Laird homers in Phoenix loss

These Arizona Fall League night games are killing me. I can’t remember them ever playing this many, at least not this easy in the season. Anyway, let’s get you caught up on the last few days, plus the action from Latin America …

Phoenix Desert Dogs (11-4 loss to Scottsdale on Friday)
Austin Romine, DH: 1 for 4, 3 K
Brandon Laird, LF: 3 for 4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K – I suspect he’ll have a few more games like this considering the extreme offensive run environment
George Kontos: 1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K – 17 of 26 pitches were strikes (65.4%) … hey, at least he struck out the side

Phoenix Desert Dogs (10-4 loss to Surprise on Saturday)
Jose Pirela, 2B: 0 for 4, 1 BB, 2 K

There are no games on the schedule for today. Keith Law got a look at Craig Heyer the other day and wrote up a little blurb, but you need an Insider subscription to read it. Here’s the important stuff…

Heyer throws a heavy fastball at 90-92 from a slot just below 3/4, generating a lot of groundballs, and he works quickly to try to keep hitters off balance. His slider was fringy at 83-84 with a tendency to get long and sweepy, which can be a problem for pitchers with lower arm slots, but if he can tighten that up he’s a valuable relief prospect, but would need a third pitch to use against lefties if he’s going to end up a starter.

Heyer is an extreme strike thrower, walking just 14 batters unintentionally in 164.1 IP over the last two seasons (0.77 BB/9), so it’s good to get a pair of eyes on him and confirm that there’s actual potential here. He’s not particularly young, 25 next month, but the Yanks’ 2007 22nd rounder has put himself on the prospect map over the last two years. Good for him.

And now for the other winter leagues…

Mexican Winter League
Justin Christian: 4 G, 5 for 18, 1 RBI, 2 SB (.278/.278/.278)
Walt Ibarra: 4 G, 5 for 16, 5 R, 1 2B, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 SB (.313/.389/.375)
Francisco Gil: 2 G, 1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 WP (36.00 ERA, 4.00 WHIP)
Eric Wordekemper: 2 G, 1.1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 0 K (20.25 ERA, 2.25 WHIP)

Venezuelan Winter League
Jose Gil: 4 G, 8 for 16, 4 R, 3 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 3 K (.500/.500/.875)
Luis Nunez: 2 G, 2 for 7, 1 R (.286/.286/.286)
Marcos Vechionacci: 5 G, 3 for 16, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K, 2 SB (.188/.235/.250)
Josh Schmidt: 1 G, 1 GS, 4 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K (2.25 ERA, 1.00 WHIP)

Edwar Gonzalez, Juan Marcano, Emerson Landoni, Eduardo Sosa, and Jesus Montero are all playing in the VWL as well, but have yet to appear in a game. The Dominican Winter League rosters aren’t out yet, but they will be soon. The season starts on Friday. Same deal with the Puerto Rican League as well, season starts the same day and everything.