Each October, all thirty Major League Baseball teams send a handful of their top prospects to Arizona to take part in a developmental league named the Arizona Fall League. There are six teams in the AFL, and each team is designated players from five specific Major League Baseball organizations. Each team plays 30 games, and the season is highlighted by both a Fall Stars Game and a Championship Game.
The Padres' prospects play for the Peoria Javelinas team along with prospects from the Braves, Red Sox, Mariners, and Blue Jays.
The Padres organization has decided to send nine prospects to the AFL:
Pitchers:
RHP David Bednar
Bednar opened up his 2017 season in Fort Wayne's bullpen, where he posted a 1.87 ERA in 33 2/3 innings. He struck out 50 and walked only 11, which earned him a promotion to Lake Elsinore during the last week of June.
With the Storm, Bednar registered a 3.58 ERA with 31 strikeouts in 27 2/3 innings pitched.
The right-hander was a 35th round draft pick out of LaFayette College in the 2016 MLB First-Year Player Draft. He will turn 23 when play opens on October 10th.
LHP Jerry Keel
The 6'6" left-hander out of Palmdale played for three different Padres affiliates in 2017, splitting time between the Fort Wayne TinCaps, Lake Elsinore Storm, and San Antonio Missions. Keel registered a combined 3.41 ERA in 23 games (19 starts). He was particularly successful against left handed batters, as he did not give up a single home run to a lefty all season. They only were only able to manage a combined .165/195/.218 line against Keel with a .411 OPS in 170 at bats.
RHP Walker Lockett
Heading into the 2017 season, Andrew "Walker" Lockett was seen by some as a definitive candidate to make his Major League debut sooner rather than later. Two months into the season, Lockett was 5-1 with a 4.39 ERA in hitter-friendly El Paso. Following a start on June 2nd, though, the right-hander was placed on the DL with what the Padres called a "lower back strain." The injury caused Lockett to miss nearly three months of action. He did return in time to make four appearances in the Arizona League.
The AFL will be a good place for the 23-year-old Lockett to get some innings under his belt in what has been a rough season for him health-wise.
RHP Andres Munoz
Munoz was signed by the Padres for $700k in July of 2015 as a 16-year-old, and made his professional debut in the Arizona League in 2016. This year, he pitched for both the Tri-City Dust Devils and the Fort Wayne TinCaps, where he struck out 38 batters in 26 innings between the two affiliates.
Munoz has what some consider will be the best fastball in the Arizona League- and he is only 18 years old. His fastball is consistently in the upper-90s and can reach triple digits.
https://twitter.com/Padres/status/914324489323737090
RHP TJ Weir
Weir was dominant with both the Lake Elsinore Storm and San Antonio Missions this year, recording a 2.09 ERA altogether with 79 strikeouts in 77 1/3 innings. At 26, Weir will be one of the older players in the AFL.
Infielders:
SS Javier Guerra
Guerra is still looking to regain a form that saw him hit 15 home runs with a .778 OPS in 2015 as a 20-year-old with the Red Sox organization. This year, he spent time at both Lake Elsinore and San Antonio. Though he showed flashes with both affiliates, he hit .226 with a .625 OPS in Lake Elsinore and .212 with a .588 OPS in San Antonio. That is underwhelming; but Guerra is still 22, and there is still time for him to figure it out. Add the fact that Guerra plays great defense at shortstop, and you can see why the Padres are sticking with him.
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1B Josh Naylor
The 20-year-old Naylor was named a California League All-Star for his first-half performance with the Storm, and also was selected to participate in MLB's annual Futures Game. His performance was rewarded with a second-half promotion to San Antonio, where he was one of the younger players in the league. He hit .250 with a .320 OBP in 156 at-bats for the Missions.
2B Luis Urias
Perhaps the prize of the AFL for the Padres, Luis Urias spent all of his 2017 in San Antonio. There, he led the Texas League in on-base percentage (.398), was the only player in the league to have more walks than strikeouts, and finished 11th in OPS (.778).
Outfielders:
RF Franmil Reyes (taxi squad)
The 6'5", 240 pound Reyes hit a Texas-League best 25 home runs during the regular season for the Missions. He was also second in the Texas League in RBI (102), fourth in slugging (.484), and 10th in OPS (.785).
