Five Naturals Headed to Arizona Fall League
TL Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Five Naturals Headed to Arizona Fall League

Published on September 18, 2025 under Texas League (TL)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


SPRINGDALE, Ark. - Major League Baseball announced the rosters for the 2025 Arizona Fall League (AFL), with the Surprise Saguaros featuring eight Kansas City Royals prospects, five of which were with the Naturals during the 2025 season. LHP Hunter Owen, OF Carson Roccaforte, RHP AJ Causey, SS Daniel Vazquez, and RHP Dennis Colleran Jr. will join the prestigious Arizona Fall League this year.

LHP Hunter Owen is the Royals' #26 prospect on MLB Pipeline and is the only player heading to the AZL that spent the entire 2025 season with the Naturals. The 6'6", 261-pound 23-year-old pitched in 22 games, including 19 starts for the Naturals this season. Owen was 5-5 with a 3.80 ERA, striking out 107 over his 94.2 innings of work while tossing two quality starts.

Outfielder Carson Roccaforte will cap his exceptional year in the 2025 Arizona Fall League.David McLelland

OF Carson Roccaforte, KC's #20 prospect, played in 45 games for the Naturals as the team's center fielder to close out a standout season. The lefty slashed .290/.387/.475 with five homers and 10 stolen bases in Northwest Arkansas, part of a year he hit 18 homers and stole 43 bases combined over 127 games between NWA and High-A Quad Cities. Roccaforte also turned in multiple highlight plays in center, cementing himself as a top prospect in the Royals organization. Roccaforte was recognized as the Frank White Defensive Player of the Year, which goes to the top defender in the Royals' organization.

AJ Causey was dynamite out of the Naturals bullpen and will now look to continue his strong 2025 campaign in the AFL.David McLelland

RHP A.J. Causey joined the Naturals on July 8 after dominating the Midwest League for the River Bandits. The right-handed reliever was 8-2 with a 1.56 ERA and five saves over 27 appearances with Quad Cities before his first promotion as a professional. With the Nats, Causey was 3-3 with a 1.91 ERA in 21 games, holding opponents to a .198 batting average out of the bullpen. Over the 48 games, Causey had an 11-5 record with a 1.72 ERA and opponents between the two levels hit .186 while he struck out 75 over 73.1 innings of work in his first professional season.

SS Daniel Vasquez looks to be a fixture with the Naturals in 2026 after joining the club for the final series of 2025.

SS Daniel Vazquez was added to the Northwest Arkansas roster on September 9, just in time for the final series of the 2025 season against the Frisco RoughRiders. In his short time with NWA, Vazquez had a hit in all but one of the games he played in. Kansas City's #16 prospect played in 116 games in 2025, 105 of which were with Quad Cities where he posted a .260 batting average with a homer and 26 stolen bases.

Fire-baller Dennis Colleran Jr. joined the Naturals for the final series of 2025 and will head to the AFL with seven other Royals prospects.

RHP Dennis Colleran Jr. was also a late addition to the Naturals as a fire-balling reliever out of the bullpen. Colleran pitched in 44 games over three levels in his first professional season after being drafted out of Northeastern in the seventh round in 2024. Colleran did not allow a run in his lone outing with the Naturals and finished the year with a 9-0 record and a 2.85 ERA, striking out 72 in 66.1 innings.

The five Naturals are joined on the Surprise Saguaros by KC's #1 prospect and the #48 prospect in all of baseball, catcher Blake Mitchell. RHP L.P. Langevin and RHP Logan Martin are also on the team to complete the set of eight Royals minor leaguers set to hit the Arizona Fall League.

The Arizona Fall League will feature 13 of MLB Pipeline's Top 100 prospects, including Mitchell, and begins October 6, with the season going through November 15. The Surprise Saguaros are made up of prospects from the Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, Cleveland Guardians, Philadelphia Phillies, and Texas Rangers. 2025 marks the Fall League's 33rd season.

Check out the Northwest Arkansas Naturals Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Texas League Stories from September 18, 2025


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central