The Arizona Fall League rosters have been announced and the Cincinnati Reds will be sending eight players, as is customary. They will be playing with the Scottsdale Scorpions and will have Derrin Ebert on the staff as the pitching coach. Here’s the list of who will be participating for the Reds:

This roster is a lot stronger, prosepct wise, than the one the organization sent in 2017. Last year there wasn’t a single Top 25 Cincinnati Reds prospect that went out to the Arizona Fall League. In recent years the organization has seemed to use the AFL as more of a “get guys extra at-bats or innings because they missed time with injuries” or a “get a final look at a fringe 40-man roster add” than as a “finishing school” of sorts for higher end prospects.

This season they are sending out their #3 prospect Taylor Trammell. He’ll be joined by their #7 overall prospect Shed Long. The other six players are ranked outside of the Top 25, but even so – having two top 10 guys is a big departure from what has been seen in the past few seasons.

The Position Players

For Taylor Trammell, he did miss a little bit of time this season – but not much. He’s played in 108 games and racked up 457 plate appearances. Shed Long hasn’t missed any time this season. The second baseman has played in 121 games and gotten 501 plate appearances. Alfredo Rodriguez has missed plenty of time this season, both times with wrist injuries. He’s only played in 43 games this season – including a rehab stint with the AZL Reds. Mark Kolozsvary hasn’t missed time due to injury, but he has been splitting time behind the plate in Dayton. He’ll get some extra time on the taxi squad – which means he’s only eligible to play in Wednesday and Saturday games.

The Pitchers

On the pitching side of things we see several older pitchers, and Ty Boyles. Boyles, 22, transitioned from starter to reliever in June. Since making that move he’s dominated for the Daytona Tortugas, posting a 2.41 ERA in 37.1 innings with 13 walks and 34 strikeouts. Wyatt Strahan, 25, has had a tough go of things this season in Pensacola. His ERA is 6.35 in 22 starts and four relief appearances with 49 walks and 80 strikeouts in 117.2 innings. Tommy Bergjans, 25, joined Daytona in June after being acquired from the Phillies in late May. He’s made 14 starts for Daytona with a 3.66 ERA in 78.2 innings with 16 walks and 51 strikeouts. Alex Powers, 26, has dominated out of the bullpen for Pensacola all season. He’s posted a 2.21 ERA in 40.2 innings, racking up 17 saves for the Blue Wahoos.

The season will begin on October 9th. Scottsdale will be the late game, starting at 9:35pm ET. They won’t play a day game until a week later. The Bowman Hitting Challenge will take place on October 13th. The annual AFL Fall Stars Game will be on Saturday November 3rd. On November 15th the regular season will come to an end, with the championship game being played two days later.