DENVER -- During the time that the Rockies’ future is being contemplated, No. 8 prospect Jared Thomas and No. 2 prospect prospect Charlie Condon have provided a window into the possibilities.
Playing for the Arizona Fall League’s Salt River Rafters, Thompson and Condon each launched grand slams in a 12-9 victory over the Scottsdale Scorpions on Wednesday at Scottsdale Stadium. Condon, whose grand slam gave the Rafters the lead in the top of the ninth, also tallied an RBI triple.
The two figure to be bright spots for whoever is hired to run the baseball operation. Condon, the 22-year-old right-handed-hitting first baseman -- who also is MLB Pipeline’s No. 61 prospect after a .268/.376/.444 slash line with 14 homers and 58 RBIs mostly at High-A Spokane and Double-A Hartford -- was chosen third overall in the first round in 2024. Thomas, also 22 years old and a left-handed-hitting outfielder tabbed by MLB Pipeline as the 2025 Rockies Hitting Prospect of the Year after slashing.300/.398/.452 with 14 homers and 33 steals between Spokane and Hartford, was a second-rounder in ‘24.
Condon and Thomas have worked as a pair in 2025. They both even had right wrist injuries. Condon’s occurred early in Spring Training. The two were promoted to Hartford in early June, but Thomas missed the first month with the injury. Thomas has had a better Fall League start (.294/.333/.708 through four games entering Thursday) than Condon (.238/.273/.476 entering Thursday) but their working together led to the big Wednesday performances.
“He and I have gone through the levels together -- we always say he’s my swing coach and I’m his swing coach,” Condon said. “To help each other out like that and then do it together on the field, it doesn’t get much better.”
Thomas was the runner at first base and had a good view of Condon’s slam.
"We have done a lot of talking at the Airbnb or at the cage, just talking through some swing stuff,” Condon said. “It felt amazing to see him get all of that ball.”
Being selected so early in the Draft gives Condon status, and there are possibilities at first base. But the Rockies could be in position to properly develop him before bringing him to the Majors.
Michael Toglia, 27, the 2019 first-round pick, showed promise with 25 homers for Colorado in 2024, but he struck out at a 39.2 percent rate and ended 2025 at Triple-A Albuquerque. Warming Bernabel, 23, was named National League Player of the Week shortly after being called up and hit .258 with four homers. Minor League veteran Blaine Crim, 28, finished the year in the Majors and hit five homers in 15 games. The logical next move is for the Rockies to seek a veteran at first base during the winter.
Condon’s eventful year has taught him to stay process-oriented, rather than chase results and promotions. He is seeing the Fall League as part of the journey.
“You’re not going to have that one shining moment, so you can’t put too much pressure on one individual sample,” Condon said. “Everybody is composed of a career of at-bats, not just a couple of weeks. Still, this is a huge opportunity. I knew at the start of the season that I would be down here, so I’ve looked forward to this opportunity for a while.”
Before Wednesday, Condon was overly pull-side oriented in Fall League play. But his triple was to straightaway center, and he showed off his pull-side power with the homer.
Thomas is part of a deepening corner-outfield picture.
In moves by outgoing general manager Bill Schmidt, the Rockies added Tyler Freeman in a trade with the Guardians and Mickey Moniak after his release from the Angels, and both played mostly right field. There are other youthful possibilities.
At season’s end, the Rockies took a long look at rookie Yanquiel Fernández (.225, 4 HR in 52 games). No. 11 prospect Zac Veen hit .118 in a 12-game early-season callup but hit .289 with an .822 OPS in Triple-A. No. 15 prospect Sterlin Thompson didn’t receive a promotion to the Majors but did all he could at Triple-A -- hitting .296 with a .911 OPS. With Thomas also knocking at the door, the Rockies could enter 2026 with depth or could trade from this group to improve other areas.
The Fall League invitation allowed Thomas more opportunities to smooth out some flaws that entered his swing after he joined the Hartford lineup.
“Those first couple weeks I had were good, and then I fell into a trap after that second or third week of trying to hit the ball out of the yard a little bit more,.” he said. “I lost my ability to use all parts of the field -- the best part of my game. Getting back to that is going to help limit the punch-outs.”