(Media release from the Rome Professional Baseball Club):
Major League Baseball has announced the rosters and coaching staffs of the 2023 Arizona Fall League (AFL). Four members of the 2023 Rome roster will make the trip out west this fall.
Keshawn Ogans and David McCabe are the two infielders representing Atlanta this fall. Ogans, a San Francisco native, hit .265 this year for Rome while producing an on base percentage of .360. Ogans tallied over 250 innings each at shortstop, third base, and second base in 2023. His best fielding percentage came at second base, where he collected 41 put outs, 76 assists, and 15 double plays over 121 total chances. His .967 fielding percentage at second was the best out of anyone on the Rome roster at that position.
McCabe, who joined Rome in late May, collected the second highest batting average on the team of .281. McCabe’s 50 runs batted in were the fourth most among Rome players. McCabe posted an on base percentage of .388, which was good enough for third best of the eligible players in Rome. McCabe manned the hot corner for seventy games in Rome, posting a .904 fielding percentage.
Patrick Halligan is the lone Fall League pitcher who spent time in Rome in 2023. The 6’6” Virginia native served as both a starter and a reliever for Rome, appearing in 21 games. The 23-year-old right-hander hurled over 60 innings for Rome, posting a WHIP of 1.47 while punching out 68 batters. Halligan was promoted to AA Mississippi in late August.
Manager Angel Flores will make the trip to Arizona this fall as well, serving as an assistant coach for the Salt River Rafters. Flores, in his first year as a manager, posted 64 total wins in 2023. Those 64 wins are the second most since the Minor League re-alignment, when the schedules were shortened. In 2023, Flores managed three future big-leaguers (AJ Smith-Shawver, Daysbel Hernandez, and Darius Vines) and rehabbed five current major-leaguers (Collin McHugh, Ehire Adrianza, Jackson Stephens, Max Fried, and Kyle Wright).
The Salt River Rafters will house the Atlanta Braves prospects this fall, as well as players from the Colorado Rockies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Detroit Tigers. The roster features eight total players who spent time in the Rome clubhouse, including Dylan Dodd, Jake McSteen, Brooks Wilson, Tyler Tolve, and Alec Barger, who was traded to Colorado in July.
The 2023 AFL season is set to open on Monday, October 2, with additional season highlights including:
· The new Goodyear Ballpark Tripleheader is on October 14 at the Spring Training home of the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Guardians,
· The new Hohokam Doubleheader is on October 28 at the Spring Training home of the Oakland Athletics.
· The annual AFL Fall Stars Game will be played November 5, preceded by the burgeoning AFL Home Run Derby on November 4. Both events will again take place at Sloan Park, the Spring Training home of the Chicago Cubs. The Fall Stars game will air LIVE on MLB Network, MLB.com and the MLB App. The AFL Home Run Derby will stream exclusively on MLB.com.
· The second-annual AFL Play-In Semifinal will be played November 10 between the 2nd and 3rd seeds following the conclusion of the AFL regular season. Camelback Ranch, the Spring Training home of the Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers, will host the event.
The AFL Championship Game will be played Saturday, November 11 at Scottsdale Stadium. It will be the second consecutive season the contest has been hosted at the Spring Training home of the San Francisco Giants. The game will be broadcast LIVE on MLB Network, MLB.com and the MLB App.
