Rosters have been announced for the 2024 Arizona Fall League and the Tigers will be contributing plenty of talent to the Scottsdale Scorpions roster this year. Opening Day for the developmental league, which often features players from the High-A and Double-A levels who missed regular season time due to injury, is set for October 7. The Tigers contingent will be led by catchers Thayron Liranzo and Josue Briceño.
Depending on who you ask, Liranzo, acquired as the highest ranked prospect in the Jack Flaherty trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers, is either the Tigers fourth or fifth ranked prospect currently. Jackson Jobe, Max Clark, and Kevin McGonigle consistently grade out a level or two higher, while Jace Jung and Liranzo check in as lower top 100 prospects on most major lists.
The 21-year-old Liranzo is a switch-hitting catcher with huge power particularly from the left-handed side. Good plate discipline bolsters the profile, and Scott Harris illustrated his knack for catching a prospect just as they hit a breakout in Liranzo’s case, just as he did with Hao-Yu Lee, Trey Sweeney, and Eddys Leonard.
With the High-A West Michigan Whitecaps, Liranzo leveled up quickly, cutting his strikeout rate from 26.1 percent in the first half with the Dodgers, to just 17.4 percent after the trade. He mashed five home runs in 26 games and posted a monstrous 195 wRC+ overall in that span.
Liranzo has the physical tools and makeup to develop into a solid defensive catcher, but he is still rather raw behind the plate. At his best, his arm strength, pop times, and framing grade out very well, but he’s still inconsistent. He also needs to improve his blocking as well as his game calling. However, the Tigers have a very strong recent track record of developing catchers defensively. Jake Rogers, Eric Haase, Carson Kelly, have all improved their skills to varying degrees based on the amount of time they’ve spent in the Tigers organization over the last four seasons.
There’s a good chance they’ll be able to do the same with Liranzo.
The 20-year-old Briceño is also a catcher who plays first base time, but while he’s a year younger and hasn’t played above Lakeland yet, the raw skills as a catcher aren’t quite as good as in Liranzo’s case. On the hand, Briceño is arguably more advanced as a hitter and also features bone-crushing power from the left side, though he does not switch hit. The edge he has over Liranzo at the plate is in terms of contact ability rather than power. Briceño is the better pure contact hitter of the two, though he’s less tested at this point.
A PCL sprain in Briceño’s right knee back in early May cost him over three months of playing time, so it makes plenty of sense to get him some developmental time in the Fall League. His excellent plate discipline and advanced contact ability will serve him well there, despite facing significantly more experienced pitchers.
It may be that Briceño’s time as a catcher is coming to an end. Because of the knee injury, the Tigers have played him at first base since his return from injury. It’s hard to discern if that’s a long term move or just to protect the knee until he’s had an offseason to rest and build himself back up. What’s certain is that his bat is going to move him through the Tigers’ system much faster than his ability behind the plate will. Briceño draws excellent grades for his makeup as well. It’s just a matter or arm strength and athleticism behind the dish. We’re very interested to see how he fares against better pitching.
RHP Rayner Castillo was one of the Tigers fastest rising pitching prospects this season, and the recently turned 20-year-old will lead a small group of Tigers’ pitching prospects to the Fall League.
Castillo missed some time with a minor injury as well, so he makes for a good Fall League candidate. He posted a 2.52 ERA across 60 2⁄3 innings for the Lakeland Flying Tigers. The big-framed right-hander stands 6’3” and is well beyond his listed 180 pounds now. He has a strong, well balanced lower half and produces easy 95-96 mph sinkers and fourseamers that Single-A level hitters could not get in the air. He also pounds the strike zone as a result of that easy, balanced power, walking just 8 percent of hitters faced, which is quite good at that level.
He backs the gas with an above average low-80’s slider that is still inconsistent and doesn’t always draw that many whiffs unless he’s locating it really well. He can spin the ball, however, and so the expectation is that he’ll be able to refine that into a consistently above average breaking ball at least with more reps.
Castillo’s changeup is still quite blunt, without enough velocity separation from the fastball to work in the upper levels. Until he has a better third pitch, there’s relief risk here, but Castillo is young and has a lot of potential for further growth in a starter’s role. He makes a good candidate for a split-change and I’d bet the Tigers will be working with him on one. Even as a relief prospect though, he could be very good and is likely to sit in the high-90’s consistently in that role with continued development.
The Tigers group is rounded out by right-handed relievers Eric Silva, acquired from the San Francisco Giants for Mark Canha back in July, and CJ Weins, both of whom could help the Tigers’ pen in the years ahead. They’ll also send left-hander Jake Miller, who has a good breaking ball and plenty of possibilities as a future major league southpaw reliever.
RHP Wilmer Flores is the biggest name among the relievers. He dealt with a shoulder injury most of the year. If Flores can get right, he has great potential as a high-powered relief arm, but his progress has really stagnated over the past two seasons. Hopefully, he can get some quality innings under his belt headed into the offseason and come out ready to go next spring.
Finally, the Tigers will send shortstop Peyton Graham to the Fall League as well. The Tigers second round pick in 2022, Graham has outstanding raw tools, but his slim frame has proven constantly injury prone over his his first two full seasons in the league. Graham’s power and discipline are very good, but he’s struggled to build himself up and shorten his swing as needed to handle the higher velocity and greater separation between pitchers as he tries to move up the pro ranks. Hopefully he can finally get a little momentum going into the offseason.
The Fall League schedule will run from October 7 to November 14, with a two-game postseason to follow for the 2024 AFL championship.