Wednesday night, September 18, marks the opening of the 2019 Arizona Fall League schedule. Six teams made up of prospects from all 30 MLB organizations will play 30 games each, through Friday, October 25. The league finals will be the next day, on Saturday, October 26. Also, the annual Fall Stars Game will be held on Saturday, October 12.
The 2019 AFL consists of two divisions, with the following make-up:
East Division
- Mesa Solar Sox: Angels, Athletics, Cubs, Indians, Tigers
- Salt River Rafters: Diamondbacks, Marlins, Rays, Rockies, Twins
- Scottsdale Scorpions: Blue Jays, Braves, Giants, Mets, Phillies
West Division
- Glendale Desert Dogs: Brewers, Cardinals, Dodgers, Reds, White Sox
- Peoria Javelinas: Astros, Mariners, Padres, Pirates, Red Sox
- Surprise Saguaros: Orioles, Nationals, Rangers, Royals, Yankees
2019 changes
This year’s schedule begins three weeks earlier than in the past, with the intent to eliminate the prior time gap of a month between the end of the minor league season and the start of the AFL.
In prior years, the AFL took Sundays off. That is not the case in 2019. Instead, teams will not play on three Mondays, two Thursdays, a Tuesday and a Sunday.
10 league games will be held against teams from the Mexican Pacific League and Mesa will play two contests in the Mexican Baseball Fiesta.
Now eligible for the AFL are rehabbing MLB players and any minor leaguers. There is no longer any restriction on players participating who played below the Double-A level during the prior season.
Because of the Arizona heat, all September contests will be held in the evening, starting at 6:30 p.m. local time. Selected day games, starting at 12:30 p.m. will be held in October.
Due to construction at regular AFL venues Surprise and Scottsdale, two teams will double up this year. Scottsdale will share Salt River Fields at Talking Stick with the Rafters and Surprise joins the Javelinas at their home in Peoria. (All AFL parks’ primary purpose is to serve as MLB spring training venues.)
Cardinals – Glendale overview
The eight Cardinals prospects and their Glendale Desert Dogs teammates will play their home games at Camelback Ranch-Glendale, the spring home of the Dodgers and White Sox.
One of four coaches under Glendale manager Luis Bolivar (Reds) is Springfield hitting coach Brandon Allen. The 33-year old just completed his third season in the Cardinals system after serving in the same capacity at Palm Beach in 2018 and Johnson City in 2017. As a first baseman-outfielder, Allen played 13 years in professional ball, including parts of four seasons in the majors, 2009-2012.
One of Glendale’s two athletic trainers is Springfield’s Dan Martin.
While 20 members of MLB Pipeline’s top 100 prospects were among the initial group announced to play in the AFL, only one is currently on the Glendale roster, Reds third baseman Jonathan India (No. 92), their first-rounder in 2018. Cardinals outfielder Dylan Carlson, since pulled from the league, would have been the other and highest-ranked Desert Dog at no. 50 nationally.
As is traditional, the Cards have assigned four position players and four pitchers to the AFL. The latter group includes one starter and three relievers. (Each club has the same target, ideally creating a five-man rotation and a 15-man bullpen, ensuring pitchers do not get overworked.)
Five of the eight are ranked in The Cardinal Nation August Top 50 plus one honorable mention. The headliners are third baseman Elehuris Montero, no. 3, and catcher Ivan Herrera, no. 12.
Outfielder Conner Capel was recently added to the group, replacing Carlson, and Roel Ramirez was chosen as the final relief pitcher.
Three of the Cardinals – all three of the relievers – finished the season with Memphis, though they all spent the majority of 2019 down one level, at Springfield. The Double-A Cards also have three representatives, plus the Palm Beach battery of Griffin Roberts and Herrera rounds out the group. Herrera, who played most of 2019 at Peoria, is the second-youngest player in the AFL, at the age of 19 years and three months.
| Cards in AFL 2019 | Pos | Tm | TCN Top 50 Rank | |
| Pitcher | Griffin Roberts | RHS | PB | 30 |
| Seth Elledge | RHR | Mem | 29 | |
| Kodi Whitley | RHR | Mem | HM | |
| Roel Ramirez | RHR | Mem | NR | |
| Hitter | Conner Capel | OF | Spr | 35 |
| Elehuris Montero | 3B | Spr | 3 | |
| Kramer Robertson | SS | Spr | NR | |
| Ivan Herrera | C | PB | 12 |
To read more about all eight players, check out these earlier articles.
What is Next
We will have all the details and analysis from the 2019 AFL campaign here at The Cardinal Nation. That includes our free daily Desert Dogs game recaps, starting with the opener on Wednesday, September 18, through the final games on October 26.
Others may talk about it, but we have been on the ground in the AFL every year for each of the last 15 years and will again bring you our exclusive members coverage directly from Glendale in October.
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Brian Walton can be reached via email at brian@thecardinalnation.com or for fastest turnaround, pose your questions on The Cardinal Nation’s members-only forum. Follow Brian on Twitter.
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