Hey before we get into the Arizona Fall League post, how about those Boston Red Sox taking Game 1 of their Wildcard series against the New York Yankees? Great pitching, solid defense, timely hitting – sounds like a winning recipe for success, Boston. Let’s keep it going in Game 2 tonight.

Ok, Arizona Fall League players, teams, schedules, and much more information are all out and available at www.mlb.com/arizona-fall-league. Games are scheduled to begin this Sunday, October 6th with a pretty regular schedule of games to follow over the next few weeks. The league runs into mid-November and plays their games exclusively in Arizona baseball stadiums of the Cactus League, which are the Spring Training HQ’s for many MLB teams. Many, many current and former MLB players have used the Arizona Fall League to get more reps, more pitches in, more at-bats to finish off their minor league seasons. And get ready for the off season, then Spring Training, then perhaps career advancement in the Minors or even better, the Major Leagues.

Here are some players I will be following along with their respective AFL team and MLB/MILB affiliate:

Glendale Desert Dogs – Hagen Smith, Birmingham Barons, Chicago White Sox AA level

Mesa Solar Sox – Tommy White, Midland Rockhounds, Athletics AA level; Fenwick Trimble, Pensacola Blue Wahoos, Miami Marlins AA level, Virginia Beach native

Peoria Javelinas – Ethan Anderson, Chesapeake BaySox, Baltimore Orioles AA level, Cox High School, VA Beach alum, University of VA alum

Salt River Rafters – Dominic Perachi, Altoona Curve, Pittsburgh Pirates AA level, Salve Regina University alum (Newport, RI); Chris Hess, hitting coach for the Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox AA level), North Kingstown High School (RI) alum, University of Rhode Island alum

Scottsdale Scorpions – Seaver King, Harrisburg Senators, Washington Nationals AA Level

Surprise Saguaros – Carson DeMartini, Reading Fightin Phils, Philadelphia Phillies AA level, Ocean Lakes High School, Virginia Beach alum, Virginia Tech University alum

You can learn more about the Arizona Fall League by heading over to the official MLB website here – Arizona Fall League. Weather in the Phoenix metro area – Glendale, Peoria, Mesa, Scottsdale – should be amazing this time of year for baseball. I’m looking forward to catching a few games online or on the MLB TV app this fall.