Credit Caden Connor for disrupting a White Sox Arizona Fall League recap that would've been straight chalk.
We could have easily summed up the league’s season by saying that the White Sox's ranked prospects performed, and the supplementary players didn't, but the 25-year-old Connor stood out as the exception by hitting .359/.494/.391 over 83 plate appearances for the Glendale Desert Dogs.
That's not to say this performance wasn't within his skill set. He's hit reasonably well, if not in a way that stands out, at every level he's played since the White Sox selected him out of Cal State Fullerton in the 19th round in 2023. He was a non-slugging first baseman in college, but he's been able to expand into the outfield as a pro. Between the organization's lack of upper-minors outfielders and Connor's left-handedness, he's in a position to hit his way into greater roles if his AFL performance carries over into 2026.
One just also has to consider that the AFL hit .269/.391/.405 as a league. That sounds like a suggestion to pump the brakes, but then again, accomplishing the task at hand is always better than the opposite.
Speaking of which...
Hitters
| Player | PA | 2B | 3B | HR | BB/K | SB/CS | BA/OBP/SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braden Montgomery | 55 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 13/12 | 3/0 | .366/.527/.634 |
| Sam Antonacci | 93 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 15/11 | 11/3 | .378/.505/.541 |
| Ryan Galanie | 69 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9/13 | 3/0 | .212/.362/.231 |
| Caden Connor | 83 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 18/9 | 8/0 | .359/.494/.391 |
The Glendale Desert Dogs offense surged over the November portion of the schedule, going from last in the six-team league in runs per game to second at 6.41. Antonacci led the entire league in runs scored by crossing the plate 24 times in 19 games, and he finished the year with a whopping 646 plate appearances between the regular season, Southern League playoffs and fall ball, reinforcing the idea that he doesn't believe in burnout.
Montgomery isn't far behind, as he was able to get up to 575 trips to the dish despite a late-season foot fracture. He finished with the AFL’s third-highest OBP despite the late start, and while the strikeout rate is still a little elevated, the desert rewarded him for contact quality in a way that Birmingham never did. Ryan Galanie is the only one who didn't have any fun in terms of production, but maybe he has another long road trip in front of him.
Pitchers
| Player | G | IP | H | HR | BB | K | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hagen Smith | 5 | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 21 | 2.57 |
| Connor McCullough | 3 | 6.1 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 12.79 |
| Jarold Rosado | 9 | 6.2 | 4 | 1 | 13 | 7 | 12.15 |
| Carson Jacobs | 8 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 10 | 4.50 |
| Tyler Davis | 9 | 10.2 | 18 | 2 | 6 | 18 | 7.59 |
Officially, between Birmingham and Glendale, Smith finished one out short of 90 innings for the year. Then you remember that doesn't count his two playoff starts for the Barons or his scoreless inning in the Fall Stars Game, and that accounts for an extra 10 innings that puts him agonizingly short of 100. Otherwise, he accomplished what was asked of him, posting strong strikeout numbers and throwing more changeups despite the unfavorable atmosphere.
Regression started working in Tyler Davis' fashion at the end of the season, as he finished up his year with three scoreless innings to bring his ERA back into the single digits.
Conversely, Rosado walked six batters over his final 1⅓ innings, and Jacobs also finished with more walks than strikeouts thanks to a control collapse in his final appearance of the season. McCullough didn't appear, so he didn't get a chance to improve his catastrophic strand rate.
