The Arizona Fall League begins play on Monday, with various prospects on display for the next six weeks in the desert.
Dodgers prospects play for the Glendale Desert Dogs, with home games at Camelback Ranch. Glendale also includes prospects from the co-tenant White Sox, as well as the Red Sox, Twins, and Mets.
The first game for Glendale is Monday night at Salt River Fields against the Rafters at 6:30 p.m. PT.
Eight Dodgers prospects are listed on the roster for the Desert Dogs — five pitchers and three position players.
Pitchers
Kendall Williams was held back in Arizona until June, but impressed once he got to High-A Great Lakes. In 15 starts split between the Loons and Double-A Tulsa, Williams had a 3.06 ERA in 70⅔ innings, with 60 strikeouts and 33 walks.
Williams even made one start for Triple-A Oklahoma City in the final week of the regular season, and allowed five runs in six innings.
Ronan Kopp had the fourth-highest strikeout rate (35.8 percent) among Dodgers minor league pitchers with at least 50 innings, but also had the fourth-highest walk rate (16.7 percent). Overall, he had a 2.99 ERA in 72⅓ innings for Great Lakes, made all the more impressive because he was the youngest pitcher on the team, turning 21 in July (one week after fellow 2021 draftee Peter Heubeck).
Kopp was tabbed as the Dodgers’ best prospect among their Arizona Fall League contingent, by Jonathan Mayo and Sam Dykstra at MLB.com.
Ben Casparius started out hot in Great Lakes for eight starts, then took his lumps after getting promoted to Double-A Tulsa. On the season he had a 5.27 ERA in 107⅔ innings with a 25.8-percent strikeout rate.
Ryan Sublette pitched in relief all year for Double-A Tulsa, putting up a 6.27 ERA with 60 strikeouts in 47⅓ innings. His 20.3-percent walk rate was fifth-highest in the Dodgers minors with a minimum of 40 innings.
Jake Pilarski turned heads by throwing 100 mph during spring training, and pitched for both Great Lakes and Tulsa during the season. The 25-year-old combined for a 4.60 ERA with 44 strikeouts and 30 walks in 43 innings.
Position players
Yeiner Fernandez, didn’t turn 21 until September, and was the second-youngest player on Great Lakes (behind infielder Luis Guerra, who played 11 games for the Loons). Fernandez hit .274/.360/.375 with a 111 wRC+, 14 doubles, six home runs, and three triples, with nearly as many walks (47) as strikeouts (56).
Fernandez split time between catcher (39 starts), second base (31 starts), and designated hitter (26 starts), and also started three times at third base. He’s listed as an infielder on the Glendale roster in the Arizona Fall League.
Two thirds of the usual Loons outfield in 2023 are playing for Glendale. Damon Keith hit .229/.312/.373 with 11 home runs, 21 doubles, and a 95 wRC+ this season, Jake Vogel hit .236/.312/.325 with 22 doubles, a 83 wRC+, and stole 28 bases in 30 attempts.