Monday Rockpile: The Hartford Yard Goats deserved more fanfare in 2024

Colorado Rockies news and links for Monday, November 18th, 2024

Although it feels like they were overshadowed by their fellow affiliate on the other side of the country, the Hartford Yard Goats turned in a season to be proud of. The Yard Goats—in what was technically their tenth season as an affiliate of the Colorado Rockies—reached the playoffs for the first time as both the Yard Goats and in their affiliation with the Rockies.

First year manager Bobby Meacham took home the Eastern League’s Manager of the Year honors as he led the Yard Goats to their first playoff appearance after a 76-60 campaign. Meacham—a former shortstop for the New York Yankees—joined the Rockies organization in 2023 as the bench coach for the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes. When former Yard Goats manager Chris Denorfia was promoted to outfield and baserunning coordinator for the big league club, Meacham was named the new manager in Hartford.

Under Meacham, the Yard Goats had the second best first half record in the Eastern League and were the champions of their division. In the second half they fell to third place in their division, but still held a winning record and advanced to their first ever playoff series. The Yard Goats unfortunately fell, being swept in a best-of-three series against the Somerset Patriots (New York Yankees). Despite being knocked out in the first round, the Yard Goats should be getting plenty of fanfare,

The Yard Goats had no All-Stars named after the end of the season, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t have any deserving players.

First baseman and 2021 10th round pick Zach Kokoska was a crucial power bat in the Yard Goat’s lineup. While he led the team in strikeouts, he also led the team in slugging percentage. His 20 home runs won him the Eastern League home run crown and his 67 RsBI were good for fifth-most in the league. He also hit 22 doubles and stole a respectable 15 bases in 19 attempts.

While Kokoska handled the power, Warming Bernabel (no. 29 PuRP) and Sterlin Thompson (no. 17 PuRP) handled the contact. The duo both finished top ten in both hits and total bases amongst Eastern League hitters. Middle infielder Ryan Ritter (no. 19 PuRP) also turned in an excellent season, hitting .270/.370/.403 with seven home runs and a perfect 17-for-17 on stolen bases.

Where the Yard Goats particularly shined was with their pitching, especially with the young top prospect trio of Carson Palmquist, Chase Dollander, and Sean Sullivan.

Palmquist (no. 10 PuRP) started the season in Hartford and made 18 starts before the lefty’s late-season promotion to Triple-A. During those 82 ¹⁄₃ innings of work he posted a 3.17 ERA and struck out a team-leading 113 batters. Palmquist had four outings with the Yard Goats in which he had ten or more strikeouts. The 2022 third round pick is now poised for a potential big league debut in 2025.

2023 first and second round picks in right-handed pitcher Chase Dollander (no. 1 PuRP) and left-handed pitcher Sean Sullivan (no. 7 PuRP) were late season promotions to the Hartford rotation. The duo of Northwest League All-Stars were critical down the stretch thanks to their strong performances.

Sullivan, the Wake Forest product and Northwest League Pitcher of the Year, made seven starts for the Yard Goats and took to the challenge of Double-A well. While his strikeout numbers decreased with a higher level of competition, the tricky lefty posted a 1.97 ERA only had two starts where he yielded two or more earned runs.

Meanwhile, Dollander struck out a strong 58 batters over 48 innings in his nine starts with the Yard Goats. Like Sullivan, Dollander kept runs to a minimum, allowing two or more earned runs in just three of his starts. He also pushed past five innings in six of those starts. The former Tennesee Volunteer hit his stride in August. He turned in three consecutive stellar performances, including a seven inning, nine strikeout shutout, followed by back-to-back ten strikeout appearances.

Prospect closer Zach Agnos also flourished in Hartford following a mid-season promotion from High-A Spokane. Agnos made 24 appearances with seven saves out of the Yard Goats’ bullpen, posting a 1.95 ERA over 27 ²⁄₃ innings of work. He struck out 33 batters compared to just nine walks and tallied a strikeout in all but three of his appearances following his promotion. Agnos’ tenure in Hartford was also marked by long streaks of scoreless outings. He had streaks of both eight and seven scoreless appearances in a Yard Goats uniform, and finished the season strong with another three straight scoreless appearances.

While the Double-A Hartford Yard Goats didn’t take home much in terms of post-season hardware, and didn’t have any named All-Stars, that doesn’t mean they didn’t have an excellent season worthy of praise. Full of plenty of stellar performances, their first-ever playoff berth, and having the Eastern League Manager of the Year running the show, the 2024 Yard Goats deserved much more fanfare than they received.

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Arizona Fall League

Arizona Fall League Championship: Salt River Rafters 3, Surprise Saguaros 2

The Salt River Rafters took home the title of Arizona Fall League champions on Saturday night, and the Rockies’ representatives played key roles in the victory. Ryan Ritter—playing as the designated hitter—was 2-for-4 in the Rafters’ only multi-hit performance of the night. First baseman and Fall League All-Star Skyler Messinger was 1-for-2 with two walks and scored as two of the Rafter’s three runs. Left-handed pitcher Evan Justice earned the save as he pitched a scoreless—though certainly tense—ninth inning. Justice finished the Fall League with no hits or earned runs allowed.

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Freeland hoping offseason work can lead to resurgent ‘25 | MLB.com

In this excerpt from his newsletter, Thomas Harding covers Rockies lefty Kyle Freeland, who is beginning an offseason program that he hopes will help him pitch better in 2025. Freeland finished the 2024 season strong, but had a very difficult start to the season that culminated in an arm injury that had him sidelined for over two months. The offseason program focuses on consistent mechanics and an early start to long-toss to gain more endurance.

“It’s a good program,” Freeland said as the season ended. “I just need to stay conscious of my mechanics. I’ll get into long toss earlier to lengthen out and strengthen up, and be conscious of where my mechanics are right now.

“Last year, I was allowing my arm slot to drop down a little bit, even in the offseason. It created a little more of a sling, instead of a drive. I don’t know it for a fact, but I think that played a role in my arm injury. I truly didn’t realize it until we got into the season. Those first few starts just didn’t seem right and didn’t feel that it looked right.”

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