2025 Arizona Fall League Fall Stars Game Superlatives
Image credit: (Photo by Bill Mitchell)
The Arizona Fall League is drawing to a close, but not before a few more of the circuit’s jewel events. The first was the annual Fall Stars Game, which pits the best prospects from each league against one another in a prime-time showcase streamed on MLB Network.
Plenty of the players in the game will make their big league debuts in the coming years, but a few players in the game shined brighter than others. Here are the players who stood out in a 5-4 AL win capped by a walk-off sacrifice fly by White Sox prospect Sam Antonacci.
Best Hitter
Raudi Rodriguez, Angels
After a breakout season at Low-A Inland Empire, Rodriguez has stayed hot in the Arizona Fall League. The outfielder was the only player in the Fall Stars Game to notch multiple hits, and he added a walk for good measure. Neither of his hits was cheap. Both bolts registered exit velocities of greater than 111 mph. They came off of a sinker from Carson Montgomery and a slider from Jack Dallas.
Best Power
Blake Mitchell, Royals
Nobody homered in the game, and Mitchell’s double stood as the evening’s only extra-base hit. One of Kansas City’s top prospects, Mitchell reached Phillies reliever Jack Dallas for a two-bagger that split the right-center field gap. At just 87 mph off the bat it wasn’t the hardest-struck ball of the day—that honor came on a 117.6 mph foul ball from, who else, Kevin McGonigle—but the result gets him the win in this category.
Best Fastball
Tucker Musgrove, Padres
After a career stunted by injuries, Musgrove has been one of the league’s breakout pitchers. In the Fall Stars Game, he used the full triangle of four-seam, two-seam and cut fastballs to turn in a scoreless eighth inning. His two-seamer and four-seamer each averaged around 98 mph, and the former pitch helped him get one of his two grounders on the evening.
Best Breaking Pitch
Karson Milbrandt, Marlins
The pitch in question rides the line between cutter and slider—Hawk-Eye classifies it as a cutter—but it’s nasty by any name. The Marlins righthander got the start for the National League and rang up one strikeout in a scoreless frame. He threw the pitch five times in his inning and got four swings and misses. It accounted for all but one of his whiffs on the day—the other came on his four-seamer—and was the finisher for his lone strikeout, which came against Tigers prospect Max Anderson, who has been of the AFL’s biggest offensive forces.
Best Baserunning
Kevin McGonigle, Tigers
Nine months into a season that began in Lakeland, Fla., in February, McGonigle isn’t slowing down. When ball four from Jesus Broca hit the brick backstop at Sloan Park, the top Tigers prospect wasn’t satisfied with just one base. Instead, he booked it out of the box and motored into second base. Hawk-Eye didn’t pick up McGonigle’s sprint speed … maybe he was just that fast.
Best Defensive Play
Kevin McGonigle, Tigers
There’s zero question about McGonigle’s ability to hit. Where he winds up on the infield is another story. He suited up at shortstop on Sunday and turned in the game’s brightest web gem. With Anderson Brito on the hill, Seaver King slapped a grounder back to the mound. It clanked off of Brito’s glove and squibbed its way into no man’s land. Correction: It squibbed its way into one man’s land. Showing supreme athleticism and body control, McGonigle picked the grounder and fired to first just in time to nab King, robbing the Nationals prospect of an infield single.
Runner-Up — Juan Flores, Angels: Flores turned in the throw of the day on a back-pick to first base in the seventh inning that completed a double play and ended the frame. Flores, who threw out 19% of attempted basestealers in 2025 at High-A Tri-City, caught a slider from Miguelangel Boadas then fired from his knees to catch Jansel Luis off of first base. Flores’ throw checked in at 74.5 mph and reached first base in 1.54 seconds.
