The Arizona Fall League is winding down with the championship series coming up this weekend. But last weekend was the 19th annual Fall Stars Game at Sloan Park, spring training home of the Chicago Cubs. The Colorado Rockies were represented by two players: first baseman Charlie Condon and right-handed pitcher Cade Denton.
Before the game, both of them had a lot to reflect on.
“[Things] have been great,” Condon said.
“I’ve been happy with some things that have been going on out here, but I’ve also found plenty more to work on. I think that’s the exciting thing about this is that you can keep getting reps, but when you’re this close to an offseason, it’s nice to experiment with things and have things to take with you into the offseason to work on.”
Specifically, Condon identified pitch selection, barrel control, and ball flight as three areas he’s been working on and will continue to practice into the offseason.
“[I’m] swinging at the right pitches,” he said. “I think barrel control has been really good. And I think one thing I’ll continue to work on this offseason is all about ball flight – catching balls out front and getting better backspin. I think that’ll help lead to some more power numbers. But I’m really happy with how I’ve seen the ball and my swing decisions and being able to put the barrel on the ball.”
Cade Denton has also been tinkering with some new things and is looking forward to continuing to work into the offseason.
“I’ve just been working on pitch arsenal stuff,” he said, “stuff that you don’t really necessarily get to work on in-season because it’s kind of more experimental. But I’ve been working on a little bit of a cutter and adding a few different quirks and things to my arsenal. So it’s been going good so far, and hopefully I’ll continue to work on it.”
And he’s noticed a difference, especially with how his fastball is playing.
“I’ve been getting the fastball to the top rail a lot better than I was in the season, and getting strikeouts with the fastball as opposed to just all the off-speed stuff,” he said. “So being able to do that with all my pitches now has definitely opened up a lot of the zone and a lot of different ways to pitch guys.”
Some of that came from some advice from Arizona Diamondbacks’ pitching coach Dylan Olsonawski.
“We’ve been working on the cutter,” Denton said. “He had a few bits of advice about just keeping the fastball at the top rail because that’s where it plays the best for swings and misses, and throwing the cutter off that. And it’s been working pretty well so far.”
Both of them entered the game at different points, and saw differing amounts of action.
Denton pitched the fourth inning, putting up a clean inning. It wasn’t without some traffic, though, as he hit two batters and walked another. However, he did also got the first batter out on the first pitch, got another to strike out, and got the final one to fly out to center.
Condon entered as a DH pinch hitter in the sixth, and saw one pitch that he immediately lined sharply to the shortstop. He came back in the ninth and walked. and advanced to third on a single by Braves’ outfielder Patrick Clohisy (and error by left fielder Ryan Lasko). He then came around to score on single by Cardinals’ outfielder Miguel Ugueto, deflected by Tigers’ pitcher Dariel Fregio. In total, Condon went 0-for-1 with a run and a walk.
They still understood how important being selected to this game was.
“It’s cool to represent our organization and represent our Fall League team,” said Condon. “We’ve got a good group out here, but it’s really cool to be a part of this with all these super talented guys and to just get to spend more time with them.”
“It’s really cool,” echoed Denton. “A lot of these guys are future big-leaguers, so to be a part of that group is really, really cool. It’s an honor, and hopefully I can be one of those guys too.”
Denton spoke of the honor it was to be selected to the Arizona Fall League, especially as the lone representative to not finish the season on the Hartford Yard Goats.
“It was definitely an honor. I was really excited,” he said. “I’m glad my wife [Jess] got to come out here with me, as well. It’s out one-year anniversary tomorrow, so we’ll celebrate that. And obviously getting to spend it out with baseball, it’s about the way we expected it to be. But it was definitely an honor, and it was an exciting time to be out here. Hopefully it continues to be an exciting time now through the rest of the year.”
But through all the excitement of the Fall Stars Game, they also reflected on a scary situation that happened earlier this week.
Infielder Braylen Wimmer suffered a seizure, which led him to being diagnosed with a brain tumor. He and his family drove him back to Oklahoma for treatment, where he is expected to undergo an awake craniotomy to hopefully remove the tumor.
“He’s doing good right now, he’s just prepping for his surgery that he’s going to have,” Denton said.
“It was definitely a scary moment when it happened, but we’re all praying for him and we’re all sticking by his side. We’re all going to make sure that everything goes smoothly for him as it needs to be. I’m glad he’s back home and with his family and girlfriend, and everybody that’s been around him. There’s a GoFundMe link for him as well, if anybody wants to donate and support his cause and all the things that he’s gonna have to go through to get back to baseball.”
“We’ve been in touch with him,” echoed Condon. “I mean, he’s still normal, awesome Braylen. We miss him and miss having him out there, but we’re glad he’s back home and with family, getting the medical attention he needs right now. But we’re excited about getting him back out here.”
The Arizona Fall League is entering its final week of action with the playoffs scheduled to start this afternoon and run through Saturday.
The Salt River Rafters are currently slated sixth, but who knows what could happen.
If you would like to donate to Braylen Wimmer’s GoFundMe, you can do so here.
Mesa Solar Sox 3, Salt River Rafters 0
The Arizona Fall League came to a close yesterday for the Salt River Rafters, as they were shut out by the Mesa Solar Sox 3-0. All three runs came in the fifth inning, as Cubs’ catcher Owen Ayers hit a three-run homer off of Red Sox right-hander Brandon Neely.
Jack Mahoney started the game, tossing four runs of two-hit, scoreless baseball. He allowed one walk and one strikeout. Cade Denton closed the game, throwing the final three innings. He also allowed to hits, but issued zero walks and struck out three batters.
The Solar Sox will now take on the Surprise Saguaros tomorrow at 1:30pm MT.
Saying the Rockies’ starting pitching was bad in 2025 is probably the understatement of the century. Their starting rotation posted a 6.65 ERA, which is the highest number since 1913 when the stat became official in the record books. They have a long way to go. But new PBO Paul DePodesta has some ideas on how to bulk up the rotation, and it might not please all fans…
“Colorado’s most valuable trading chips come from its surplus of outfield prospects, even if DePodesta didn’t say that directly,” writes Saunders.
“‘I want to stop short of naming a particular position group,’ he said. ‘I have one in mind for sure, but I do think there’s some depth there. And now I have to understand what the other 29 teams think, and what players they’re attracted to from our organization. But, again, I think we need to be open-minded about that.’”
One of the black marks on Paul DePodesta’s record was the Deshaun Watson trade from the Houston Texans to the Cleveland Browns, in the midst of massive legal trouble. Additionally, the Browns gave Watson a five-year, $230 million fully-guaranteed contract that runs through the 2026 season. Kris Bryant is in the middle of a seven-year, $182 million contract that goes through the 2028 season, but has been plagued by injuries and has barely played one full season since the ink dried in March 2022. How might DePodesta navigate one albatross contract after leaving another behind? Kevin Henry offers his take.
DePodesta already digging in on how to improve Rockies’ reputation | MLB.com
Thomas Harding writes: “I had heard all these things … ‘We may be behind … we think we’re behind,’ and then they gave me a list of all the third-party vendors and all the things that they’re already doing,” DePodesta said to reporters. “It’s pretty impressive.”
The Rockies have a laundry list of things they need to fix, and DePodesta seems up to the challenge. He has also worked with teams with limited resources, and seems keen on finding ways to do it again with this team. Harding lays out the improvements the Rockies have been making, as well as the things they still need to fix going forward.
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