Astros Arizona Fall League Season Review

Eight minor league players represented the Astros as a part of the Salt River Rafters team in the Arizona Fall League. Here is how they fared. (Click on their names for a link to their AFL stats.)

C Tyler Heineman - Heineman only played in three games and was sent home early due to a stubborn eye infection.

3G .400/.571/.400
2BB 1SO

IF/OF Joe Sclafani - Sclafani was a bit of a breakout star for the team, having signed on as a taxi squad member, slated to play only one or two days a week, but ending as an everyday player. Because he did not play regularly early in the season, he did not have enough at-bats to qualify as a league leader, but his .370 average would have led the league and he would have been in the top five in both OBP and SLG.

In the Championship Game on Saturday, Sclafani was 2-for-3 with a double, RBI, two walks, two runs scored and a strikeout as the DH.

12G .370/.431/.543
5-2B HR 10RBI 5BB 11SO 1SB

OF Andrew Aplin - Aplin more than held his own and had an OBP that was in the top 15 in the league. According to our Arizona correspondent, he also provided the plus defense that we have come to expect from him.

19G .269/.388/.358
2B 3B HR 9RBI 12BB 18SO 4SB 5CS

3B Rio Ruiz - Ruiz, at 20, was among the younger players in the league. But I don't think it was his age that kept his numbers down. I personally think he just ran out of gas. He peaked with a .267 batting average in his eighth game of the season and then just slid downhill from there.

21G .187/.292/.227
3-2B 7RBI 12BB 17SO 1CS

RHP Mark Appel - Appel led the league in innings pitched and his 0.839 WHIP was 8th among qualified pitchers. His very solid performance in the Fall League should go a long way toward addressing any doubts about his abilities.

31IP 2.61 ERA 0.839 WHIP
8BB 24SO

LHP Mitch Lambson - Lambson had an excellent fall season, ending the year with an ERA ranking 7th in the league and a WHIP ranking 10th. He pitched one perfect inning (with one strikeout) in the Championship game.

14.1IP 1.26 ERA 0.907 WHIP
7BB 17SO

RHP Tyson Perez - Perez showed us that his excellent numbers in Corpus Christi following his late May 2014 promotion were not a fluke. Perez ranked 3rd in ERA and 6th in WHIP. He walked only one batter in his 14.1 innings of work.

14.1IP 0.63 ERA 0.837 WHIP
1BB 11SO

RHP Vince Velasquez - Velasquez had a mixed bag of a season. He had his best outing on October 21st as he pitched four innings, allowing only one hit, no walks and no runs while striking out two. He was pulled on November 4th after only two-thirds of an inning after suffering a lat strain, thus prematurely ending his season.

13.2IP 6.59 ERA 1.244 WHIP
3BB 13 SO

The Salt River team was chosen as the guinea pig for the pace of game rules being tested for possible inclusion in the major leagues. According to the link, the rules clipped approximately 10 minutes off games.

The Rafters led the league in batting average, on-base percentage, ERA and WHIP, finished with a league best 17-11-4 record and, of course, won it all in the Championship Game on Saturday.

Offseason officially begins! Arizona Fall League Champs. pic.twitter.com/XLkVaput0E
— Rio Ruiz (@ruiz_rio) November 15, 2014

Get used to this "winning" thing. It will soon be coming to a Major League ballpark near you.