With the completion of the 2025 edition of the Arizona Fall League and the Surprise Saguaros—with prospects from the Cleveland Guardians, Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies, and Texas
Rangers—crowned champions, minor league baseball has drawn to a close until April.
The short fall season was a difficult one for the Salt River Rafters—to whom the Rockies send their prospects. They departed Arizona with a league-low .393 winning percentage and a -34 run differential to go along with their 11-17 record. As the sixth seed, they were promptly eliminated from the playoffs after being shut out by the Mesa Solar Sox.
With the Fall League and minor league baseball over for the off-season, it’s time to wind down our Pebble Report until the world awakens in the spring. For now, however, we can finish highlighting the individual performances of Rockies prospects. The Rockies sent three position players to the desert, so let’s take a look at how they did!
UTIL Braylen Wimmer, Double-A Hartford Yard Goats (no. 38 PuRP)
An underrated prospect, 24-year-old super utility man and Swiss army knife had a strong regular season. Across High-A Spokane and Double-A Hartford, the eighth round pick from the University of South Carolina hit .296/.366/.466 with 30 doubles, two triples, 17 home runs, 69 RBIs, and 37 stolen bases. The versatile defender also recorded playing time at every position except first base and behind the plate.
Wimmer reported to the Fall League and struggled at the plate. He hit .222/.328/.241 with only one extra-base hit over 54 at-bats and 17 games. He also committed two defensive errors.
Unfortunately, Wimmer’s Fall League assignment was cut short.
On November 1st, Wimmer had a sudden seizure on his way to Salt River Fields at Talking Stick for a game. After undergoing emergency medical care, Wimmer was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
Wimmer recently underwent an intensive surgical procedure called an awake craniotomy, where the patient is alert and oriented as the surgeon removes the tumor. By all accounts the surgery went well, but Wimmer has a long road ahead of him to return to baseball.
However, Wimmer has handled his adversity with immense strength and determination.
“I can handle this,” Wimmer said. “And maybe that’s my purpose, so one day I can help others through similar cases.”
Even through his treatment and leading up to his surgery, Wimmer was focused on getting back to baseball.
“Even the night before the surgery,” said director of player development Chris Forbes, “he was talking about how he didn’t want to be left behind. He was already thinking about Spring Training. And the thing about Spring Training, it’s going to be a massive, massive motivating factor.”
Here at Purple Row we’re wishing Wimmer a swift recovery and all the best during a difficult time.
OF Jared Thomas, Double-A Hartford Yard Goats (no. 8 PuRP)
After a difficult first taste of professional baseball in which he went 11-for-33 with Low-A Fresno despite having his quadriceps detached from the bone, 2024 second round pick from Texas Jared Thomas hit the ground running in 2025.
In his first full season of professional baseball, Thomas hit .300/.398/.452 with 23 doubles, two triples, 14 home runs, 60 RBIs, and 33 stolen bases across High-A and Double-A. Thomas had a blistering start with the High-A Spokane Indians, where he hit 11 of his home runs while slashing .330/.427/.495 before a mid-season promotion to Double-A Hartford.
Thomas did struggle somewhat to adjust once he joined the Yard Goats. In 45 games he hit .240/.347/.374 with just three home runs. However, he finished strong with a solid 8-for-31 September and had four doubles.
On the surface, Thomas had an excellent short season in Arizona. In 17 games he hit .302/.343/.524 with six doubles, a triple, two home runs, 12 RBIs, and eight stolen bases. He was among the Salt River Rafters’ leaders in most offensive categories. He even hit a grand slam on the same day his bash brother and partner in crime Charlie Condon did.
However, there was one thing that stuck out for Thomas: strikeouts. Thomas led the team and was tied for second-most in the Fall League with 28 strikeouts while drawing just three walks. Pitch recognition and plate discipline should be a point of focus moving forward whether Thomas starts his 2026 back with Double-A Hartford or if he is promoted to the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes.
1B Charlie Condon, Double-A Hartford Yard Goats (no. 2 PuRP)
There were some concerns for Charlie Condon after a disappointing professional debut in 2024 where he hit just .180/.248/.270 with one home run over 25 games with the High-A Spokane Indians. It was later revealed that Condon was playing with a previously undisclosed injury in his right hand that he had surgically repaired during the off-season. Things got more precarious when he fractured his wrist during his first minor league spring training game and had to miss significant time to start the season.
Despite being a late arrival in Spokane, Condon hit the ground running once he was activated in late May. In 35 games with the Indians he hit .312/.431/.420 and drew 26 walks to 35 strikeouts. However, his power had yet to appear. He had just nine extra-base hits before a mid-season promotion to Double-A Hartford.
Like his teammate Jared Thomas, Condon struggled somewhat to adjust to the higher level of play. In 55 games with the Yard Goats he hit just .235/.342/.465 and struck out 67 times compared to 25 walks. However, his bat once more began to click in mid-August and this time the thump was there. Condon hit eight of his 11 total Double-A home runs between August 17th and the end of the season.
Condon was arguably one of the Salt River Rafters’ best hitters in the Fall League. Through 22 games and 83 at-bats, he hit .337/.439/.434 with 13 RBIs and struck out 17 times to his 12 walks. He even had a five-hit game.
He was named to the Arizona Fall League “Fall Stars” team and took home the Dernell Stenson Sportsmanship Award for demonstrating a strong work ethic and leadership.
The one concern with Condon’s Fall League assignment is once again a lack of power. Condon had just four extra-base hits, including one double and two triples. He had just one home run: a grand slam in the same game as Jared Thomas.
Although the Rockies are likely committed to Condon as their first baseman of the future, he might need a little more polish to unlock his tantalizing power that he displayed during college at the University of Georgia.
Winter Ball Report: 11/25/2025
⬆️ Stock Up: How about some more beans, Mr. Taggart?
After missing most of the 2025 season due to injury, elder statesman 28-year-old righty reliever Luke Taggart is pitching phenomenally in Puerto Rico this off-season. Taggart has made six appearances without allowing an earned run over 6 2/3 innings of work. He’s given up just two hits and struck out seven batters.
⬇️ Stock Down:
Adael Amador’s winter in LIDOM has been a bit of a mixed bag thus far. He’s walked more times than he’s struck out, but he isn’t making much contact with the ball. Despite having two home runs and 13 RBIs, Amador has just 12 total hits through 21 games.
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