Owen Ayers, C, Cubs: Even with a handful of Top 100 prospects scattered around the league, Ayers has been the talk of the early days of the Fall League. His 14 total bases are the most in the league, and his four extra-base hits are tied with Tigers prospect Max Anderson for the top spot in that department. His latest highlight came on Tuesday, when he swatted a three-run home run off Rangers prospect Jose Corniell, accounting for three of Mesa's four runs in an eventual 4-3 victory. He's also thrown out 6-of-15 attempted basestealers and has regularly registered pop times below 2.0 seconds.

Sebastian Walcott, SS, Rangers: As first reported by MLB.com's Kennedi Landry and confirmed with members of the organization, the Rangers’ top prospect has been shut down from his time in the Arizona Fall League with forearm fatigue. Walcott will sit for roughly a week before being re-evaluated. One of the sport's top young talents, he hit .255/.355/.386 with 19 doubles and 13 home runs in a season spent entirely at Double-A Frisco, where he was one of the youngest players in the Texas League.

Jose Corniell & Winston Santos, Rangers: Two of the Rangers' most promising pitching prospects—righthanders Jose Corniell and Winston Santos—each lost time to injuries. Corniell rebounded to make his big league debut toward the end of the year, but the pair combined to pitch just 54.1 innings in the 2025 season. The pair combined to pitch seven of Surprise's eight innings on Tuesday, and each showed flashes of potential that were blunted by rust and spotty command.

Corniell took the ball for the first four frames and struck out six hitters. He allowed three runs—all of which came courtesy of Cubs catcher Owen Ayers' second home run of the fall. Otherwise, the righty racked up six swings and misses, including a pair on a nasty sinking changeup and three on a four-seamer that averaged 94 mph and topped out at 97 mph.

Santos took the ball next and showed off impressive heat before struggling to throw strikes. A Futures Gamer two summers ago, Santos averaged 97 mph on his fastball and brought it up to 99 mph while getting five whiffs in 16 swings. He backed it with a mid-80s slider and a high-80s changeup. And while the pure stuff was nice, he threw his fastball for strikes just 57% of the time, and found the zone just half the time with each of his two offspeed offerings.

Max Anderson, 2B, Tigers: Though the Tigers prospect ranks were dominated by the team's big three of Kevin McGonigle, Max Clark and Josue Briceño, Anderson's season was plenty darn loud, too. The second baseman has stayed hot in the desert, and on Tuesday launched his first home run of the fall as part of a 1-for-3 day with a pair of walks. The blast, which came off of Padres prospect Johan Moreno, left the bat at 104.5 mph and traveled an estimated 395 feet to left-center field. For the fall, Anderson is 5-for-10 with three doubles, a home run and five walks.

Cade Smith, RHP, Yankees: The remnants of a pair of hurricanes soaked the Phoenix valley from Friday through Monday, causing the weekend's slate of games to be washed out. As a result, the league's Tuesday games featured plenty of piggybacking of pitchers who would normally be starting games. Smith fits the bill, and he was outstanding for three innings out of Mesa's bullpen in his first Fall League appearance. From the fourth through sixth innings, Smith, who was limited by injuries to just 35.1 frames in the regular season, held Surprise to just one walk while striking out five. He brought his fastball up to 94 mph, but his breaking balls were the stars of the show. Smith threw three variants as classified by Hawk-Eye—a slider, a sweeper and a curveball—and got nine whiffs on 11 swings, including a perfect 6-for-6 on the slider. He earned a hold as Mesa handed Surprise its first loss of the fall.

Esmerlyn Valdez, 1B/OF, Pirates: Valdez has three hits so far in the Arizona Fall League. All of them have left the yard. The slugging outfielder collected longball number three in Salt River's win over Glendale as the AFL resumed after a three-day, weather-induced pause. This time, Valdez walloped a 90 mph cutter off Dodgers prospect Hyun-Seok Jang. The ball hugged the left-field foul line before clanging into the pole. The blast left the bat at 108.4 mph and traveled an estimated 345 feet. Valdez also walked twice in the game, bringing his total to eight, the best in the AFL in that department.

Najer Victor, RHP, Angels: Victor is one of a sizable group of pitchers whose fastballs touched at least 100 mph at some point during the regular season. His regular season–split between Los Angeles' Class A affiliates—featured 65 strikeouts and 26 walks in 40.2 innings. His first outing in the Arizona Fall League was rocky, but his follow-up appearances, on Tuesday against Glendale, demonstrated why he belongs on prospect radars. Pitching the ninth, Victor blended sinking and cutting fastballs into a perfect frame with a pair of strikeouts. His cutter was particularly filthy, getting whiffs on three of four swings, including three straight to, ironically, Cutter Coffey, for the second out of the inning. He brought his sinker up to 98.6 mph, while the cutter came in about 10 mph slower but with plenty of sharp, late bite.

Editor’s Picks

A 16-Year-Old Throwing 100?: Meet Striker Pence, the teenage pitcher who is doing something scouts haven’t seen before. Read more…

Service Time Calculations: Here’s every rookie that graduated in 2025, plus those who remained eligible for 2026. Read more…

Quick Hits

Prospect news and notes from around baseball…

• Rhett Lowder returned to the mound in the Arizona Fall League over the weekend. Here’s what it looked like:

In Case You Missed It