Salt River tied for first place as AFL week begins

Catcher Spencer Kieboom has done nice job so far in the Arizona Fall League for the Salt River Rafters.

He has seven hits, one homer and four RBIs in eight games. He has four walks and six strikeouts and his on-base percentage is .379. Kieboom has had seven hits in his last six games. He hit .248 in 71 games for high Single-A Potomac.

This is a great sign for Kieboom, who had to battle through a concussion this season while with Potomac. He is also getting a chance to compare notes with catcher Oscar Hernandez, who was a Rule 5 draft pick for the Diamondbacks last winter and the top catcher with the Rafters. Kieboom also has the opportunity to work with all the talented pitching prospects on the Salt River staff.

Reliever Wirkin Estevez has pitched in two games, Oct. 21 and 28. He allowed his first run of AFL play on a solo homer in his second appearance. But he is a taxi squad pitcher for Salt River, meaning a maximum of two games a week. This AFL experience is just about Estevez getting into real games and good competition as he builds back strength and innings setting up for 2016.

Third baseman Drew Ward has played in four games, but none since Oct. 28. He went 0-for-3 in that game and is batting .182 over 11 at-bats in the AFL.

Second baseman Chris Bostick is batting .290 in his last 10 games for Salt River. He has nine hits, with two doubles, one triple, one homer and five RBIs. Bostick has four walks and eight strikeouts and a .371 OBP since Oct. 15. He is hitting .375 against right-handers.

Right-hander Dakota Bacus has not allowed a run in 4 2/3 innings. After allowing nine hits in his previous three appearances, Abel de los Santos gave up only one hit in his last appearance on Oct. 31. Left-hander Nick Lee has given up only one run in his last two outings since 2 1/3 innings. Right-hander John Simms has a 1.64 ERA in three games with two starts so far for the Rafters.

Salt River has won three straight and is 9-6 and tied with Scottsdale for first place in the East Division. The Rafters are at Glendale at 3:35 p.m. Eastern time today.