The Boys of Autumn finished up their 2024 campaign. Here’s a post-mortem.
The Arizona Fall League finished up on Saturday with the Salt River Rafters beating the Surprise Saguaros, 3-2, to claim the 2024 AFL title. The Mesa Solar Sox, the team featuring Cubs prospects who play at the Cubs’ Spring Training home of Sloan Park, went out meekly, losing three of four games in the final week and finishing in fifth place (out of six) and a 14-16 record.
In case you’ve forgotten, the Solar Sox are made up of prospects from five teams. This year the Cubs and the Athletics (who also train in Mesa and are always with the Solar Sox) were joined by prospects from the Rays, Red Sox and Angels. One thing that participants in the AFL always speak highly of is the chance to meet players and coaches from other organizations and learn from them.
As I noted, it was a rough final week for the Solar Sox. They still had a puncher’s chance of finishing in the top three and making the playoffs coming into the week, but they went 1-3 and that sent the team tumbling to fifth place.
Here are the final four games for the Solar Sox this season. The home team is listed last.
Monday, November 11: Glendale Desert Dogs 7, Solar Sox 3
Tuesday, November 12: Solar Sox 2, Surprise Saguaros 11
Wednesday, November 13: Desert Dogs 1, Solar Sox 2
Thursday, November 14: Peoria Javelinas 5, Solar Sox 2
You’re not going to win a lot of games in the AFL when you don’t score more than three runs in any game over the course of a week.
Here’s a wrap-up of how the Cubs players did this past week and over the course of the AFL season.
Catcher Moises Ballesteros
Ballesteros played three games this past week. He was the DH on Monday and Thursday and he caught on Tuesday. He had at least one hit in all three of those games, going 4 for 11 with a walk and a double. His lone RBI came on a sacrifice fly in Thursday’s loss.
For the entire AFL campaign, Ballesteros went .316/.376/.557 with four doubles and five home runs over 19 games. He scored 14 runs and had 16 RBI.
Corner infielder Jonathon Long
There were a lot of eyes on Long this autumn as observers were wondering whether his offensive breakout this year was a real thing or just an illusion. If it was a mirage, Long’s AFL campaign did nothing to dispel it.
Long played two games this week, manning first base on Tuesday and playing third on Wednesday. He went 0 for 4 on Tuesday, but weas 2 for 4 with a double and a triple on Wednesday. He also scored one run on Wednesday.
For the AFL season, Long hit .338/.425/.662 with four doubles, a triple and six home runs. He was in a four-way tie for second place the league in home runs (but way behind league MVP Josue Briceño, who hit ten) and he led the Solar Sox in RBI with 19 RBI. Long scored 17 runs and he stole one base.
Infielder Benjamin Cowles
For Cowles, the AFL was about getting back in shape after missing almost ten weeks after suffering a broken wrist after getting hit by a pitch. So while his results might not show it, it was a success for Cowles by just being on the field and playing.
Cowles played twice this past week. On Monday he played shortstop and went 0 for 4. On Wednesday, he started at second base and went 1 for 4.
Cowles’ final line for the AFL was .213/.298/.320 with six doubles and a triple over 19 games. Cowles scored seven runs and drove in seven.
Catcher David Avitia
Avitia caught the final two games of the season for Mesa. He was 1 for 3 with an RBI single on Wednesday and 0 for 3 with a walk on Thursday.
Avitia was a mid-season add to the Solar Sox roster and as such, he only played in five games. He was 5 for 19 with a double and a walk, which translates out to .263/.300/.316.
Right-hander Grant Kipp
Kipp started and picked up the win on Wednesday, going four innings and allowing just one run on four hits. He struck out three and walked no one.
Kipp went 3-2 with a 5.60 ERA over six starts and 17⅔ innings. Those three wins put him in a five-way tie for the league lead. Kipp struck out 21 and walked 10.
Right-hander Shane Marshall
Marshall didn’t pitch in the final week of the season, so he finishes having pitched seven innings over six relief appearances. He had a record of 0-1 with an ERA of 14.14. He struck out six and walked four. That Marshall’s final appearance in the AFL last week was a good one at least means he got to go out on a high note.
Right-hander Vince Reilly
Reilly went out with a strong performance, pitching two scoreless innings without allowing a hit in Monday’s loss. Reilly did walk one while striking out three in that outing.
Reilly pitched 9⅔ innings over eight relief appearances and went 1-0 with a 3.72 ERA and two saves. Reilly struck out nine and walked five.
Right-hander Luis Rujano
Rujano pitched an inning of relief in Thursday’s finale and allowed one run on one hit and a hit batsman. He struck out one and walked no one.
Rujano pitched five times in the AFL, two starts and three relief appearances. Rujano finished with a record of 3-0 and an ERA of 7.00. Obviously, those three wins put Rujano in that five-way tie for the league lead. Over nine innings, Rujano allowed just six hits, but he walked nine and struck out 12.
Right-hander Sam Thoresen
Thoresen also did not pitch this final week, so he finishes with a record of 0-1 and an ERA of 7.50 over six innings and six relief appearances. He walked 10 and struck out seven.