This dynamic prospect duo is lighting it up at Double-A Hartford

This story was excerpted from Thomas Harding’s Rockies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

DENVER -- Double-A Hartford center fielder Cole Carrigg (Rockies’ No. 3 prospect) and third baseman Kyle Karros (No. 20) are feeding some winning habits.

For Carrigg, it’s grand slams. He has four home runs this year, half of which are slams.

The first was last Friday, during his three-hit, five-RBI performance in a 19-5 victory at Somerset:

The next came Wednesday night in a 6-3 victory over Chesapeake:

Karros, meanwhile, has gotten into dazzling catches.

Tuesday’s play in a 7-4 victory over Chesapeake had a ring of familiarity to it for Rockies fans:

He followed that by making the most of a difficult play on a fly ball to medium left field Wednesday night:

The Yard Goats are battling Portland (Boston’s Double-A affiliate) for the top spot in the Eastern League Northeast Division. Carrigg and Karros -- the on- and off-field sparkplugs for High-A Spokane’s Northwest League championship club last season -- have kept the party going in Hartford.

“We’re having a really good time,” said Carrigg, a second-round Draft choice out of San Diego State in 2023. “The baseball season is so long. To an extent, we don’t get to see our family and friends. Realizing that, we just make sure to have more fun. And wins … I like associating that with having a good time.”

Carrigg, who turns 23 on Thursday, and the 22-year-old Karros, a fifth-round pick out of UCLA in 2023, are different personalities. Carrigg is more outgoing (check out the scream as he rounded third during Wednesday’s slam) and Karros is more reserved. Both have a balance of seriousness and what Karros calls “chill.” And some of the other winning personalities from Spokane are helping Hartford succeed.

“We have a lot of the same guys who moved up here, and we know how we operate together,” Karros said.

The pair is producing at levels that keep a smile on everyone’s face. Carrigg, the leadoff hitter, has an .882 OPS. In addition to the four homers, he has 19 RBIs, four doubles, two triples and seven stolen bases in eight attempts. Karros has impressive numbers throughout his slash line -- .329/.446/.513 – to go with two homers, 10 RBIs and 13 walks in 21 games.

Carrigg dabbled with catching until the Rockies decided his speed and athletic ability could be better used elsewhere. He is playing regularly in center field but has seen action in the outfield corners, and he practices in the infield, just in case. The Rockies considered inviting Karros to the Arizona Fall League last year to add first base to his potential positions, but mutually agreed that he was better served resting after his first full pro season. But their production and the attention the organization is paying could lead to fast-tracking.

The struggles of the big league club are difficult to ignore, but both Carrigg and Karros are busy building their games. Carrigg entered Thursday with 27 strikeouts in 19 games, but he feels he is making the adjustment to pitchers with better “putaway stuff” than he saw in Spokane. Karros has a 6-foot-5 frame that suggests power potential, but he is “trying to be a hitter first.”

Both felt being invited to Major League camp this spring gave them a taste of the talent level. They realize that whenever the call comes, they’ll concentrate on being contributors, not rescuers. Karros said his father, Eric Karros, who spent most of his 14-season career with the Dodgers and is now a broadcaster for the club, has spoken to him about just that.

“I don’t think the big league level will really change just by adding one guy into the mix,” Karros said. “It’s going to be a core of us going up there and taking what we learned in the Minor Leagues to use.

“My dad went through it with the Dodgers. His first year, there were a lot of losses, but once you get a group of guys that have played with one another, have real relationships and love one another, that’s when you can start to win ballgames.”