The Salt River Rafters will play the Glendale Desert Dogs at 2:30 PM MDT this afternoon. You can watch the game via livestream on the Arizona Fall League website.
While playoff baseball is in full swing
for eight teams, the Colorado Rockies are about to start a very different kind of post-season baseball. The Salt River Rafters—made up of delegations from the Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels, and Pittsburgh Pirates—will play their first game of the Arizona Fall League this afternoon.
The Salt River Rafters are looking to defend their crown after winning the Arizona Fall League championship in 2024. More importantly, they will be getting a close look at both prospects and farmhands as baseball’s elite “finishing school” kicks into gear.
The Rockies are sending eight players—five of whom are pitchers—to Arizona, along with one coach and one Athletic trainer. Last week we introduced you to the pitching staff. Today you’ll be meeting the rest of the Rockies delegates.
1B/OF Charlie Condon, Double-A Hartford Yard Goats (no. 2 PuRP)
The Rockies’ 2024 first round pick from the University of Georgia is the “one to watch” this fall.
Condon had a disappointing professional debut last year where he hit just .180/.248/.270 with one home run, one triple, and four doubles in 25 games with the High-A Spokane Indians while striking out at a 34% rate and drawing only four walks.
It was later revealed that Condon was playing through a previously undisclosed bone spur in his right hand that required him to alter his grip and swing mechanics. After having the bone spur removed over the off-season, expectations were high when he reported to camp.
Unfortunately, Condon fractured his wrist in his first minor league spring training game and missed significant time.
Condon returned to action with High-A Spokane in late May and quickly got off to a strong start. In 35 games, he hit .312/.431/.420 and drew 26 walks to 35 strikeouts. However, his tantalizing power had yet to appear. He had just nine extra-base hits—three home runs and six doubles—before being promoted to the Double-A Hartford Yard Goats in July. He also appeared in the All-Star Futures Game.
The power finally clicked in mid-August. From August 17th through the end of the Double-A season is when Condon hit eight of his 11 home runs with Hartford.
Condon has largely been converted to first base since his promotion to Double-A, although he did play a handful of innings at third early into his time there. With first base being wide open after Michael Toglia’s fall from grace this season, the Rockies want to see what Condon can offer with an extended look this fall and see if he might have a shot at being the team’s Opening Day first baseman in 2026.
OF Jared Thomas, Double-A Hartford Yard Goats (no. 8 PuRP)
You can’t keep the Rockies’ bash brothers and mutual 2024 draft picks apart. Jared Thomas and Charlie Condon have played together for most of the 2025 season and will now head to Arizona together as well.
Thomas and Condon shared difficult first professional seasons in 2024 with injuries. While Thomas went 11-for-33 in eight games with the Low-A Fresno Grizzlies last year, he also demonstrated limited power. It would turn out that Thomas’ quadriceps was detached from the bone during that time.
Thomas hit the ground running when he was assigned to High-A Spokane to start the season. In 73 games he hit .330/.427/.495 with 13 doubles, a triple, 11 home runs, and 45 RBIs. He also stole 22 bases.
He had a bit more of a difficult time adjusting to Double-A following a mid-season promotion, but it’s worth noting that he was a good 2.5 years younger than his teammates on average. Thomas played 45 games with the Yard Goats and hit .245/.347/.374 with ten doubles, a triple, three home runs, and 11 stolen bases. Success tended to come in quick bursts, though he finished out the season with a solid September where he went 8-for-31 with four doubles.
UTIL Braylen Wimmer, Double-A Hartford Yard Goats (no. 38 PuRP)
2023 eighth round pick Braylen Wimmer was a man without a true position in 2025. He played all over the field, logging innings everywhere but catcher and first base. In college with South Carolina Wimmer was largely a middle infielder with a smattering of outfield reps in his sophomore season.
Now through three professional seasons, the 24-year-old is a true super utility man in terms of defensive versatility. The Swiss army knife also has an additional tool: a very solid bat.
Wimmer has hit .295/.369/.458 through his first three seasons with 56 doubles, six triples, and 32 home runs. He draws a solid number of walks and makes use of his speed to be a threat to steal. Wimmer has stolen over 30 bases in each of his last two seasons.
Like both Thomas and Condon, Wimmer started the season strong in High-A Spokane. In 86 games all over the diamond he hit .302/.376/.503 with 22 doubles, two triples, and the second-most home runs for the season at 14. He had 53 RBIs and 26 stolen bases.
Unlike Condon and Thomas, Wimmer took well to his promotion to Double-A Hartford. In 45 games he hit .284/.346/.389 with eight doubles, three home runs, and another 11 stolen bases.
Wimmer is an underrated prospect. He’s outside of the team’s top 30 per MLB Pipeline and fell outside of the Purple Row mid-season top 30 this year. However, a strong Arizona Fall League could do a lot to put him on the map, especially with how much the Rockies’ roster is not set in stone for the future.
Pitching Coach: Flint Wallace, Coordinator of Pitching Strategies
Flint Wallace, a potential heir to pitching coach duties, has been selected to serve as the Salt River Rafters’ pitching coach this fall.
Wallace, 51, was once a right-handed pitcher in the Oakland Athletics farm system in the mid 1990s, but the Rockies hired him as a minor and major league pitching coordinator prior to the 2021 season when he had been serving as the player development director at the vaunted Texas Baseball Ranch.
Wallace’s primary focuses for pitching are in individual strategy, analytics, and mechanics. He can frequently be found at the Rockies’ pitching lab at their Arizona complex in Scottsdale.
“He can really explain the science of pitching in a real way that has pretty profound impact on pitchers and other pitching coaches,” said Zach Wilson, the Rockies’ former assistant general manager of player development. “When you combine his personality, his experience and his base of knowledge, he made a perfect fit for us.”
The Arizona Fall League is a “finishing school” for potential coaches as well. Last season the Rockies sent hitting coordinator Nic Wilson to serve as the Rafter’s hitting coach. Wilson was named interim hitting coach for the Rockies—alongside Triple-A hitting coach Jordan Pacheco—in May after the departures of Bud Black, Mike Redmond, and Hensley Meulens.
Athletic Trainer: Justin Wilson, Athletic Trainer for High-A Spokane Indians
The Rockies will also be sending a member of their minor league training staff to the Fall League. Justin Wilson, the Athletic Trainer for High-A Spokane, will fill that role for the Salt River Rafters.
Wilson served as the primary athletic trainer for the Low-A Fresno Grizzlies from 2022-2024 before being promoted to Spokane this season.
With the Arizona Fall League now officially underway, who are you most interested in? Who do you think the Fall League is most important for? Let us know in the comments!
Prospect of the Week!
Congratulations to Spokane Indians left-handed starting pitcher Griffin Herring (no. 14 PuRP), who was named to the All-MiLB Prospect First Team!
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