Weekly Pebble Report: Getting Comfortable in New Places (August 5th – August 11th)

Colorado Rockies minor league report for Tuesday, August 13th, 2024

This is the new home of the Weekly Pebble Report here on Purple Row, your weekly Colorado Rockies minor league update. We have decided to make the Pebble Report a stand-alone article for ease of access and to better even out our content for our readers. Starting today, the Pebble Report will go up on Tuesday mornings.

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It was a week of new arrivals and settling into new locations for the Colorado Rockies prospects this week. Many of the Rockies’ new 2024 draft picks were given their first professional assignments, including Charlie Condon (Spokane), Jared Thomas (Fresno), and Cole Messina (Spokane). Yanquiel Fernandez (no. 4 PuRP) was also promoted to the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes.

Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes (3-3, 44-70 Overall)

The Isotopes played host to the Sacramento River Cats (San Francisco Giants) last week and split an exciting series at three games apiece. The key to victory for the Isotopes was a relentless offensive assault, as they scored at least 11 runs in all three of their wins.

Jonesing for a Big League Return: The rehab assignment for outfielder Nolan Jones continues to go well as last year’s fourth place Rookie of the Year finisher is looking confident, healthy, and dialed in at the plate. Jones went 5-for-12 in four games against the River Cats with two doubles, a triple, and a home run, driving in six RsBI and walking twice.

Jonesing for another shot: Offseason trade acquisition Greg Jones has had a season of ups and downs with the Isotopes and had a very brief stint in the majors earlier this year. The bespectacled speedster is starting the month of August with a promising audition to return to the show. In nine games so far he has an OPS of 1.055 with four home runs. Against the River Cats Jones went 9-for-27 with three home runs and three doubles, as well as swiping three bags. However, strikeouts remain an issue as he fanned 11 times while drawing just one walk.

Halving a Good Time: Right-handed reliever Seth Halvorsen is settling in nicely with the Isotopes. After giving up a home run on the second pitch of his Triple-A debut, Halvorsen hasn’t given up an earned run since. He made two scoreless relief appearances against the River Cats for three total innings while allowing just one hit and one walk and striking out four batters.

Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats (3-3, 61-45 Overall)

The Yard Goats’ series against the Richmond Flying Squirrels (San Francisco Giants) got off to a bumpy start with two straight losses and a rain-out in the first three days of the week. However, the Goats turned things around by winning three of the final four games in the set, including delivering a 15-1 beat-down in the first game of a double header.

The Thrill of the Chase: Top pitching prospect Chase Dollander (no. 2 PuRP) has taken to Double-A nicely through his first three starts in the Eastern League. Dollander pitched the first game of Saturday’s double header and delivered a fantastic Quality Start of six shutout innings. He gave up just two hits and only walked one batter while striking out six. Dollander was named the Eastern League Player of the Week for his effort.

UnSully-ed by Runs: The Rockies’ other top pitching prospect Sean Sullivan (no. 12 PuRP) has yet to give up a run—earned or otherwise—since his promotion to Double-A Hartford. Sullivan spun a five inning shutout performance against the Flying Squirrels for game two of Saturday’s double header, giving up two hits and striking out two batters without giving anyone a free pass. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to come away with the victory due to a lack of run support.

Figuring it Out: Rockies no. 1 overall prospect Adael Amador (no. 1 PuRP) might finally be figuring out hitting in the Eastern League. After a difficult first half of the season where he hit .187/.314/.291 in Double-A, Amador has come out of the gate following the All-Star Break looking much more comfortable at the plate. In 19 games he is hitting .313/.382/.500, and he went 8-for-23 with a home run and a triple against the Flying Squirrels.

High-A: Spokane Indians (3-3, 66-40 Overall)

The Spokane Indians traveled south to the Tri-Cities area to take on the Tri-City Dust Devils. (Los Angeles Angels) in a tit-for-tat affair that ended with a series split as the two teams were on fairly equal footing. The Indians blew out the Dust Devils on Wednesday only to be blown out themselves on Thursday, but the finished the series strong with two wins in a row.

How’s the Weather?: Left-handed reliever Sam Weatherly was promoted from Low-A Fresno for this series and adapted well to the Northwest League. Weatherly made two relief appearances against the Dust Devils for three total innings without allowing a run. He struck out five batters while issuing just one walk and he earned his first High-A save.

Finding His Form: The last month has been a difficult one for Connor Staine, who carried a 7.63 ERA over his last four starts with 13 strikeouts and 10 walks. However, Staine pitched a five inning scoreless gem against the Dust Devils last week in a much needed bounceback performance. Staine allowed just two hits and did walk three batters, but he also struck out 9 batters—his highest strikeout total since July 4th against Tri-City.

The Condor Takes Flight: Rockies’ first round, third overall draft pick Charlie Condon made his professional debut against the Dust Devils with promising results. Condon—playing a mix of outfield, designated hitter, and third base—went 6-for-21 at the plate with a home run and two doubles. He did strike out nine times compared to just one walk, however.

Low-A: Fresno Grizzlies (2-4, 56-51 Overall)

The Fresno Grizzlies moseyed out to Rancho Cucamonga to take on the Quakes (Los Angeles Dodgers) and were the only Rockies affiliate to not achieve a series split, losing four of their games. In both of the Grizzlies’ victories they scored nine runs against the Quakes, but they also gave up at least eight runs in two of their losses.

He Went to Jared: Jared Thomas, the Rockies’ second round pick from the University of Texas, played his first series of professional baseball with stellar results last week in Rancho Cucamonga. Thomas went 7-for-19, striking out just four times while drawing three walks. He also hit his first professional home run.

Calling for Calaz: In his second series with the Fresno Grizzlies, Robert Calaz (no. 13 PuRP) had his low-A breakout. In six games against the Quakes he went 7-for-22, drawing four walks to five strikeouts while also hitting his first Low-A triple and home run. Calaz was promoted to Fresno after posting a 1.113 OPS with 12 doubles, five triples, and 10 home runs in the Arizona Complex League.

Startin’ Stu: Grizzlies lefty Stu Flesland III has largely worked out of the bullpen as a multi-inning reliever this season, but he got his second start of the year on Friday against the Quakes. Flesland went three innings in his start while giving up just one earned run on three hits and a walk. He struck out an impressive five batters after striking out six last week.

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