Wednesday, November 04

This year’s Gold Glove winners were announced Sunday, and names of the BBWAA Awards finalists were released Monday. We’re very much in the awards season section of the baseball calendar, and even if we’ve already given out the Minor League versions for 2026, that doesn’t stop the MLB Pipeline newsletter from participating.

The Arizona Fall League is beginning its fifth week of play, meaning there’s only a handful of days left in the regular season of the premier prospect showcase. That’s enough time for players to make strong final pushes, but it’s also clear that favorites have emerged in the major awards categories.

These are the prospects who are best positioned to take home some hardware after the 2026 AFL season wraps up with the league championship on Nov. 14. (All stats are entering Monday. MVP and Offensive Player of the Year are two separate awards, but typically, candidates for one are candidates for the other.)

MVP/Offensive Player of the Year

Welbyn Francisca, SS/2B, Guardians (No. 19): The 20-year-old, switch-hitting middle infielder got off to a rocking start by going 16-for-26 (.615) with a homer, a triple, four doubles and a 1/5 K/BB ratio in his first six games with Surprise, and while he’s slowed down some since, he’s still in line to compete for the AFL Slash Line Triple Crown as the league leader in average (.436), slugging (.745) and OPS (1.237). His .492 on-base percentage ranks third among AFL qualifiers. His 24 hits are tied for most in the circuit, while his 41 total bases are tied for second. Francisca is finding the barrel plenty in the desert, a great sign for a player who hit a career high 19 homers over the summer.

Aidan Miller, SS/3B, Phillies (No. 2/MLB No. 59): You’d think a player who only played eight games during the regular season and Eastern League playoffs due to a back injury would come out swinging in the Fall League, hoping to make up for lost hacks. Instead, Miller has been the AFL’s most patient hitter with a league-best 21 walks and a .590 on-base percentage in 12 games for Surprise. He’s done damage beyond that, too, by going 14-for-39 (.359) with two triples, four doubles and a hard-hit rate of 46.2 percent. Miller, who has played third base exclusively, trails only his Surprise teammate Francisca in OPS with a mark of 1.154.

Jack O’Dowd, C/1B, Rockies (Not ranked among Top 30): A former Texas Longhorn who signed with the Rockies after a spin in the Pioneer League, O’Dowd has been arguably the Fall League’s best bopper this autumn with five homers, seven doubles, 12 extra-base hits and 42 total bases -- all of which lead the league or are tied for the league lead -- through 15 games for Salt River. His .737 slugging percentage ranks second in the circuit while his 1.120 OPS places third. O’Dowd crushed 23 homers across Single-A, High-A and Double-A in his first season of affiliated ball, so this is very much a continuation of what we saw earlier in the Colorado system.

Tai Peete, OF, Cardinals (No. 17): After missing significant time due to illness over the summer, Peete has been one of the AFL’s most energetic and electric players all season. He’s the only player with more than 10 extra-base hits (11, in his case) and 10 steals (13), ranking second in both categories. He’s also fourth with a .661 slugging percentage, fifth with a 1.092 OPS and tied with Francisca for second with 41 total bases. Peete has the power-speed potential to be a 25-25 threat in the Majors someday, if he can get the bat on the ball enough, and it’s promising that his 72.8 percent contact rate on swings with Peoria is a few ticks above his 69.1 percent mark from the regular season.

Pitcher of the Year

Justin Lamkin, LHP, Royals (No. 8): If this was based only on Lamkin’s three most recent starts -- including 4 ⅓ perfect innings on Oct. 21 -- then he might have this award in the bag. Over that stretch, the former Texas A&M hurler has allowed seven baserunners over 12 ⅓ innings while posting a 1.46 ERA and striking out 26.7 percent of his batters faced. After missing most of 2026 with a shoulder injury, Lamkin has been incredible at getting ahead of batters with his low-90s four-seamer and putting them away with offspeed once he establishes the advantage. Even when incorporating his AFL debut (3 IP, 5 R, 4 ER), he still leads the league with three wins and ranks third with a .148 average-against and fourth with a 0.78 WHIP.

Luke Holman, RHP, Reds (No. 23): Holman made only four starts this season in the Arizona Complex League after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2025, but he doesn’t look like he’s lost a step with a north-south profile that can produce whiffs, particularly with an upper-70s curveball and mid-80s slider. Holman hasn’t allowed more than one earned run in any of his four appearances for Peoria, and he owns a 0.82 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and 17 strikeouts over 11 innings. He’s one of only three qualifiers with an ERA below 1, and his .111 average-against tops the Fall League leaderboard.

Patrick Reilly, RHP, Orioles (Not ranked among Top 30): Once ranked among the O’s top 10 talents, Reilly slipped out of the T30 after 2025 Tommy John surgery and the system got deeper and deeper in his absence, but he’s pushing for inclusion again. His 20 strikeouts are tied with fireballer Jarlin Susana for most in the AFL, and he’s accrued those over only 13 ⅔ innings for Peoria. His 82-84 mph, two-plane slider has been a big driver of those punchouts, but it’s notable that he’s also throwing his four-seamer in the mid-90s and working with five different pitch types. Reilly enters this week with a 2.63 ERA and 1.32 WHIP over four starts. 

Tekoah Roby, RHP, Cardinals (No. 14): Roby’s AFL is officially done after he was removed from the Peoria roster after three starts, but he was spectacular in that abbreviated time, fanning 13 and walking only one over 9 ⅔ scoreless frames. After missing the entire spring and summer due to TJ, he proved his velocity had returned by consistently sitting in the mid-90s with a four-seamer and sinker and also showed impressive stuff with a curveball, slider and kick change. It’s possible he loses this status over the final two weeks, but as things stand now, he’s the only qualified starter with a 0.00 ERA and the AFL leader with a 0.72 WHIP. That might be enough to hold him in a hitter-friendly league.

• Top Rangers prospect Sebastian Walcott will start getting in-field outfield reps in the Fall League soon, Jesse Borek notes.
• Last week, Jim Callis broke down the AFL’s top Statcast standouts, including Susana’s fastball velocity and Isaiah Drake’s Sprint Speed.
• I wrote last week from Arizona about Braves No. 21 prospect Owen Carey, who was a baseball and hockey star at home in New Hampshire but is now at his best on the diamond when he isn’t (as he describes it) “jumpy”.

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