The first week of the Arizona Fall League is now in the books. Since the league kicked off last Saturday, the Salt River Rafters have played five games and are full of big Yankees contributions through their 4-1 start. All eight of the representatives have gotten in games thus far with mixed levels of results. If you want a quick rundown on who’s in the desert this month, check here.
October 3 (Rafters 9, Desert Dogs 4): The AFL opener saw five Yankees get into the action. Kyle West looked the best, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and lacing a ball at 109.2 mph. Dax Kilby—the Yankees’ 2025 first-rounder and their star of the show here—ripped a 101.1 mph RBI double and drew a walk, while Core Jackson went 0-for-5 with a walk and two strikeouts. On the pitching side, Anthony Mena allowed a hit in 1.1 scoreless innings, while Mack Estrada got on the mound and walked a pair in 1.1 choppy innings.
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October 4 (Rafters 4, Saguaros 6): The lone defeat of the opening week, only West was in the lineup at first base from the Yankees contingent, going 0-for-4 with a strikeout and a stolen base. He has sneaky speed for a guy who only plays first, having stolen 20 last season. Chris Veach came out of the bullpen in the fourth and got two innings of work in his AFL debut, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks. The highlight of his day was a successful pickoff of Sebastian Walcott to get out of a jam in the fourth.
October 5 (Rafters 10, Javelinas 7): It got even quieter in the Monday victory over Peoria, where only one Yankee got into the game. Kilby got his second start, leading off and playing shortstop, and was the best player on the field. After striking out in the first, he was perfect the rest of the day. He cracked a 105.1 mph single up the middle in the third, blasted a two-run double off the wall in the fifth, lifted a sacrifice fly in the sixth, and capped his day with a 105.4 mph RBI double to end the day 3-for-4 with four RBIs and two doubles.
Kilby said in an interview that he’s “working on a swing change,” and the first looks are clearly promising.
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October 6 (Rafters 7, Saguaros 2): Kilby got into another game on Tuesday, but went 0-for-4 with a strikeout. Jackson smoked a 106.6 mph double in his second start at third base, but the star was West, who had a single and two RBIs. On the pitching side, we got a scoreless inning out of converted catcher Antonio Gomez, who had a walk and a strikeout. He was only up to 98.4 with less ride on his fastball than usual, but that could be for any number of reasons.
October 8 (Rafters 4, Solar Sox 3): West got another start at first base and went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Both singles were scorched 110 mph, with the latter being a walk-off single. Four different pitchers got into the game, with JT Etheridge tossing 2.2 solid innings to start before giving way to Estrada to finish the inning. Veach walked a pair, but struck out the side in a scoreless inning of his own. Mena finished things off with two innings of his own, allowing a run with two strikeouts. The star of this game? Kilby, who led off the game with a home run to finish off a spectacular first week in the AFL.
AFL totals thus far
Dax Kilby: 5-15, HR, 6 RBI, 3 2B, BB, 2 K
Core Jackson: 1-9, 2B, BB, 2 K
Kyle West: 5-16, 4 RBI, 4 K
JT Etheridge: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 3 K
Mack Estrada: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 K
Chris Veach: 3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 5 K
Anthony Mena: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K
Antonio Gomez: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
