Blue Jays prospects discuss AFL experience

PHOENIX, Ariz. -- As the Arizona Fall League comes to a close, so, too, does the fall season for eight Blue Jays players who suited up for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the prospect-laden circuit. Toronto sent three position players and four pitchers for the entirety of the AFL’s duration, while also getting Julian Merryweather some much-needed time on the mound in its final two weeks.

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Each player ventured to Arizona with specific goals in mind for the fall season, leaving with added experience against some top Minor League competition.

Logan Warmoth, SS
The 24-year-old shortstop began the 2019 season with Class A Advanced Dunedin, where he hit .292/.380/.423 with three home runs, seven doubles, a triple and 16 RBIs in 36 games before earning a promotion to Double-A New Hampshire. With the Fisher Cats he struggled, slashing .200/.290/.277 with 14 extra-base hits and 15 RBIs over 65 games.

In 16 games for the Scorpions, Warmoth hit .305/.397/.458 with a homer, six doubles and eight RBIs. Toronto’s 2017 first-round Draft pick got in time at various infield positions while working to get back to the offensive approach that made him successful.

“When you start to struggle, you look out on the field and it looks like there are 20 guys out there, because nothing’s going your way,” Warmoth said. “You hit a ball hard, it gets caught. Over time you think, 'Wow, there’s literally nowhere for me to hit the ball other than over the fence.' And then you start trying to do way too much.”

Cullen Large, 3B
The 23-year-old switch-hitter joined the Scorpions with the aim of cutting down on strikeouts, after fanning 125 times in 110 games during the regular season. Large spent the majority of his year with Dunedin, where he hit .269/.360/.408 with four homers, 23 doubles, three triples and 40 RBIs in 84 games. In 24 contests with New Hampshire, he hit .234/.273/.330 with six extra-base hits.

“The first two months of the year I was doing pretty well, but I would have a strikeout every game pretty much, and then a double and a lineout it seemed like,” Large said. “Our coaches said, ‘As long as the production’s there, the strikeouts are something we forget about a little bit,’ but at the end of the day as you go up, the pitchers get better. Strikeout percentages don’t normally go down as you move up, so it was something I wanted to nip in the bud.”

The native of Virginia hit .233/.329/.333 with a homer, three doubles and eight RBIs for Scottsdale, walking seven times and striking out 11.

“I don’t want to strike out,” Large said. “I want to be hitterish, I love that word. It can mean so many different things, but Joey Votto said it perfectly: ‘Good hitters can do it all.’”

Kevin Smith, SS
Smith, Toronto’s fourth-round pick in the 2017 Draft and its No. 13 prospect per MLB Pipeline, hit .209/.263/.402 with 19 homers, 22 doubles, two triples and 61 RBIs over 116 games with the Fisher Cats this season, admittedly having trouble at the dish after spending time tinkering with his swing.

The 23-year-old’s struggles continued in the Fall League, where he hit .102/.159/.169 with two doubles and a triple in 17 games while striking out 34 times, but he understands, “The more you’re trying to get better, the more failures you’re going to come across.”

“It was a huge learning experience,” Smith said. “Going through this at a young age and when I did will only help me when stuff starts to not go right again, because it will. Everyone goes through stuff like that, but just knowing how to do it a little bit better, and obviously knowing what I did to get out of it and what started clicking once I started working on it, will make it easier going forward to keep the lows a little higher and get out of them quicker.”

Jackson Rees, RHP
The 25-year-old undrafted free agent opened a lot of eyes and accomplished his Fall League goal of gaining some traction with the Scorpions, not allowing a run through his first six outings and walking one while striking out 13 over seven games and 8 1/3 innings.

“The goal was just to put my name on the map,” Rees said. “That’s the most important thing for me, is just getting the recognition, because I’ve been throwing way better than I could have expected. Now it’s about getting my name out there so I have something behind myself, or some things to my name instead of just being an undrafted rookie.”

Between 14 appearances for Class A Lansing and 25 outings with Dunedin this year, the Blue Jays' lone Fall Stars representative posted a 0.73 ERA over 61 2/3 innings, walking 15, striking out 88 and holding opponents to a .183 average. Rees’ newfound success has come out of the bullpen, where he has focused on using his sinker and slider while occasionally mixing in his curveball and changeup.

“I’ve really taken the starter role -- of deceiving hitters with my stuff -- into the reliever role, and it’s been nice to see all the off-guard at-bats against me,”

Mike Ellenbest, RHP
While working his way back from Tommy John surgery, the 25-year-old right-hander took a closer look at his mechanics on the mound. The adjustments he has made since returning -- using his legs and entire body more, taking some pressure off the arm -- paid dividends with Scottsdale, where he threw in seven games and finished with 11 scoreless innings, allowing just seven hits, walking three and striking out nine.

“I’ve just been trying to work on my stuff,” Ellenbest said. “I’m trying to throw my sinkers, throw my sliders, and then miss barrels really, and just do my job of getting ground balls, which is what I’ve been trying to do. It’s been working, so I’m just trying to keep going with it.”

Graham Spraker, RHP
Spraker’s time in the AFL was spent adjusting to the bullpen, working on ways to mix in his pitches and find a routine in abbreviated outings. The 24-year-old righty posted a 6.75 ERA over seven outings and 10 2/3 innings, walking five and striking out 11.

“I definitely struggled a little bit, but I’ve been learning a lot, especially being around all of the other guys from different organizations,” Spraker said. “So whether the numbers say it or not, I feel like I’m definitely growing.

“My first battle was just with consistency, and being able to use all three of my pitches whenever I needed to. I had a little bit of control issues in the beginning. I’ve got a couple walks, and it was tough, but I’m getting better.”

Spraker made 24 appearances for Dunedin this year, including 16 starts, and posted a 2.90 ERA over 108 2/3 innings with 28 walks and 74 strikeouts. He also got a spot start for Buffalo, allowing one run on three hits with two walks and five strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings.

Maverik Buffo, RHP
Buffo joined Scottsdale looking to make up for lost time on the mound after battling shoulder woes. The 24-year-old right-hander got into just 14 games and threw 25 innings this season, most of them with Dunedin, and the native of Utah posted a 5.40 ERA overall. He also learned the limitations of when to push himself and when to seek assistance.

“I’ve always had the mentality of, ‘If you’re not bleeding, you’re fine,’ and that’s helped me and hurt me at the same time,” Buffo said. “So I definitely have tried to be a little smarter and more cautious.”

Buffo posted a 12.38 ERA over seven appearances and eight innings for the Scorpions, walking nine and striking out seven, working with the staff on landing on a stiffer front side and getting over the ball better.

“My velo has been up and my stuff’s a lot more sharp,” Buffo said. “I’m trying to stay with the stuff I learned this year and take it into the rest of my career.”