Weekly Pebble Report: Closing the Book (September 16th-September 22nd)

Colorado Rockies minor league report for Tuesday, September 24th, 2024

At last the 2024 Minor League Baseball season has drawn to a close for the Colorado Rockies and their farm system affiliates. While the Triple-A playoffs kick off and the Double-A playoffs push forward, the Rockies Organization winds down and prepares for what comes next. They will be sending six players to the Arizona Fall League soon to play for the Salt River Rafters while the rest of their prospects and farm hands disperse for the winter. Some will return to the Arizona Complex, some will play winter ball in warmer climates, and some will return to their families until they are beckoned once more by the game come springtime. This is your final Weekly Pebble Report for 2024.

Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes (1-5, 58-92 Overall). Season Complete.

The Albuquerque Isotopes came dangerously close to getting swept for the first time in 2024 by the playoff-bound Reno Aces (Arizona Diamondbacks). They lost five straight games before pulling off an extra-innings victory in the series and season finale. To say the Isotopes’ season was a rough one would be a massive understatement. The ‘Topes finished with their worst record in the more than 20-year history of their franchise and lost an unprecedented 92 total games. Thankfully for the fans, a surge of new talent is heading to Albuquerque in 2025.

Kauffing up runs: Former Rockies top draft pick Karl Kauffmann has had a season he’d probably like to forget. Kauffann put up one of the statistically worst seasons in baseball this year with the highest home run rate. lowest strikeout rate, and the highest ERA, FIP, xFIP, and opposing batting average. Kauffmann was placed on the development list after his final start of the season against the Aces in which he gave up five earned runs on four walks and eight hits, including two home runs.

Is there a Vac Zeen for Zac Veen’s injuries?: Outfielder Zac Veen (no. 4 PuRP) ended his season with his third stint on the injured list in 2024, this time with a hamstring injury. Veen has struggled mightily with injuries since the second half of the 2022 season. Veen was seeming to find his rhythm with the Isotopes, but went 0-for-3 in his only outing against the Aces before being shut down.

Raise a Pint for a season well done: Isotopes pitcher of the year Riley Pint had a tough night in his first outing against Reno this series, giving up four runs (three earned) on three hits and two walks. However, he bounced back beautifully in the Isotopes’ season finale on Sunday by striking out the side in dominant fashion. Riley Pint is now the first pitcher in Isotopes history to pitch at least 30 innings without giving up a single home run, a wild feat considering the hitter-friendly nature of the Pacific Coast League.

Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats (0-2, 76-60 Overall). Season Complete.

Although the end result wasn’t what anyone of the Hartford Yard Goats faithful was hoping for, the season was a resounding success. The Rockies’ Double-A affiliate made the playoffs for the first time as the Yard Goats and faced off against a strong Somerset Patriots (New York Yankees) team for the Eastern League Divisional Series. Unfortunately, the Yard Goats fell short in both games to close the book on their season. Both games were extremely close and while hearts were broken, the Yard Goats have so much to be proud of.

Chasing Victory: Despite being very clearly gassed and having made more starts and pitched more innings than at any point in his adult life, Chase Dollander (no. 1 PuRP) put it all on the line to start the Eastern League Divisional Series against the Patriots. He wasn’t at his sharpest, walking four batters and giving up a home run. However, he only gave up one earned run through five innings of work and struck out four batters. Dollander did his part to give the Yard Goats a chance at victory.

Agnos Attempts Avoision of Agony: The Yard Goat’s excellent reliever Zach Agnos was the key to keeping the Goats in the fight during game two of the series. Agnos worked 2 ¹⁄₃ scoreless, hitless innings late in the game with a 3-3 tie. He struck out three batters and walked one to keep the game tied and get the Yard Goats to extra innings, where they ultimately fell.

Trying to keep the Amador open: It was a season of ups and downs for young middle infielder Adael Amador (no. 3 PuRP), but he stepped up in the key moments of the Eastern League Divisional Series. Amador was without a doubt the Yard Goat’s key offensive contributor in the series, going 5-for-8 with two RsBI. Amador hit a home run while going 4-for-5 in the series finale, the only member of the Yard Goats lineup to tally multiple hits that game.

Here’s what’s next!

With the MiLB season officially over, the Pebble Report will shift into a monthly format starting in October. We will resume weekly Pebble Reports at some point during spring training. Between now and then, there will still be plenty of minor league and prospect content! The Monthly Pebble Reports will be a full recap of our mid-season PuRPs ranked players. Before that kicks off closer to the end of October, I will be asking you—the readers—to submit some players that aren’t ranked in the top 30—or even ranked at all—to review as honorable mentions.

There will also be weekly Arizona Fall League reports starting Tuesday, October 15th after the first full week of the Fall League is complete. These shorter check-ins with the Rockies Fall League representatives will run weekly until Tuesday, November 19th after the Fall League concludes.

Thank you so much for sticking with the Pebble Report during a year of transition where we worked to find our footing!

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