Jared Thomas lost six months. He never lost his belief.

Jared Thomas (Pre-Season PuRP No. 5) knew something was wrong with his hand last fall. He also knew it wasn’t stopping him.

“It started off during the Fall League last year,” Thomas said. “Knew I had something going in my hand. We didn’t really quite know what it was, but it wasn’t bothering me too much, or enough for me not to play. So played through it.”

Two days after the Arizona Fall League ended, he stayed in the desert and got imaging done. The hook of the hamate in his right wrist was broken.

Thomas and the Colorado Rockies addressed it quickly.

“We knocked that surgery out, got to go home, took a little time off,” Thomas said. “Got back to swinging a bat after about three, four weeks, and then the progression just never got any better.”

He arrived at spring training as a non-roster invitee and was shut down almost immediately.

“Didn’t take very many swings, and then when we thought the time was right to start swinging again, it still had some pain in there, and we didn’t really know quite what was going on,” he said.

So he went back to Dr. Donald Sheridan — “one of the best hand specialists in the country,” as Thomas describes him — for a second look. More CT scans. More MRIs. And a second diagnosis.

“Found out there was some bone growth on my metacarpal bone in the top of my hand,” Thomas said. “So he went in there and cleaned out a bone spur. And after that surgery, which was in March, April, somewhere there — then the clock gets reset back to six to eight weeks.”

Two surgeries. Two recoveries. The Rockies’ second-round pick in 2024, coming off a season that made him the organization’s position player of the year, did not play a professional game until the middle of summer.

He is playing now. And in 11 games back between the complex league and Double-A Hartford, he is hitting .361 with a homer, a triple, and two doubles.

“You’ve got to give yourself some grace”

There’s a difference between a wrist that’s healed and a swing that feels like yours. Thomas doesn’t pretend otherwise.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say that I’m there yet, but I’m damn close,” he said. “There’s been a lot of time spent at the complex revamping the swing, and trying to get back to your normal self after not swinging a bat or being out for five, six months. It’s tough, man.”

Ask what he took from the months away, and he doesn’t reach for anything about mechanics.

“You’ve got to give yourself some grace,” Thomas said. “That’s probably the biggest thing I learned with my time away from the game. You’ve got to give yourself some grace, especially coming back.”

What hasn’t wavered is the part underneath it.

“Ultimately, I know the caliber player I am,” he said. “I know deep down in my heart that I’m going to play in the big leagues. So just controlling what I can control on a day-to-day basis — that’s the biggest deal.”

He is not, at the moment, thinking about a September call or next year’s depth chart. He’s thinking about the club he was sent back to.

“Coming out and being able to get shipped back to Hartford and help these guys, hopefully win a championship in the Eastern League — that’s a big deal,” Thomas said. “We’re going to go give this Eastern League championship a shot for sure.”

Spring, and a language he was learning

The non-roster invite came before any of the bad news, and Thomas talks about it like the receipt for a year’s work.

“That was the ultimate goal,” he said. “I worked my tail off the year prior, and to get that invite, it felt great. All that hard work — you got a little bone thrown to you.”

He couldn’t swing. He was there anyway, in a big league clubhouse with Mickey Moniak and Brenton Doyle, alongside Charlie Condon (Pre-Season PuRP No.1), Cole Messina, and Konner Eaton (Mid-Season PuRP No. 28), and with two other guys he’d shared a Hartford clubhouse with the year before.

“Especially now that [Kyle] Karros and [Cole] Carrigg have started to establish themselves in the big leagues — that proves that guys like us, we’re not that far out,” Thomas said. “Being around those guys and learning the language they use, and what the ultimate goal is when you get to the big leagues, that’s a big deal. Just being able to be a part of that was special.”

A championship in the complex

Thomas’ rehab landed him with the ACL Rockies at exactly the right moment. He joined a group comprised largely of teenagers for a few weeks and left with a ring.

“It was a blast, man,” he said, “especially seeing those guys that are, hell, 18, 19 years old — how much fun they’re having. That brings me back to when I was in college, and I was 18. Baseball was so fun back then. And those guys are really good, man, and they’re diligent about their work. A lot of those guys don’t come from much, so that shows up especially when the game’s on the line.

He remembers Game 3 of the ACL World Series specifically, and the way his teammates came to him before it.

“These guys speak a lot of broken English, so they’re like, ‘Papi, no matter what, win,’” Thomas said. “I was like, I got you, dude. This means as much to me as it does to you, I promise.”

He came away convinced that the organization’s next wave is real. One name in particular came up in our conversation — a 19-year-old Venezuelan outfielder he compared, without hedging, to a franchise icon.

“He’s the closest player I’ve ever seen to Carlos González in my life,” Thomas said of Cristian Arguelles (Pre-Season PuRP Preseason HM). “That guy’s straight CarGo. He’s got the sideways hat, he plays the outfield just like him with some swag. And that kid’s bat is real. That swing tool is real.”

Austin, and a phone call from Jack O’Dowd

Thomas came back from rehab to find a familiar face in the Hartford clubhouse.

Jack O’Dowd (Mid-Season HM PuRP ) went undrafted out of Texas in 2024, spent a season in the independent Pioneer League, signed a minor league deal with Colorado in January, and has climbed three levels in one summer.

The two were teammates in Austin and stayed in touch through two offseasons back in the same city.

“This past offseason, when he gave me a call and said that we’re teammates now — definitely caught me off guard,” Thomas said. “But I was so pumped for the kid, man, because I know what amount of grind he’s been through. Nobody else can really feel the same way. Nobody’s gone through stuff like that.”

He is unambiguous about what he thinks of the jump.

“That kid’s jumping three levels in a year, man. That’s unheard of,” Thomas said. “A lot of guys don’t do that, and especially a free agent guy doing it. It’s special.”

And unambiguous about the direction the respect runs.

“He’s a guy that I look up to,” said Thomas, the second-round pick with a $2 million bonus, about the undrafted free agent. “He was one of the seniors in the clubhouse my last year in college. That guy plays with grace. He doesn’t really get sped up. He enjoys the game, and he takes it pitch by pitch. That’s what I’m striving to do this year. Having him here that close is going to help for sure.”

What August is for

Asked what he’s working on with the season’s last weeks in front of him, Thomas named the thing his 2025 numbers were already pointing at.

“I think pitch selection is a big one,” he said. “Pitch selection, swing decisions — they all kind of correlate. Going up there with a pretty good plan and sticking to the plan.”

He’s built for that. Thomas walked 70 times in 118 games last season, posted a .398 on-base percentage across two levels, and hit .348 with a 1.088 OPS in plate appearances where he got ahead in the count.

He is also, by his own framing, done treating any single at-bat as the whole thing.

“This game’s hard. This game’s real hard,” Thomas said. “If I go up there and I stick to my plan and it doesn’t work out — hell, you got another one coming. That’s the great thing about this game, is you get to play tomorrow.”

The rest of it is a word he keeps coming back to.

“Just got out there and have fun, dude,” he said. “I now know what it’s like having time away from the game, which I hadn’t had to go through so far. Being back here in a clubhouse with a bunch of guys I was with last year in Spokane — just enjoying it.”

Snake Farm and the Postman

Two nicknames follow Thomas around, and he can tell you the exact day each one started.

The first came during a bad stretch his freshman year at Texas, out of a batting practice playlist that assistant coach Philip Miller played on a loop.

“That song just happened to get stuck in my head one night,” Thomas said. “I walked past our player development person, Carli Todd, and she was like, ‘That’s what you’re walking up to tonight.‘ And I was like, there’s no way. I end up walking up to it. I got 3-for-4 with a homer that night, and it just stuck.”

Snake Farm followed him through a great college career and into pro ball.

The second came last year at Spokane, from hitting coach Trevor Burmeister, now with the Portland Sea Dogs.

“He called me the Postman because I’m always delivering the barrel,” Thomas said. “I always wore a U.S. Postal Service hat for BP, so I was all in on that.”

He has a favorite.

“Honestly, I’d probably say Snake Farm,” Thomas said. “Just the amount of fun, and how much that stuck in college — that was special.”

The barrels are the part he’s still getting back. The rest of it, by every indication in his voice, never left.

Weekly Pebble Report: August 11th – 17th

Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes (2-4, 61-59 Overall)

Albuquerque opened its trip to Oklahoma City (Los Angeles Dodgers) with a 13-run outburst and then essentially stopped hitting. The Isotopes scored seven runs across the next five games, were shut out three times, and dropped the series finale, falling to nine games back of a playoff spot.

Nic Kent led the offense with three doubles and four RBIs, and Jose Cordova hit .375 over four starts. There was a familiar face on the other side Saturday: Seth Halvorsen, traded from Colorado to Los Angeles in July, closed out a 1-0 win against his former organization’s top affiliate.

⬆️ Stock Up: Brooks has OKC shook

Jake Brooks was excellent on Saturday and still lost. He went six innings against the Comets, allowing one run on six hits with four strikeouts and — most notably — no walks, only for Albuquerque’s offense to manage two hits in a 1-0 defeat. It was Brooks’ sharpest outing in Triple-A since his promotion in July.

⬇️ Stock Down: Condon stays quiet

Charlie Condon managed two hits in 22 at-bats and struck out nine times across all six games, the coldest stretch he has had this season. He did triple and steal a base, as well as drawing four walks, so he wasn’t entirely absent from the lineup — but a week after hitting his 22nd home run, Colorado’s most-watched prospect went nearly a full series without a base hit. For a club that scored seven runs in five games, the timing compounded the problem.

Upcoming

The Isotopes host the Las Vegas Aviators (Athletics) for a six-game series.

Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats (1-5, 55-58 Overall)

Hartford’s collapse continued at home against Erie (Detroit Tigers), who won five of six. The Yard Goats have now lost 11 of 12 dating back to the Binghamton sweep, and are now 16-29 in the second half. The pitching was hardly the problem — seven Hartford arms finished the series without allowing an earned run, and Stu Flesland III continued to roll with five innings of unearned-run ball with seven strikeouts that still ended in a loss. The offense scored 16 runs in six games, and four of the five defeats came by two or fewer runs.

⬆️ Stock Up: Weatherly Finds His Stuff

Sam Weatherly was untouchable in two appearances, throwing five innings without allowing a run, surrendering one hit and striking out 10. Seven of those punchouts came in three innings of Sunday’s finale, when he retired nearly everyone he faced. It’s a marked turn for the left-hander who had spent much of the season searching — he entered the week with an ERA north of nine — and it gives a taxed Hartford bullpen an arm worth trusting again.

⬇️ Stock Down: Tucker’s Double-A Welcome

Tevin Tucker went 0-for-13 in his first extended look at Double-A, striking out five times after arriving from High-A Spokane. The bright spot is that he found other ways to help — three stolen bases in five games, plus a walk and a hit-by-pitch — so the speed translated even as the bat didn’t. It’s a small sample and a real jump in level, but the first impression at the plate was a difficult one.

Upcoming

The Yard Goats will welcome the Somerset Patriots (New York Yankees) to Hartford for six games.

High-A: Spokane Indians (2-4, 52-61 Overall)

Spokane lost the first four at Everett (Seattle Mariners) before salvaging the last two, including an 8-7 win in 10 innings on Sunday. Control was the through-line: Indians pitchers issued 41 walks across the six games, 14 of them in a 16-2 opening loss and 13 more in the finale they somehow won. Kelvin Hidalgo drew six walks of his own and hit .381, and the club kept running — Roldy Brito (Pre-Season PuRP No. 11) stole four bases, Hidalgo three, and Wilder Dalis (Pre-Season PuRP No. 24) three more. The Indians sit four games back of first place in the Northwest League.

⬆️ Stock Up: Thach Finds His Swing

Tanner Thach collected 11 hits in 25 at-bats, a .440 series with two home runs, a double, and a team-high 5 RBIs while playing all six games. He homered in each of the first two games and kept hitting when the rest of the lineup went quiet — Spokane scored eight runs across the first three games, and Thach had a hand in most of what little there was. He seems to be finding his stride in High-A.

⬇️ Stock Down: Luciano Can’t Find the Plate

Ismael Luciano faced six batters in Tuesday’s opener and retired none of them, walking three and allowing six runs before he was pulled without recording an out. He returned Sunday and gave up two more runs on two walks and a home run. Across the two outings, he faced 14 hitters and got five of them out. The command has deserted him at the worst time for a bullpen already issuing walks at an unsustainable rate.

Upcoming

The Hillsboro Hops (Arizona Diamondbacks) come to town for a six-game set in Spokane.

Low-A: Fresno Grizzlies (2-4, 61-53 Overall)

Fresno fell victim to a series loss at the hands of the San Jose Giants (San Francisco Giants). The Grizzlies won the first two, then dropped four straight, the last of them on a 10-9 walk-off in 11 innings on Sunday after they had led 8-1 entering the eighth — Yanzel Correa surrendered six runs in a single inning to erase it. They fell to two games back of first place in the division. Ashly Andujar (Mid-Season PuRP No. 30) and Juan Martinez each collected six hits, Martinez adding two triples in the finale. Jack Natili (Mid-Season PuRP No. 20) and Daniel Jackson each hit their first career professional home runs.

⬆️ Stock Up: Parker Nearly Threw a No-Hitter

Brady Parker took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning Tuesday, retiring San Jose without a hit through six innings before handing it to the bullpen, which gave up the first hit an inning later. Parker came back Sunday and allowed one run over four innings, finishing the series with 10 innings, four hits, and a single earned run. He has now been Fresno’s steadiest arm for a month.

⬇️ Stock Down: Arguelles Can’t Find a Hole

Cristian Arguelles went 4-for-25 (.160) across all six games, three weeks after arriving from the Arizona Complex League and a week removed from hitting .435 to earn a spot in this column. The at-bats weren’t wild — he struck out just once in 25 tries, and he stole two bases as well as drawing a hit-by-pitch — but the contact stopped finding grass at the worst time, with Fresno needing runs in a series with real playoff implications. He’s still only a few weeks into full-season ball at this level.

Upcoming

The Grizzlies play host to the Stockton Ports (Athletics) for a six-game series.

DSL: DSL Colorado (2-2) & DSL Rockies (2-3)

Neither Dominican Summer League affiliate found much rhythm, though DSL Colorado stayed atop the DSL Southeast at 34-18 and closed the week with a 9-1 win. Their odd game came Friday: 10 walks drawn, two hits, and a 4-3 loss. DSL Rockies took two of five to reach 21-32, and one of them was extraordinary — a 19-18 walk-off win that lasted four hours and 12 minutes and produced 37 runs, 26 hits, and 21 walks between both teams. Danny Cancro hit .500 for the week, and Maiker Ramirez hit .533.

⬆️ Stock Up: Vielma Keeps Getting On

Carlos Vielma (Acquired in the Antonio Senzatela trade) reached base 10 times in four games, going 5-for-12 (.417) with two doubles and five walks. The most telling of those hits came Friday, when Colorado managed just two all afternoon — Vielma had one of them, a double, in a game his team otherwise filled with walks and stranded runners. He’s hitting .363 on the season and just turned 17 last week.

⬇️ Stock Down: Oh, Darling

Darling Pena went 1-for-19 across all five games, striking out six times and driving in nobody. His lone hit came in Thursday’s 9-7 loss. The starkest illustration came Friday, when the Rockies scored 19 runs and Pena finished 0-for-4.