arguably the best ball-striker in the minor leagues, did his thing. Facing Rorik Maltrud, Blanco annihilated a slider deep and over the wall just to the left of dead center at Salt River Fields. The ball left the bat at 112.2 mph (to put that in perspective, the hardest ball hit in the two MLB playoff games was a 111.0 mph rocket from Blue Jays infielder and AFL alum Addison Barger) and traveled an estimated 464 feet before returning to terra firma. Valdez's homer produced an EV of 102.8 mph.

Editor’s Picks

McGonigle Gets To Work On Defense: Kevin McGonigle has worked to improve his defensive chops all season, including getting guidance from Tigers great Alan Trammell. Read more…

25 EV Gainers: A gain in exit velocity is one of the most important improvements a prospect can make. Here are 25 of the biggest gainers in 2025. Read more…

Quick Hits

Prospect news and notes from around baseball…

• The Dodgers pushed the Brewers to the brink of elimination, but it’s hard to fault Jacob Misiorowski. He took a tough-luck loss despite striking out nine batters and issuing just one walk over five innings of one-run ball.

• Cubs outfielder Kevin Alcantara reportedly underwent core muscle surgery.

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