Arizona Fall League: Thursday notes

Some items worthy of attention from the 2016 Arizona Fall League:

****An early performer worthy of note is Tampa Bay Rays pitching prospect Diego Castillo. He's made four appearances for the Peoria Javelinas, giving up two runs on four hits in six innings, walking two and fanning seven along with a 3.50 AO/AO. Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2014, Castillo posted a 2.98 ERA in 60 innings between Low-A and High-A this year with a 67/17 K/BB.

Bradley Neveu at DRaysBay, SB Nation's Tampa Bay Rays community, was up very early this morning and provides this breakdown of Castillo's arsenal, noting a fastball up to 99 MPH and some similarities to Chris Archer.

****He's very different than Castillo, but St. Louis Cardinals left-handed pitcher Austin Gomber is also impressing in the Fall League, with a 3.00 ERA in 12 innings over three starts for the Glendale Desert Dogs, but a sharp 14/4 K/BB. Gomber was a fourth round pick in 2014 from Florida Atlantic and was very successful in the regular season, running a 2.69 ERA in 127 innings with a 116/33 K/BB between High-A and Double-A.

Gomber's fastball maxes out at 93 and is usually around 90, but it moves well and he locates it with precision. He also has an above-average change-up and an average breaking ball, but all of his pitches play up due to his command. The Cardinals have gotten good work from similar pitchers over the years and Gomber could see the majors sometime in 2017 as a back-of-the-rotation arm.