The two top Braves prospects in this fall league are making a statement as they’ve been key pieces of the Scottsdale lineup
The Arizona Fall League schedule is beginning to wind down, with the Scottsdale Scorpions having only three remaining regular season games. The penultimate week of play was the best for Braves prospects, with Justyn-Henry Malloy and Cal Conley keeping a high level of play and the pitching putting up its best week. Looking forward to the postseason, the Scorpions are in position to make it to the play-in semifinal game on Friday. Sitting at 13-13-1 they are a half game up on Glendale and Mesa for the third and final spit and are tied with Peoria for second place in the league. Scottsdale’s three remaining games are against Surprise, who has locked up a first place finish, Peoria, and then again against Surprise on Thursday. The semifinal game begins at 8:35 pm ET Friday with the AFL Championship starting at 8 PM ET on Saturday.
Justyn-Henry Malloy
Stats: 4-9, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K
Season stats: 82 PA, .303/.439/.409, 5 2B, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 15 BB, 18 K, 1 HBP
Malloy got starts in two of Scottsdale’s three games this week, and from a pure run perspective had one of his more productive weeks this fall. Malloy had a 2-5 outing in Monday’s loss, driving in a run early in the game. Malloy came up in a 1-0 game in the third inning and was able to sneak a ground ball through the left side of the infield for a game-tying hit. Malloy was part of a much bigger Scottsdale offensive effort on Thursday, reaching base four times in an 11-3 win. The Scorpions trailed 2-1 with Cal Conley on third base and two outs in the third inning when Malloy came up for his second at bat. Malloy popped a ball into right center field and it came to rest in between the defenders out there for a game-tying bloop single. He scored on Niko Kavadas’s long home run the next play to also represent the go-ahead run in the game. Malloy went 2-4 with a double and two walks and scored another run in the sixth inning.
Cade Bunnell
Stats: 1-8, 4 K
Season stats: 39 PA, .161/.308/.161, 4 RBI, 7 BB, 18 K
Bunnell was the only Braves prospect to appear in Scottsdale’s 7-6 Tuesday win and played an important role in that game. Bunnell singled with two outs in the sixth inning, representing the go ahead run in a 4-4 game. Bunnell ended up scoring two batters later on a two-run double and the Solar Sox never caught up after that. Bunnell went 0-4 in the final game of the week with two strikeouts.
Cal Conley
Stats: 6-15, 1 2B, 1 3B, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 3 K,
Season stats: 88 PA, .288/.409/.521, 5 2B, 3 3B, 2 HR, 15 RBI, 13 BB, 21 K, 9 SB, 2 HBP
Cal Conley is steadily seeing his role grow, and while he is no longer leading off for Scottsdale he is batting second which helped him get a few more RBIs this week. Conley had a 2-5 performance in the opening game of the week, but was stranded at third base both times in a two run loss. Conley had a huge day at the plate in Scottsdale’s 11-3 as he contributed four hits and two RBIs to the game. Conley ripped a triple in the third inning for his second hit, which scored the first Scottsdale run, then scored on Malloy’s hit in the next at bat. After making a couple of outs Conley was back on the grind, driving in a run with an RBI single in the seventh inning and capping his day with a ninth inning double
Alex Segal
Stats: 1 G, 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0.00 ERA
Season stats: 7 G, 8.2 IP, 5 H, 10 R, 9 ER, 12 BB, 12 K, 9.35 ERA
Alex Segal had his first very good game for the Scorpions, giving then two scoreless innings of relief on Monday. Segal’s command has been a major issue this fall, but this time it was no trouble as he threw 17 of his 25 pitches for strikes and walked no batters over two perfect innings.
Austin Smith
Stats: 1 G, 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 0.00 ERA
Season stats: 9 G, 9 2⁄3 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 13 K, 2.79 ERA
Austin Smith was brought in only once this week and it was to hold on to a 9-3 lead which was not a problem. Smith wasn’t exactly sharp and allowed a walk and a base hit in the inning, but managed to tip-toe around the trouble to throw a scoreless inning.
Allan Winans
Stats: 1 G, 4 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 6.75 ERA
Season stats: 5 G, 16.1 IP, 19 H, 12 R, 8 ER, 7 BB, 14 K, 4.87 ERA
There were things to like and things to dislike about Allan Winans’s start this week, with the biggest thing to dislike being the two run home run he allowed in the first inning. Otherwise Winans was generally good, with five strikeouts and no walks over four innings while also recording four ground ball outs. Winans allowed some two out damage in his final inning with a run-scoring double with a span of nine batter out of ten retired between the run-scoring sequences.
William Woods
Stats: 2 G, 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 0.00 ERA
Season stats: 8 G, 11 2⁄3 IP, 15 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 3 BB, 12 K, 7.04 ERA
William Woods saw the mound twice this week and both times was responsible for multi-inning outings which he responded to well. Home runs have plagued his fall stat line and he was not immune to that this week as he allowed one in his first outing, but that was the only run he allowed. Woods allowed leadoff hits in each of the two innings he pitched on Friday but managed to work around it both times. In the first of those innings he recorded a strikeout and then got an inning ending double play to escape any damage. The second time he didn’t allow a ball out of the infield as the leadoff hit was an infield single. He struck out the next batter then recorded a pop up to the first baseman before a ground out to second base ended the inning.