Padres in the Arizona Fall League

Here is an extended look at who the San Diego Padres will send to the Arizona Fall League this coming offseason.

The Arizona Fall League Rosters were announced today.

The San Diego Padres have six players that will be participating, with only four of them being announced today.

Those four are:

Austin Allen – C, Hudson Potts -3B, Buddy Reed – CF, and Hansel Rodriguez – RP

The other two players are going to be pitchers, but they won’t be announced until a later date. The Padres will probably let the rest of the minor league season play out, so they have a better idea of everyone’s work load and who is healthy.

Everything about the Arizona Fall League can be found here  http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/afl/index.jsp.

Below is a brief overview of each of the Padres’ participants in the Arizona Fall League.

Austin Allen – Catcher

Allen was taken by the Padres in the 4^th round of the 2015 Amateur Draft. Austin has always been able to hit, which is proven by his career minor league slash line of .289/.350/.460 (.810 OPS) in 1,688 plate appearances.  Even though scouts have been skeptical of his ability behind the plate, the Padres seemed convinced that he’ll stick there. He’s only ever played 20 games at a position other than catcher, with all those appearances coming at first base (19 this year). Allen has been consistent as he’s moved up the organizational ladder. He spent all of 2017 in High-A and has played 2018 with Double-A San Antonio.

The Padres inclusion of Allen in the Arizona Fall League says a lot about how they feel about him. The Padres had a multitude of highly regarded prospects to choose from. The Padres obviously want to get a look at Allen playing against some of the top prospects around the game and see how he matches up.

Allen must be added to the Padres 40-man roster before the Rule-5 Draft in November. He will most likely be added, but his role for next season seems uncertain. With Austin Hedges and Francisco Mejia also in the organization, this is a position of strength for the Padres. Allen could become trade bait this offseason because of the Padres 40-man roster crunch. It’s likely that Allen will serve as depth, starting the year out as the starting catcher for Triple-A El Paso. He’d likely be the first one called upon if there were an injury to someone behind the dish.

Hudson Potts – Third Baseman

Potts was taken by the Padres with the 24^th overall pick in the 2016 amateur draft. The Padres received that pick as compensation for allowing Justin Upton to sign with the Detroit Tigers in the offseason.

The Padres continue to push the limits with Hudson. They’ve been aggressive with him every step of the way, giving him late season at-bats in the Northwest League as a 17-year-old. The next year, Hudson played the whole season at Fort Wayne and started 2018 at High-A Lake Elsinore. Potts is now finishing up 2018 as a 19-year-old at Double-A San Antonio. The Arizona Fall League will now be the next stop for Hudson Potts.

Hudson Potts is one of my personal favorites. He seems to show improvement not only from year-to-year but month-to-month.

Here’s a look at his last two seasons:

Here’s a breakdown of his performance in 2017 by month:

In 2017, Potts really exploded in August and September. He hit 9 of his 20 home runs in those 128 plate appearances. In 2018, he showed a more gradual increase in production before his promotion to San Antonio.

Here’s a breakdown of his performance in 2018 by month:

As you can see, Hudson hasn’t performed nearly as well in August which coincides with his first taste of Double-A. If you were curious to see his splits between High-A and Double-A, here’s a look at that.

After Potts finishes up his 2018 season and gets a few more at-bats in the AFL, he’ll turn his attention towards the offseason and getting ready for the 2019 season. He should be looking at spending most of next year as the starting third baseman for San Antonio with a possible mid-to-late season promotion to Triple-A El Paso.

Buddy Reed – Center Fielder

Buddy Reed was drafted by the Padres in the 2^nd round and 48^th overall in the 2016 Amateur Draft.

That was the second time Reed has been drafted; he was taken out of high school by the Texas Rangers in the 35^th round during the 2013 Amateur Draft.

Scouts have always talked about Reed’s loud tools, but he had yet to put it all together until the first half of 2018. Reed worked hard in the offseason to overhaul his swing. Buddy was able to carry over those adjustments and have a productive first half as a 23-year-old in High-A. Reed was promoted after making an appearance in the MLB All-Star Futures Game and has struggled mightily in Double-A so far.

Here’s a breakdown of his 2018 performance between the two levels:

It should be noted that Reed has had a tremendous season on the base paths, stealing 50 bases in 59 attempts. Reed should once again be the starting center fielder for San Antonio at the start of 2019. The extra at-bats that Reed will accumulate in the Fall League should help him continue to refine his swing.

Hansel Rodriquez – Relief Pitcher

The Padres acquired Hansel Rodriguez on July 26^th, 2016 in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for Melvin Upton Jr. and cash considerations. Rodriguez has started some games, but has been a reliever for most of his last two years. In 35 appearances last season, Hansel started 10 games and finished 20 others. In those appearances, he accumulated 90 innings and 10 saves.

Still just 21 years old, Hansel has looks to be a future bullpen piece, but lost most of this season due to injury. He has just 12.2 IP in 2018, so the Padres decision to send him to the Arizona Fall League makes sense. Rodriguez also needs to be added to the 40-man roster before the Rule-5 Draft in November, so the Padres will need to make a decision on him soon. With High-A Lake Elsinore being the highest level he’s reached, it may be a stretch for another organization to keep him on their roster for all of 2019.

Kenny Kirkpatrick

I’ve been a Padres fan for most of my life. I am currently a Baseball Video Scout Associate at Sports Info Solutions. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Colorado State University in December of 2016. My grandfather, Ed Kirkpatrick, played Major League Baseball in the 60’s and 70’s. He played for several teams including the Angels, Royals, Brewers, Pirates, and Rangers.