Taylor Green “nose” what it takes to compete in the Arizona Fall League.

Debuting in the development league last year, an errant pitch broke his nose in four places, and the steady-hitting infielder is hoping for a much less painful experience this time around.

The Comox Valley minor baseball stalwart is one of seven Huntsville Stars (of the Double-A Southern League) that the MLB Milwaukee Brewers are sending to Arizona to extend their season. They will join players from the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers to field the Peoria Javelinas.

The Stars have sent 33 players to the AFL in the last five years, including current Brewers Ryan Braun, Alcides Escobar, Prince Fielder, Cory Hart and Manny Parra.

The 22-year-old Green was drafted by Milwaukee in the 25th round of the 2005 June draft. He began his Brew Crew career in 2006 at Helena (Rookie League), moved to West Virginia (Single-A) in 2007 and Brevard County (Single-A Advanced) in 2008.

In 2009 he played six games with Wisconsin (Single-A) before joining Huntsville for the rest of the season. Playing third base for the Stars, Green appeared in 87 games, batting .258 with five homers, 15 doubles and 43 RBI.

The six-team AFL begins their six-week season Tuesday, Oct. 13. It features the top prospects from all 30 MLB teams. This year, 12 players in MLB.com’s Top 50 prospects list are expected to attend the 18th edition of the AFL. Games are played in the spring training stadiums used by the Giants, Mariners, Padres, Cubs, A’s, Royals and Rangers.

Each August, Major League clubs hold a position draft to determine the players who will go to Arizona. Most are Double-A and Triple-A Minor League players.

And they are good ones. The 2006 MLB All-Star Game in Pittsburgh featured 25 AFL alums.

Over 1,700 former Fall Leaguerers have reached the majors, 141 have been All-Stars (including 38 in 2009) and six have earned MVP (Jason Giambi, Ryan Howard, Justin Morneau, Dustin Pedroia, Albert Pujols and Jimmy Rollins).

AFL executive vice-president Steve Cobb notes one of the league’s primary goals is “for the players to accelerate and hopefully jump a classification.”

sports@comoxvalleyrecord.com