Video by Ben Margiott | Multimedia reporter
On Oct. 29, a nine-month long baseball journey came to a dramatic end at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. About 1,200 miles away, in Surprise, where the Royals' magical season began in mid-February, an elite group of minor league prospects assembled with the goal in mind of one day playing on that grand stage.
(Graphic by Nate Hammond, Photo by Stefan Modrich)
In the summer, they toiled in relative obscurity in the lower ranks of professional baseball in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and Greenville, Tennessee.
But the scouting departments of their big league clubs have handpicked them – some diamonds in the rough, some anointed superstars – and labeled them the future.
Among a talented group of AFL players are three ASU baseball alumni: shortstop Deven Marrero of the Boston Red Sox, outfielder Andrew Aplin and pitcher Mitchell Lambson, both of the Houston Astros.
(Graphic by Nate Hammond)
What unites the teams, though, is the different hats they sport: All six teams wear black caps with their unique logos, from Desert Dogs to Rafters, Saguaros to Scorpions.
The tradition of the AFL has been treasured nearly as much as spring training by the baseball community, and several big name players can vouch for its value.
The league has experimented with different sites, including Phoenix and Chandler, and changed its team names to reflect the desert landscape and its ecosystem.
Albert Pujols, Derek Jeter, Paul Konerko and Mike Piazza all have been inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame, and Michael Jordan brought international attention to the league while playing for the Scottsdale Scorpions during his baseball sabbatical in 1994.
There’s also a contingent of major league managers who have experience coaching in the fall league, including Bob Melvin, Dusty Baker, Mike Scioscia, Ron Washington, and Terry Francona.
The hype that comes with being a player with the caliber of Byron Buxton or Addison Russell includes expectations of major league success: For them, it’s a matter of “when” rather than “if” they get a call up to the show.
Surprise Saguaros shortstop Deven Marrero swings at a pitch in an at-bat against the Mesa Solar Sox, Friday, Nov. 7, 2014 at Cubs Park in Mesa. Marrero, an ASU alumnus, now plays for the Boston Red Sox’s AAA affiliate. (Photo by Ben Moffat)
With 'RE2PECT' Comes Elevated Expectations
Even if he’s not being mentioned in the same breath with the big shots just yet, Marrero, Boston’s No. 10 prospect, isn’t holding back his aspirations.
He told New England Sports Network that he wanted to be the “Derek Jeter of Boston,” and emulates former Sun Devil and Gold-Glove Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who was recently inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame.
“(Jeter) put baseball on his back, and he did everything the right way on and off the field,” Marrero said. “(Pedroia) is a guy that works hard and someone that everyone wants to be like. I’m working really hard at that, and hopefully I’ll get there.”
On the field, every player wears the uniform of his respective big league club, even if the prospect has only played at Class A level, giving each game a colorful flair and a sense of familiarity to fans.
“It’s been fun so far, playing with all these guys that are so talented, from many different organizations,” Marrero said. "It’s always good to be back here, it’s a good place for me, my second home.”
In a 14-0 loss to the Mesa Solar Sox on Oct. 25, Marrero watched opposing batters smash 25 hits, to his team’s four.
(Graphic by Nate Hammond)
After striking out in his first at-bat, he made the most of his second and last at-bat of the day in the sixth inning, while the Mesa lineup would hit through its order five times.
Marrero patiently sat on four straight fastballs from Roberto Osuna of the Toronto Blue Jays. Osuna went with a slider –– a mistake –– and Marrero stroked a single to the right side, just past the diving first baseman.
Making the most of his opportunity at the plate even with the game out of reach, the upbeat shortstop did his part early on defense, even as Surprise pitchers struggled against a potent Mesa lineup. Marrero showed off his range at shortstop back in the second inning. After receiving a quick flip from second baseman Sean Coyle on a ground ball, he swiftly covered second, avoided the oncoming runner’s take-out slide, and fired a strike to UA alumnus Seth Mejias-Brean at first base to complete a flashy 4-6-3 double play.
There are several other players with Arizona ties, and even coaches that reside in the Valley in their offseason. But Marrero has had a special duty in the Surprise Saguaros clubhouse, serving as a translator for 17-year-old infielder Michael De Leon of the Texas Rangers, the youngest player in the league, and Boston’s highly-touted Cuban signee, outfielder Rusney Castillo, who debuted with the Red Sox last season.
It’s an adjustment in itself playing on a new minor league team after spending four years with the same group in high school or college. It’s another thing entirely to come to a foreign country and share a locker room with players wearing four different jerseys.
Surprise Saguaros shortstop Deven Marrero applies the tag on a runner at second base in a game against the Mesa Solar Sox, Friday, Nov. 7, 2014 at Cubs Park in Mesa. Marrero, an ASU alumnus, now plays for the Boston Red Sox’s AAA affiliate. (Photo by Ben Moffat)
Some players stuck to themselves, playing Clash of Clans on iPads at their lockers, while others mingled at tables and were occupied by various card games.
Marrero said while he helps De Leon “sometimes,” Castillo knows virtually no English. De Leon hails from Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic.
Dominicans dominated the foreign-born population in this year’s Fall League, with 12 players. As far as baseball is concerned, the Caribbean countries, along with Mexico, Puerto Rico, (a U.S. territory) and Venezuela are the usual suspects, a proven hotbed of international talent. This year, five other countries were represented on league rosters, including Aruba, Canada, Germany, Panama and Taiwan.
Marrero, a Cuban born and raised in Miami, fits right in among a melting pot of various Spanish dialects.
“I’m Cuban, I have that (Latino) side of me,” Marrero said. “I try to help these guys as much as possible, to make that transition easier.”
The influx of Latino talent certainly isn't a new trend, but Marrero still enjoys and appreciates the diversity inside his dugout.
“That’s what Latinos do,” Marrero said. “We play little bit of soccer, but it’s mainly baseball. We play the game with a lot of passion, and we’re very good at it.”
Salt River Rafters right fielder Andrew Aplin hits a single against the Scottsdale Scorpions, Friday, Oct. 31, 2014 at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale. Aplin, an ASU alumnus, now plays for for the Houston Astros' AAA affiliate. (Photo by Ben Moffat)
Waxing Nostalgic
It’s Halloween at Salt River Fields. Snow White is in centerfield and Peter Pan is in right shagging fly balls.
A player dressed as tennis savant Rodger Federer takes batting practice, and another is suited up like PGA pro Rickie Fowler in bright orange golf gear, holding a bat and watching, while chatting up other costume-clad teammates.
They enjoy a laugh as the Federer doppelgänger brings a racket to the plate, and the coach throwing behind the L-screen obliges, grabbing a handful of tennis balls out of a bucket. He whiffs a few times, and then volleys one out to the right of second base.
The ASU Halloween scrimmage, a long-standing tradition with its baseball program, was scrapped this season in favor of a “Maroon and Gold World Series” with new head coach Tracy Smith taking the reins.
(Graphic by Nate Hammond)
But Andrew Aplin, an outfielder who last played for Corpus Christi at the AA level, has fond memories of the scrimmage at Packard Stadium, which unofficially represented the start of ASU’s baseball season.
“It kind of brings back old memories,” Aplin said. “It’s a lot of fun that we’re doing it here, too.”
The overall atmosphere of the Fall League is laid-back and in a relaxed setting with smaller crowds, but an energetic player like Aplin has embraced the low-key approach of his Salt River Rafters.
Salt River Rafters right fielder Andrew Aplin takes a ball against the Scottsdale Scorpions, Friday, Oct. 31, 2014 at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale. Aplin, an ASU alumnus, now plays for for the Houston Astros' AAA affiliate. (Photo by Ben Moffat)
“It’s kind of like an All-Star game,” Aplin said. “It’s fun getting out and meeting some of the top guys from the different organizations, and bond with them, because those are the guys we’re going to see down the road.”
Mitch Lambson, a pitcher in the Houston Astros organization, and Aplin’s teammate at ASU and at Corpus Christi, appreciated the nod to a his time with the Sun Devils.
Even at its highest level, college baseball is informal and laid-back, played in smaller and intimate stadiums, another parallel between the Fall League and collegiate competition.
“It’s crazy to see a bunch of guys moving around playing baseball, but we’re wearing costumes,” Lambson said. “It’s kind of funny.”
Salt River Rafters reliever Mitch Lambson pitches against the Scottsdale Scorpions, Friday, Oct. 31, 2014 at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale. Lambson, an ASU alumnus, now plays for for the Houston Astros' AA affiliate. (Photo by Ben Moffat)
Making New Friends, and Keeping the Old
The Fall League is an eye-opening experience for many prospects who haven’t seen what it’s like in baseball’s upper echelon.
It’s also a chance to make new friends, as players from all walks of life come together.
“We have a lot of good guys, and it’s fun to meet guys from different organizations,” Lambson said. “With the overall talent in the Fall League, and facing these guys from the minor leagues and the major leagues, it’s a lot of fun.”
He said he enjoys the chance to be back near where he played in college, and he says that the two have bonded even more since they’ve started playing professionally.
“Me and (Aplin) met back at a high school camp at ASU,” Lambson said. “I remember seeing him there, and now we’re together in Houston. It’s made us close, and we’re good friends. We’re really lucky to get to play together.”
Furthermore, Lambson’s roots to the Valley go even deeper with his younger brother Mark, a right-handed reliever and fifth-year senior who redshirted his sophomore season due to a shoulder injury.
(Graphic by Nate Hammond)
“I talk to him all the time, we’re pretty close,” Lambson said. “It’s nice, because it keeps me close to the program. I can come and hang out and meet the new kids that are there, and the coaches.”
With the bases loaded and no outs in the fifth inning, Lambson came on in relief of the Astros' No. 2 prospect, Mark Appel. Although the three runs given up that inning weren’t attributed to his ERA, his pitching coach, Joshua Miller, acknowledged Lambson needed to refine his off-speed pitches.
“We threw him in the fire today, ” Miller said. “He made a couple of pitch selection mistakes early, but his stuff looked fine; he got out of the inning and worked pretty well in the sixth.”
Lambson posted a 1.36 ERA in 33 innings pitched for the Corpus Christi Hooks, Houston’s Double-A affiliate. He also posted a 9.5 K/9 mark, and just five walks.
“He came on for us at the Double-A level, he pitched really well out of the bullpen, and he’s fit right in here,” Miller said. “He doesn’t have your prototypical repertoire of a pitcher, he’s a ‘soft-tossing lefty’ as they say. He trusts his fastball, uses his changeup, and he’s making improvements.”
Salt River Rafters pitching coach Joshua Miller (left) visits pitcher Mark Appel and catcher Chris O’Dowd on the mound in a game against the Scottsdale Scorpions, Friday, Oct. 31, 2014 at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale. (Photo by Ben Moffat)
Autumn Adjustments
MLB has heavily promoted the AFL’s “Pace of Game Experiment” at Salt River Fields, including a 20-second “pitch clock” and time limits for mound visits, pitching changes, and warm-ups between innings, which have received mixed reviews from pitchers and hitters alike.
After playing 12 games at his home park for the fall, Lambson doesn’t seem to mind the sped-up version of the game.
“It was a little adjustment, but we’re used to it now,” Lambson said. “You just have to work quick, most of the guys here work quick anyway.”
Aplin’s experience is a little different, whether he’s in right field or in the right-handed batter’s box.
“For an outfielder, it kind of sucks if you’re leading off an inning and you catch a ball at the wall,” Aplin said. “Then, you have to run all the way in and get your stuff, and by the time you put your batting gloves on, they’re throwing the ball down, and you have to get in the box.”
Marrero was on board with the changes and said his routine at the plate hasn’t been disrupted.
“It’s not that big of a deal for us, honestly,” Marrero said. “It just leaves out some of the little things that take a while. It’s more of a big deal for pitchers, not so much for hitters and defensively.”
Much like spring training, standings in the Fall League are essentially meaningless — the only thing on the line here is pride.
Quietly, though, the fun-loving Rafters sit atop the East Division, and across from them in the West, are the first-place Saguaros. This means that the three ASU alumni could once again meet on the same field for the championship game before they go their separate ways and prepare for the regular season with their respective minor league teams, eagerly awaiting an invite to Spring Training from Boston and Houston to play on the other side of the country, in Florida's Grapefruit League.
Aplin and Lambson are just two among an entire cast of entertaining characters, which at one point included Byron Buxton, as well as Mark Appel and Diamondbacks pitcher Archie Bradley. The charismatic Astros outfielder said he’d miss the chemistry he and his Salt River teammates developed over such a short season.
“Just being with these guys,” Aplin said. “This team has a lot of fun. We come out every day, and that’s all we do. Some teams are lot more serious than we are, but we come out and joke around and have a good time.”
Salt River and Surprise have met four times thus far this season, and when the three former Sun Devils are playing together, they aren’t shy about reminiscing about their days at Packard Stadium, just 15 minutes south of them off Scottsdale Road.
“I always see them during (batting practice) and stuff like that,” Marrero said. “I’ll go down to Scottsdale and hang out with guys from college.”
One thing’s for sure: If they meet in the championship game, Lambson will be ready.
“It would be awesome,” Lambson said. “It would great to play with (Aplin) against Dev again. Anytime you’re in the championship of any league, it’s pretty special. (But) it’s not over yet, we’ve got to keep winning and keep playing, and see what happens if we get there.”
Special, indeed — and a fitting potential ending to another chapter of the baseball careers for the three ASU alumni fighting for the right to keep going on the long road to the show.
Reach the assistant sports editor at smodrich@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @StefanJModrich
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