Konner Eaton (No. 28 PuRP) and Fidel Ulloa are very different pitching prospects.
For starters, Eaton is a left-handed starter, having been drafted in the sixth round of the 2024 MLB Draft out of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Ulloa, on the other hand, is a right-handed reliever who was drafted one round later out of Louisiana State University.
But both have found success in the Arizona Fall League so far.
Three weeks in, Eaton has made five appearances (one start) and has allowed two
unearned runs with six strikeouts, one hit batter and two walks across nine total innings. Ulloa has tossed 7.1 scoreless innings across seven appearances, striking out nine and walking two.
A lot of that success has come as the result of new pitches each is throwing.
“I’m just working on commanding all my pitches in the zone and working on a new pitch – working on a changeup – so just throwing that more often,” Ulloa said about his Fall League plan. “Obviously, throwing that new pitch, I’m sure it’s not in the database, so I don’t know if guys are expecting it. But I’m just throwing it, trying to be consistent in the zone and it’s working out for me.”
Some of his success has come with the help of Rafters pitching coach Jerry Sullivan – current pitching coach for the Hartford Yard Goats, with whom Ulloa has worked since Single-A.
“Probably the most important thing that he’s done over the last six months is to develop his new pitch – the kick change – so long-term, we can see guys in the big leagues with two pitches that do really well, but they need to be really elite,” Sullivan said. “And we knew the third pitch would help him a lot, and it’s actually started grading out from a stuff-plus model really well. So this is one of those things where it could catapult a guy in their career because he has multiple weapons that would play, and then seeing how it’s doing and working for him in his arsenal.”
As for Eaton, he’s “here for command.”
“[I’m] just really trying to get in the zone as much as I can with all my pitches,” he said. “ Just really trying to pound the strike zone down here.”
Eaton also added three new pitches in 2026 – a cutter, a sinker and a sweeper – upping his arsenal from three to six. And his AFL plan has been two-inning sprints to give him the best possible opportunities to command his pitches.
“We have him on kind of a differential ball program where we’re just getting a feel for him to be in-zone with more pitches,” said Sullivan. “When we got him, he was a three-pitch mix guy. We’ve been adding more to the arsenal, so we’re just putting him in situations where he could have command with more of his arsenal. He’s obviously pretty dangerous when he’s in the zone, so our goal here has been to do that, and he’s been able to make some good adjustments.”
Considering expanded arsenals was a big push during spring training under the revamped front office and coaching staff, it’s unsurprising that’s been a focus in the minors and in the Fall League, as well. Sean Sullivan is also working on his slider and changeup.
“If we approach the game in a way that makes it more difficult to defend the plate – and for us it’s having pitches that can move in different directions,” Sullivan added. “So if you’re a north-south guy or an east to west guy, having the option to force a player to respect more (of) the plate is going to help a pitcher, especially when you have swing-and-miss pitches.”
For Ulloa, that comes from the “swing-and-miss slider, and now he’s proving that he has a swing-and-miss changeup.
“And then kind of in addition to that, he’s holding onto his vertical on his fastball, which also makes his swing-and-miss at the top of the zone,” Sullivan added. “So now he’s becoming a legitimate threat, and now we know what it looks like with the big-league ball.”
But Ulloa’s best pitch remains his slider.
“I think it’s just the intent behind it,” Ulloa said. “I just try to throw it a million miles an hour, and it just breaks and does what it does.”
And for Eaton, it’s working on a “better awareness of how to pitch the game well, and then use the new pitches that he’s developed well.”
“[The] cutter was a big pitch for him this year, getting that into the game – pretty good increase in usage in the second half for him there,” Sullivan said. “Again, just an option away from the four-seamer and the two-seamer – induce some weaker contacts, make it more difficult for the hitter. So that was a big one.
“And then the changeup has been ongoing,” he continued. “He’s made some huge strides with that over the last three months – a little bit of adjustments to the grip, there. We want it missing arm-side. His tendency was to pull and yank on it, and now that’s happening significantly less. We also shortened up the slider, and there’s a sweeper on the horizon, but it might end up blending to be kind of this power-slurve/sweeper type of thing. But the shorter one has been what we’re working on here, which has been able to achieve and then obviously it’s producing good results. [We’re] not as concerned with the strikeouts yet with it as we are [that] it’s in the zone and a good pitch to complement the cutter, two-seamer [and] changeup.”
Still, Eaton said his best pitch remains, “Whatever gets me in-zone the most.”
“I don’t think it’s anything in particular,” he said. “Obviously, when it comes to scouting reports and stuff like that, whatever I can do to beat the hitter at the end of the day. That’s what my best pitch is.”
In addition to Sullivan, the pitchers are also taking full advantage of the opportunity to learn from players and coaches in other organizations.
“It’s awesome,” Ulloa said. “Obviously, there’s coaches from all over the organizations – even players from different organizations – so it’s just kind of cool to just pick their brains and see how different organizations go about stuff.”
Eaton, on the other hand, looked to AFL alums for lessons. Specifically, Jack Mahoney (No. 15 PuRP), as he was on a similar path last year.
“Anytime I get a question about the Fall League or anything else, I reach out to him,” Eaton said. “He’s awesome. I’m kind of following in his footsteps right now, and he’s a great guy to follow in his footsteps, too. He’s a great guy, and [I’m] just ready to keep on learning out there.”
Looking ahead to the end of the season, each has a specific goal in mind.
“I think it’s really just to kind of go out here and maximize my days as much as I can,” said Eaton. “Obviously, [I] get a little break after this – probably two or three weeks off – but then I’m hitting the ground running again, getting ready for spring ball.”
And for Ulloa: “Obviously, number one is obviously to finish the AFL healthy and just kill a few targets that I have in mind and stay on track.”
Join the conversation!
Sign up for a user account and get:
- Fewer ads
- Create community posts
- Comment on articles, community posts
- Rec comments, community posts
- New, improved notifications system!
Download the SB Nation app on iOS or Android.
Please keep in mind ourPurple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!
