The Tribune

LUCIUS Fox and Jazz Chisholm continue their progression through their respective Major League Baseball organisations and reached another pair of milestones this week.

Both players were named to rosters for the Arizona Fall League yesterday.

Fox received the honour just two days after his Montgomery Biscuits clinched a playoff spot in the Double-A Southern League.

The 21-year-old shortstop was named to the roster of the AFL’s Peoria Javelinas. The Javelinas have MLB affiliations with the Rays, Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres, Milwaukee Brewers and Atlanta Braves.

Chisholm was named to the roster of the Salt River Rafters. The Rafters have MLB affiliations with the Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Miami Marlins, Minnesota Twins and Washington Nationals. His Visalia Rawhide are in a second-half playoff push in the Single-A Advanced California League, just one game back out of the final spot.

The Rawhide make the playoffs by winning the second half or as a wild-card team if Stockton wins the league’s second half.

The Arizona Fall League attracts many of the top prospects in the minor leagues. Late in the minor league seasons, MLB clubs hold a position draft to determine the players who will participate in the AFL. Most are Double-A and Triple-A players. The league is designed for these prospects to refine their skills and perform in game settings in front of major and minor league baseball scouts and team executives, who are in attendance at almost every game. The 27th edition of the league begins play October 9 and ends in mid-November.

In the preliminary rosters, there are 17 players on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Prospects list, 10 in the Top 50. Overall, there are already more than 80 members of team Top 30 lists slated to participate in the six-week league.

Four Bahamians have advanced to the Arizona Fall League in the past three seasons following Champ Stuart in 2016 and Anfernee Seymour in 2017.

Fox advanced to the Double-A level for the first time when the Rays assigned him to the Biscuits earlier this month.

In 23 games with the Biscuits, Fox hit .233 with a .290 OBP, four stolen bases, 21 hits, three doubles, one triple, seven RBI and 11 runs scored. He spent 91 games with the Charlotte Stone Crabs of Single-A Advanced of the Florida State League. He hit .282 with a .724 OPS, .371 OBP, 23 stolen bases, 99 hits, 17 doubles, one triple, two home runs, 30 RBI and 54 runs scored. He was named to the Florida State League’s Southern Division All-Star Team at the midseason classic.

In 2017, his first season with the Stone Crabs, Fox appeared in 30 games, hit .235 with a .608 OPS, .350 OBP, one home run, three stolen bases, 12 RBI, 19 runs scored and was selected to represent the World team in the 2017 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game during MLB All-Star weekend. He was assigned to the Stone Crabs in July after spending the previous 77 games with the Bowling Green Hot Rods of the Midwest League at the Single A-Full level.

Fox notched another career milestone last offseason to receive a Major League call-up during Spring Training when he was assigned to the Rays’ Grapefruit League roster and saw immediate action on the field against the Minnesota Twins. He entered spring training at No.7 on the prospect list for the Rays among players still listed with rookie eligibility.

Chisholm also received a promotion earlier last month when the Diamondbacks assigned him to the Rawhide and he continued to garner national media attention for his hot streak at the plate.

Both Baseball America Major League Baseball’s milb.com highlighted Chisholm as one of the top minor league prospects across various leagues around the country.

The 20-year-old shortstop has gone 10-22 at the plate with home runs in back to back games over the streak.

Through 32 games with the Rawhide, Chisholm is hitting .318 with a .362 OBP, a .915 OPS, slugging .553, 42 hits, seven home runs, two triples, six doubles, 19 RBI, scored 23 runs with eight stolen bases.

On July 19th, Chisholm was assigned to the Rawhide from the Kane County Cougars in the Midwest League.

His production was recognised by MLBPipeline.com and he was named to the “Prospect Team of the Week,” which honours the best performances throughout the minor leagues from the previous week.

In a season of milestones, Chisholm also made his second All-Star game appearance of his young career. He was one of five members of the Cougars selected to the midseason classic. He appeared in 76 games for the Cougars and hit .244 with 43 RBI, 17 doubles, four triples and 17 doubles. Chisholm also posted an on-base percentage of .311, slugging percentage of .472 and OPS of .783 in 307 at bats.

In his rookie season, Chisholm was also named to the annual Pioneer League vs. Northwest League All-Star Game as a member of the Missoula Osprey.