Weekly Pebble Report: Welcome to the 2024 Arizona Fall League

Colorado Rockies Arizona Fall League report for Wednesday, October 9th, 2024

The 2024 Arizona Fall League begins on Monday, October 7th. The first weekly report will consist of an introduction to the Salt River Rafters and the players the Rockies have sent to represent them. Starting next week the Pebble Report will have a weekly recap of the Rafter’s performances. This will continue through the conclusion of the Arizona Fall League on Tuesday, November 19th.

★ ★ ★

The Colorado Rockies’ regular season and the minor league season may both be over, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t still baseball to play! No, I’m not talking about the playoffs, I’m talking about the Arizona Fall League!

For those of you not familiar, the Arizona Fall League is a short, offseason league that takes place in—you guessed it—Arizona. There are six teams in the AFL that make their homes in six spring training ballparks utilized for the Cactus League. These teams are: the Scottsdale Scorpions, Mesa Solar Sox, Glendale Desert Dogs, Peoria Javelinas, Surprise Saguaros, and of course the Salt River Rafters.

The six rosters are each filled out by five MLB teams sending a handful of top prospects and farmhands to compete, often these are players who might have missed time or whom their parent organizations are wanting to get an extended look at. Major League Baseball describes the Arizona Fall League as “the ‘finishing school’ of the minor leagues for players, coaches, umpires and aspiring employees.”

The Rockies send their players to join the Salt River Rafters, who play at the beautiful Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. This season they will be joined by players from the Arizona Diamondbacks, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, and Washington Nationals.

For 2024 the Rockies are sending nine player representatives and one coach to the Fall League. Let’s introduce them!

★ ★ ★

Pitchers

RHP McCade Brown, Low-A Fresno Grizzlies

24-year-old McCade Brown was a third round pick out of the University of Indiana in the 2021 draft and had an interesting 2022 season with the Low-A Fresno Grizzlies. Brown made 18 starts with a 5.22 ERA over 89 ²⁄₃ innings. He gave up a lot of contact with a 9.0 H/9 but also had 118 total strikeouts to just 23 walks.

Brown missed the 2023 season due to needing Tommy John surgery, but made his return in 2024 splitting time between the Arizona Complex League Rockies and the Grizzlies. He made just 12 appearances with 10 starts and posted a combined ERA of 6.85 over 23 ²⁄₃ innings of work. Brown struggled with command and had a 6.5 BB/9, but also showed his potential for the punch out is still there with a 13.3 SO/9 and 35 total strikeouts.

RHP Carlos Torres, High-A Spokane Indians

Right-handed reliever Carlos Torres was the Rockies’ final pick of the 2022 draft. Although he has some experience starting, he mostly comes out of the bullpen. Torres spent all of 2023 with Low-A Fresno, where he made 43 appearances with a 3.50 ERA and struck out 54 batters in 61 ²⁄₃ innings.

Like many other pitchers on this list, Torres missed significant time in 2024 due to injury. He made three rehab appearances in the Arizona Complex League before being assigned to High-A Spokane. With the Indians he made just 15 appearances, but did a good job limiting walks and posted a 3.32 ERA over 21 ²⁄₃ innings of work. Torres worked 3 ²⁄₃ scoreless innings with four strikeouts during the Indian’s championship series against the Vancouver Canadians.

LHP Michael Prosecky, High-A Spokane Indians (no. 22 PuRP)

Lefty starting pitcher Michael Prosecky had a great first full season with the Rockies organization after being drafted out of Louisville. In 2023 with the Low-A Fresno Grizzlies Prosecky made 21 starts and held a 2.72 ERA over 109 innings. He struck out 125 batters and gave up just four home runs.

Prosecky missed a large chunk of the 2024 season due to elbow inflammation before making four starts with the ACL Rockies and another two back with the Grizzlies. In those two starts with Fresno he gave up just one earned run through 11 innings while striking out 17 batters. Pleased with his progress, Prosecky was promoted to the High-A Spokane Indians. Prosecky posted a 5.90 regular season ERA in eight outings with the Indians, but also struck out 44 batters in 29 innings. He also made a strong start against the Vancouver Canadians (Toronto Blue Jays) in the final game of the Northwest League championship, working five innings while giving up one earned run on five hits and two walks. He struck out five batters.

RHP Gabriel Hughes, Double-A Hartford Yard Goats (no. 13 PuRP)

The Rockies’ first pick of the 2022 draft out of Gonzaga had his first full season in the Rockies farm system cut short due to Tommy John surgery, causing him to miss the entirety of 2024. The Fall League will be his first live game action since July of last year.

Hughes is still a highly touted pitching prospect in the system, especially if he can bounce back to form after his surgery. Although he was struggling with a tough assignment—eight games with High-A Spokane and a quick promotion to Double-A Hartford—there was also a lot to like. Hughes had a combined 6.21 ERA across both levels, but also had an 11.2 SO/9 with 83 strikeouts over 66 ²⁄₃ innings. He also exhibited solid control of his pitches with a solid 3.5 BB/9 during that stretch. Hughes held his own against much older competition in Double-A with his 60-grade fastball and 55-grade slider.

LHP Evan Justice, Colorado Rockies

A former top prospect drafted out of North Carolina State University in 2021, Evan Justice didn’t see extensive playing time until 2023 after he missed all of 2022 with a lingering shoulder strain. When he did play his first full season, he hit the ground running. Justice started 2023 with High-A Spokane and made it all the way to his big league debut by the end of the season. He put up solid numbers in both High-A and Double-A while also holding his own in Triple-A Albuquerque.

Justice spent a chunk of the season on the injured list before returning to play with the Albuquerque Isotopes in June. He struggled with the Isotopes, posting an ERA of 8.76 over 32 appearances and 24 ²⁄₃ innings as he tried to return to form. He made just one appearance with the big league team this season, striking out one of the two batters he faced.

Position Players

Infielder Skyler Messinger, High-A Spokane Indians

Drafted out of the University of Texas in 2022, Skyler Messinger is a Colorado native who was born in Boulder and went to high school in Niwot. The 19th rounder spent all of 2023 with Low-A Fresno and hit a whopping 18 home runs during his time there while slashing .258/.364/.475 on the season.

Messinger spent the first half of his season with the ACL Rockies to mixed results. He hit .226/.330/.344 in 93 at-bats and hit just one home run. However, he did well drawing walks. In July he was assigned to High-A Spokane and couldn’t quite replicate the success he had in 2023 with Fresno. Over 94 at-bats Messinger hit .239/.266/.364 with only two home runs and 25 strikeouts.

Catcher/First Baseman Jose Cordova, Double-A Hartford Yard Goats

The Rockies signed Jose Cordova out of Venezuela as an international free agent back in 2018, where he hit .290/.339/.381 in the Dominican Summer League. He had an even better season the following year with a .836 OPS, but missed 2020 with the cancellation of the minor league season due to COVID.

Since 2021, Cordova has worn several different hats and played pretty much everywhere but Low-A Fresno. He’s predominately a catcher and first baseman, but has also taken some reps in the outfield. Cordova played 84 games with the High-A Spokane Indians this season—mostly at first base—with a respectable .286/.358/.400 line, drawing 30 walks to just 65 strikeouts with a solid plate approach. He was promoted to Double-A following the conclusion of the High-A season after playing a pivotal role in the Indian’s Northwest League championship victory.

Outfielder Juan Guerrero, Double-A Hartford Yard Goats

The Rockies signed Juan Guerrero out of the Dominican Republic for a $650,000 signing bonus as part of their 2018 international free agent draft class. Originally an infielder when he arrived in the Dominican Summer League, Guerrero has settled into an outfield role—primarily as a left fielder.

Guerrero played 92 games with High-A Spokane with a focus on contact and minimal strikeouts. He hit .302/.341/.399 with 23 stolen bases before a late-season promotion to Double-A Hartford. Guerrero continued to hit well in Hartford with a .350 on-base percentage over 115 at-bats to wrap up the minor league season.

Infielder Ryan Ritter, Double-A Hartford Yard Goats (no. 19 PuRP)

Ryan Ritter is one of the more exciting position player prospects attending the Fall League this year. Originally drafted out of the University of Kentucky for his excellent defense as a glove-first shortstop, Ritter ascended from Low-A Fresno all the way to Double-A Hartford in his first full professional season last year.

Ritter spent all of the 2024 season with Double-A Hartford, and his bat has caught up nicely to his glove. In 91 games played this season he slashed 270/.370/.403 with seven home runs and had a healthy 35 walks compared to 85 strikeouts. He was also a perfect 17-for-17 on stolen base attempts.

The Coach

Hitting Coach Nic Wilson

Hailing from Georgia, Nic Wilson is an up-and-coming coach within the Rockies organization that’s entering his sixth season with the team. Wilson played two seasons in the Tampa Bay Rays organization and spent another two playing independent ball before starting his coaching career.

Wilson, 30, was named the organizations’ hitting coordinator in 2023 following the departure of Darin Everson. Wilson—the hitting coach for the Low-A Fresno Grizzlies in 2021 and 2022—was chosen by Rockies director of player development Chris Forbes to promote from within and develop into what could potentially be the big league team’s next hitting coach.

Supported by Forbes, special assistant Clint Hurdle, and other members of the Rockies’ player development team, Wilson has been praised for his ability to build relationships with and gain the respect of the players he works with.

“Mark Brewer (former Fresno Grizzlies pitching coach), after his first year with him in 2021, said, ‘This guy is a slam-dunk big league hitting coach,’ ” Rockies Assistant Director of Player Development Jesse Stender said.

“Asked why he predicted such a bright future for Wilson, Brewer said, ‘In a nutshell, his ability to communicate with everybody is over the top good. He’s just over the top really good with people.’”

★ ★ ★

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!