The Hartford Yard Goats, the Double-A affiliates of the Colorado Rockies, will begin their 2025 season with Opening Day on Friday, April 4 at 7:10 p.m. at Dunkin’ Donuts Park. They will face the Somerset Patriots, an affiliate of the New York Yankees, in the first game of a short three-game series (minor league series are generally a week long with off days on Mondays). It will be a rematch from when Somerset eliminated Hartford from the playoffs last September, stopping them from advancing to the 2024 Eastern League championship series. While the official roster has not yet been released, some top prospects who are likely to start the season in Hartford include utilityman Cole Carrigg, pitcher Gabriel Hughes and outfielder Benny Montgomery.
Despite the utility title, Carrigg is far from a bench bat. Ranked as the Rockies’ third best prospect by MLB.com, it is Carrigg’s versatility that plays him into that role rather than any offensive concerns. A contact hitter with some serious speed and a plus arm defensively, he played last season with the High-A Spokane Indians and batted .280 while stealing 51 bases. The San Diego State graduate also showed some pop, smacking 16 homers. The jump from High-A to Double-A is considered one of the toughest in professional baseball, so it will be a significant test to see how the former second-rounder’s approach translates to a higher level of competition. He will have opportunities all around the diamond for the Yard Goats this season and could make it to the majors as soon as next season on the back of that versatility if he is able to keep up his previous offensive success.
Hughes, the 10th overall pick out of Gonzaga in 2022, made his debut for Hartford in June of 2023 for six games. In July of that year, the righty underwent Tommy John surgery and has not pitched in an official game since. Still just 23 years old, Hughes will look to get his career back on track, as he returns to Hartford to start 2025. After making six starts in the Arizona Fall League at the end of last season, he started the Rockies’ Spring Breakout game against the White Sox prospects. He threw two scoreless innings, a continuation of a strong spring. Hughes could become the ace of the Yard Goats staff as he looks to put together his first full season of his professional career. The Rockies have historically struggled to develop pitching, in part due to playing at Denver’s Coors Field, where the ball carries and pitches move less. Still, they have exciting prospects such as Hughes, 2024 Yard Goat Chase Dollander and 2024 first-rounder Brody Brecht on the horizon.
Montgomery started last season as a member of the Yard Goats, playing in 11 games before going down with a shoulder injury that required season ending surgery. In those 11 games, he put up some good stats with a .283 average, two home runs and a decent .313 on base percentage. Selected eighth overall by the Rockies in 2021, he has always had the raw tools to profile as a top prospect. He has solid raw power and near elite speed, but his contact will be something that he needs to improve upon, as he hopes to reach his full potential. He has not been able to convert enough of that raw power to extra base hits as he has risen through the minor leagues to overcome the contact struggles. He had a decent .370 slugging percentage for Spokane in 2023, but started last year at .500 with Hartford. He won’t be able to maintain that extremely lofty Hartford number. However, if the true number lies somewhere in the middle, it will allow him to regain some of the prospect status he has lost after battling through injuries throughout his career.
While he may not start the year in Hartford, Brecht has a chance to make it to Double-A this season, depending on how aggressive the Rockies are with his promotion. The 22-year-old has yet to make his professional debut, though he was a standout in the Spring Breakout game. Another Rockies farmhand who is highly likely to be the 2024 third overall pick and MLB’s 29th-overall ranked prospect, Charlie Condon, makes an appearance in the Yard Goats lineup at some point this season. The power hitting righty drafted out of Georgia struggled in his professional debut with High-A Spokane after being drafted last season, but the small 100 plate appearance sample should not detract too much from the fact that he has some of the best raw power in all of MiLB.
Returning to manage these up-and-coming players is former big leaguer Bobby Meachum. The former Yankees shortstop returns for his second season at the helm for the Yard Goats after being promoted last offseason from his position as the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes bench coach. A former big league base coach, he had spent time as an MLB coach for the Marlins, Padres, Yankees, Astros and Phillies. In his first season as manager for the Yard Goats, the team sported a record of 76-60 and finished second in the Northeastern Division before being swept in the league semifinals. The team also led the league in stolen bases at 207.
Series Preview- Somerset Patriots
As mentioned above, the Yard Goats will begin their season with a three-game homestead with the Yankees Double-A affiliate. For Yankees fans looking to catch a glimpse of the future this weekend, the most recognizable name in the lineup will be Spencer Jones. Measuring in at 6-foot-7, the hulking outfielder has a rare mix of raw power and athleticism, but strikeouts remain the main detractor from his game. The Vanderbilt graduate will return to Double-A to start the season, after playing the entirety of last season at that level. For Somerset last season, Jones hit 17 home runs and swiped 25 bags. He also struck out an even 200 times, setting the Yankees record for most strikeouts by a minor leaguer in a single season in the process. This uneven play dropped the young outfielder out of the MLB.com’s Top 100 prospects, and he will be looking to rebuild some of that stock with better contact stats this season.
Other players to look out for in the Somerset lineup include infielder Alexander Vargas, who had a power surge in major league Spring Training this year, and catchers Jesus Rodriguez and Rafael Flores. Rodriguez had his contract selected by the Yankees to protect him from the Rule IV draft this past offseason and is now a member of their 40-man roster. Flores was named the Yankees minor league Position Player of the Year for 2024 and has gone from minor league depth to organizational top 10 prospect in short order.
Along with the festivities of Opening Night on Friday, the Yard Goats will also begin their celebration of the start of their 10th season as well. Saturday will feature the first “Bark in the Park” event of the year, where fans can purchase a special ticket in the outfield to take in some baseball with their canine companions in tow. Wrapping up the weekend of festivities, Sunday’s game will see the Yard Goats honoring the Marine Corps, with the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation sponsoring the game. As an added bonus, kids are invited to run around the bases following the game. Friday’s game will begin at 7:10 p.m., while both weekend dates are day games, starting at 1:10 p.m.