The Rockies sent eight prospects to the Arizona Fall League this year – five pitchers and three position players. Of the Rockies contingent, Charlie Condon (No. 2 PuRP), Jared Thomas (No. 8 PuRP) and Braylen
Wimmer are all representing the Rockies and the Hartford Yard Goats in the desert.
So far, they’re putting on a show.
Consider their respective slashlines:
- Condon: .341/.420/.477 in eleven games
- Wimmer: .243/.378/.270 in twelve games
- Thomas: .296/.321/.593 in seven games
Condon and Thomas have also recorded one homer apiece, each a grand slam, becoming the first players in 2025 to hit grand slams in the same game.
However, coming into the AFL season, Condon and Thomas had very different goals.
“My ultimate goal is to limit the punchouts,” said Thomas. “I think that was something I struggled with throughout the course of the 2025 season, so I’m trying to limit those as much as I can, but at the same time, still do all the things I do well. So I’m trying to find that balance and eliminate the punchouts.”
For Condon, the goal was simpler: “Just build on some of the success I had at the end of the year, and continue to get at-bats before we shut down for the offseason.”
Wimmer isn’t on any prospect lists, including our own PuRPs list, but he’s enjoying his time in Arizona.
“[My goal] was to keep seeing good pitching,” he said. “I got to Hartford halfway through the year, so there was a lot of quality in the back-half of the year. I think [the Rockies] wanted me to keep getting reps and seeing good pitching out here every day, and to keep playing a bunch of positions.”
Wimmer was drafted as a shortstop in the eighth round of the 2023 MLB Draft, but has been bouncing around the field. In 2025, he spent the majority of his time in left field (277.1 innings), but also played right field, second base, and third base. He played 27 innings at short and 18 in center field. In the AFL, he has been primarily playing third.
“I like showing up every day and wondering where I’m going to play,” Wimmer said. “The game of baseball is routine-based, so getting to show up and wonder where I’m going to be has been nice.”
And one of the benefits to the Arizona Fall League is being able to work with players from other organizations, as well as other coaches.
“It’s cool because it’s a lot of guys that you’ve played against and a lot of guys that you’ll continue to play against for the rest of our careers,” Condon said. “So for some of that, it’s about creating relationships with some of those guys and just learning the ins and outs of each others’ games. It’s cool to see the competition and who we can be.”
“It’s huge,” echoed Thomas. “And not only from a players perspective, but also from the coaching side and getting different brains together and hearing different lingo that you haven’t heard. This fall season has been good. It’s been really fun.”
The biggest thing that Thomas has taken away from the other coaches is “just to continue what I’m doing.”
“I’ve heard a lot of that these past couple weeks,” he continued. “I had a pretty good year [in 2025], so just continuing to grow and continuing what I’m doing well. And limiting those punchouts is going to be huge.”
“You learn so much from all these people from different orgs and the different coaches, so it’s been good,” echoed Wimmer.
Except for Cade Denton, all of the players on the Rockies’ AFL roster finished their season with the Yard Goats, which has been helpful for them as they continue to bond and get stronger as a group.
“It’s a good core that we have,” said Condon.
“A lot of us played together in Hartford, but also a lot of us played together in Spokane as well, so we’ve kinda moved together through the ranks. And it’s been fun to bring a core of guys that everybody’s already tight with, so it’s been good for us to continue to bond over this Fall League period.”
Looking ahead to the 2026 season, each player has different goals as well.
“I haven’t thought about it too much,” said Wimmer, “but just getting back out there and being with the guys that I was with all this past year.”
And for Condon and Thomas, it’s about getting better physically after both battled wrist injuries.
“[My goals are] continuing to get bigger and stronger,” Condon said, “fine-tuning some swing stuff and making sure that I’m healthy and ready to go, so I can be the best version of myself for spring training.”
“I think the biggest goal this offseason is to put on some weight,” said Thomas.
“I think fitting into a more physical frame in 2026 is going to help a lot. It’s going to help me stay on the field, and help my body feel good towards the end of the season, which is, what I felt, was a rougher part of the 2025 season. It just felt like I didn’t quite have all the muscle, and my body didn’t feel it there towards the end. So I’m looking to be a little bit more physical going into 2026.”
The Arizona Fall League runs through November 16, and the Rockies prospects will look to continue making a splash in the desert.
Arizona Fall League
Salt River Rafters 14, Mesa Solar Sox 1
The Rafters had themselves a day at the ballpark. They scored at least one run in every inning except for the first and the seventh. However, they scored six in the third, three in the sixth, and two in the eighth. Every player in the lineup recorded at least one hit except for left fielder Nelly Taylor from the Boston Red Sox.
For the Rockies, Charlie Condon went 5-for-5 — his first five-hit game as a pro — with a double and two runs scored, raising his batting average from .263 to .341 during the rout. Braylen Wimmer went 1-for-4 with two RBI and a walk. Neither player struck out.
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