The Arizona Fall League is approaching and Opening Day is on October 3, 2022. The Texas Rangers have nine players that have been assigned to the Surprise Saguaros headlined by several of their top prospects including Aaron Zavala, Luisangel Acuña and Kumar Rocker.
The nine players from the Texas Rangers organization on the 2022 Surprise Saguaros are:
- INF Luisangel Acuña
- UT Jayce Easley
- C Cody Freeman
- OF Trevor Hauver
- LHP Jake Latz
- RHP Kumar Rocker
- RHP Nick Starr
- LHP Grant Wolfram
- OF Aaron Zavala
*RHP Daniel Robert replaced Jake Latz.
Ranger fans will keep a close eye on Kumar Rocker, the Rangers 1st round selection in the 2022 draft. Those that aren’t familiar with Luisangel Acuña and Aaron Zavala will be soon enough. Both had strong seasons and saw time at High-A and Double-A and have a few games remaining this season with the RoughRiders.
Let’s take a closer look at each player’s stats before they participate in the Arizona Fall League.
Luisangel Acuña
Between High-A Hickory and Double-A Frisco, he has slashed a line of .282/.373/.434/.807 with 11 home runs, 47 RBI, 44 stolen bases, 49 walks, and 110 strikeouts. A pretty solid season for a 20-year-old. Acuña, 20, is rule-5 eligible this winter and I believe the Rangers will add him to the 40-man to protect him unless he is included in a trade.
Jayce Easley
Easley, 23, has plenty of speed and it is sure to be on display in Arizona. Between the Arizona Complex League and High-A Hickory, he slashed a line of .231/.378/.346/.725 with 4 home runs, 24 RBI and 22 stolen bases.
Cody Freeman
Freeman, 21, he slashed a line of .234/.312/.366/.678 with 13 home runs, 71 RBI, 8 stolen bases, 40 walks, and 70 strikeouts in Hickory. He mostly played as catcher, 3rd base, DH and one game at 2B and one at 1B.
Trevor Hauver
Hauver, 24, in November, has been an on-base machine. Between High-A Hickory and Double-A Frisco he’s hit .218/.386/.426/.812 with 17 home runs and 68 RBI. He has walked 91 times and in Double-A he has walked more (22) than he’s struck out (19).
Jake Latz
Latz, 26, has 50.1 innings pitched on the season so he needs more innings. He has a 4-5 win-loss record for Triple-A Round Rock with a 5.19 earned run average. He’s issued 24 walks and struckout 56.
He missed July and August due to shoulder impingement syndrome.
Kumar Rocker
Rocker, 23 in November, was selected by the Rangers with the 3rd overall pick. It’s pretty important they got this pick right, considering the players they overlooked to draft Kumar.
Rocker played Independent ball in the Frontier League for the Tri-City Valley Cats this season. While reports were good (hit up to 99 mph on the fastball) he has very limited innings. In 20 innings he had a 1.35 earned run average with 4 walks and 32 strikeouts.
Just so it is on record, although I was surprised with the selection of Rocker as the 3rd overall pick, I am a fan.
Nick Starr
Starr, 25, has been solid out of the pen in Frisco. In 29.1 innings, he has a 1.84 earned run average with 9 walks and 25 strikeouts.
Grant Wolfram
Wolfram, 25, has a 3-3 win-loss record with a 4.47 earned run average. In 56.1 innings, he has issued 43 walks and struck out 71.
Aaron Zavala
Zavala, 22, was drafted by the Rangers in the 2nd round of the 2021 draft. He is another on-base machine. Between High-A Hickory and Double-A Frisco, he has a line of .283/.428/.462/.889 with 16 home runs and 61 RBI. Zavala has strong plate awareness as evidenced by his 89 walks.
AFL
The Arizona Fall League consists of six teams and each has five MLB affiliations. The teams and affiliations are listed below:
- Desert Dogs:
- Chicago White Sox, Cincinatti Reds, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins.
- Javelinas:
- Cleveland Guardians, New York Mets, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, Washington Nationals
- Scorpions
- Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels, San Francisco Giants
- Mesa Solar Sox
- Chicago Cubs, Miami Marlins, Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays
- Salt River Rafters
- Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, St Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays
- Surprise Saguaros
- Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Texas Rangers
The 2022 Schedule
Each team will play a 30-game schedule beginning with Opening Day on Tuesday October, 3.
The Fall Stars game will be held on Sunday, November 6. The Semifinal will be on Friday, November 11 and the Championship game will be the following day on Saturday, November 12.
The Mesa Solar Sox won the championship last season in 2021. The Peoria Javelinas hold the most titles with 7.
The Prospect Times covers the Texas Rangers farm system with an emphasis on the Double-A Frisco RoughRiders. The Prospect Times has been covering the Rangers farm system since 2019 and is one of the most trusted sources for information about all things related to the Frisco RoughRiders and the rest of the Rangers farm system.
