2025 Santa Fe Fuego Season Recap - Offensive Firepower Could Not Overcome Another Difficult Summer at Fort Marcy

The 2025 Santa Fe Fuego season was another difficult chapter in the history of one of the Pecos League's longest-running franchises. Santa Fe continued to possess the type of explosive offense that had defined Fuego baseball since the team arrived at Fort Marcy in 2012, but once again the club could not find enough consistent pitching to remain in the playoff race. The Fuego finished the season 17-33, winning only 17 of their 50 games despite featuring several of the best individual offensive performances in the league. There were nights when Santa Fe looked unstoppable at the plate and others when the realities of pitching at approximately 7,000 feet became overwhelming.

The season began at Fort Marcy on May 28 with an 18-7 loss. Santa Fe immediately bounced back the following night with a 6-5 victory, but losses of 16-1 and 13-7 followed before the Fuego dropped an 8-2 game on June 1. The 1-4 beginning immediately put Santa Fe in a difficult position, particularly in a Mountain Division where there was very little room for an extended losing streak.

The early portion of June demonstrated both the potential and the problems of the 2025 Fuego. Santa Fe lost a wild 16-15 game before responding with a 14-11 victory. A 25-17 loss followed, but the Fuego came back the next night and won 16-8. The offense was producing enough runs to win, but Santa Fe was already becoming dependent on scoring enormous totals simply to remain competitive.

Then the Fuego put together their best stretch of the early season. Santa Fe exploded for a 32-11 victory and followed it with wins of 14-13 and 9-6. Three consecutive victories gave the Fuego some momentum and briefly suggested that the team might be able to work its way back into contention. The 32-run performance was another example of the extraordinary offensive environment that had become synonymous with professional baseball at Fort Marcy.

The momentum didn't last. Santa Fe lost 17-3, 22-7 and 6-4 before earning one of its most unusual victories of the season, a 2-1 road win. For a Fuego team accustomed to games featuring double-digit run totals, winning 2-1 was almost the opposite of traditional Santa Fe baseball. It demonstrated that when the pitching staff could control a game, the Fuego had enough offense to find a way to win.

Unfortunately, those pitching performances were difficult to repeat. Santa Fe lost 12-10, 22-9, 15-6, 10-7 and 25-14. The Fuego continued scoring runs, but opponents were scoring more. A 7-6 road victory briefly stopped the losing streak before Santa Fe lost 20-5 and 8-4.

The Fuego continued to fight through the end of June. Santa Fe won 16-11 on the road, lost 10-5 and then returned home to earn consecutive victories of 11-8 and 10-9. Those two wins gave the Fuego another opportunity to build momentum, but losses of 19-7 and 14-13 followed. The one-run loss was particularly frustrating for a team that needed every possible victory to remain relevant in the standings.

Despite the losing record, the Fuego lineup contained several outstanding hitters. Saul Razo became one of the team's most consistent offensive performers, appearing in 41 games and collecting 68 hits in 180 at-bats for a .378 batting average. Razo scored 51 runs, hit 13 doubles and 13 home runs and drove in 44. His combination of average and power made him one of the most dependable hitters in the Santa Fe lineup.

Quinton Copeland appeared in 49 games and collected 68 hits in 188 at-bats for a .362 average. Copeland scored 64 runs, hit 13 doubles and 10 home runs and drove in 35. He also drew 30 walks and stole 20 bases, giving Santa Fe a player who could contribute in nearly every aspect of the offense.

Taylor Steig became another fixture in the lineup, appearing in 45 games and batting .343 with 61 hits in 178 at-bats. Steig scored 48 runs, hit six doubles and seven home runs and drove in 50. He also stole eight bases and provided Santa Fe with another consistent run producer throughout the season.

Joey Grabanski supplied major power, hitting 14 home runs in only 40 games. Grabanski collected 56 hits in 162 at-bats, scored 39 runs and drove in 47. Cameron Phillips added 11 home runs in 30 games while batting .328 and driving in 32. Christopher Martinez hit .333 with eight home runs and 31 RBIs in 34 games, giving the Fuego additional power throughout the lineup.

But nobody on the 2025 Fuego produced home runs at the rate of Jesus Chavez. Chavez appeared in only 34 games but blasted 21 home runs in 142 at-bats while hitting .380. He collected 54 hits, scored 44 runs and drove in a team-high 58. His 21 home runs in only 34 games represented one of the most impressive power performances on the roster and continued the tradition of enormous home-run numbers produced by Santa Fe hitters at Fort Marcy.

Rupert Watson was outstanding during his 19 games, collecting 25 hits in 59 at-bats for a .424 average while scoring 19 runs. Sam Camacho hit .347 in 29 games, while Kaden Tsuji hit .391 during his 14-game stint. Even pitcher Renaldito Florian contributed offensively, collecting 17 hits in 36 at-bats for a .472 average.

The lineup wasn't the reason Santa Fe finished 17-33. The Fuego had hitters who could reach base, run and hit for tremendous power. Chavez, Grabanski, Razo, Phillips and Copeland combined to give Santa Fe five legitimate home-run threats, while Steig and Martinez provided additional production. On any given night, the Fuego were capable of scoring enough runs to beat anyone in the Pecos League.

The pitching staff simply couldn't consistently support that offense.

Tyler Campbell carried by far the largest workload for Santa Fe. The left-hander appeared in 15 games, made 13 starts and threw 89.1 innings. Campbell finished 6-5 with four complete games and one save while striking out 69. His 7.65 ERA was high by traditional baseball standards, but considering the environment at Fort Marcy and the struggles throughout the rest of the staff, Campbell became the most important pitcher on the team. His six victories represented more than one-third of Santa Fe's wins for the entire season.

Renaldito Florian provided the best extended numbers on the staff, going 2-1 with a 4.90 ERA in five appearances, including four starts. Florian threw 22 innings and struck out 39 hitters, giving Santa Fe a glimpse of the type of pitching it desperately needed. Unfortunately, he wasn't available for enough innings to stabilize the rotation over the entire summer.

Joey Muccilli made eight starts and appeared in 12 games, finishing 3-6 while throwing 46.2 innings. Nicholas Trujillo made five starts and threw 35.2 innings, while Wu KaunJu appeared in 19 games and worked 36.2 innings. Quinton Copeland even made five starts on the mound in addition to being one of Santa Fe's primary offensive players, another indication of how difficult it became for the Fuego to find enough pitching.

The bullpen had similar problems. Willian Suarez became one of the more frequently used relievers, appearing in 13 games and recording four saves while striking out 38 hitters in 21.2 innings. But throughout the season, Santa Fe was forced to use position players on the mound. Grabanski made six pitching appearances, Steig appeared seven times, Phillips pitched seven times and Rivas appeared in six games as a pitcher. Chavez, Camacho, Tsuji and other position players were also called upon to cover innings.

That lack of pitching depth became increasingly damaging as the schedule moved into July. Santa Fe opened the month with consecutive losses of 34-11, 26-4, 11-3 and 3-1. The first two games represented the extreme problems that had plagued the Fuego throughout the year, while the 3-1 defeat showed the opposite problem. On the rare night when Santa Fe received excellent pitching, the offense didn't produce enough runs.

The losing streak continued with defeats of 15-10 and 23-5. By that point, Santa Fe had lost six consecutive games to begin July, and any realistic opportunity to climb back into the playoff race was disappearing. The Fuego desperately needed something positive and finally got it with a 5-4 victory on July 12.

Santa Fe followed with one of its biggest offensive performances of the second half, winning 24-17 on the road. The Fuego then returned to Fort Marcy and defeated their next opponent 13-9. Three consecutive victories gave Santa Fe its best stretch in weeks and demonstrated that the lineup remained dangerous even as the season moved toward its conclusion.

Once again, however, the Fuego couldn't sustain the momentum. Santa Fe lost 14-7, 20-17, 16-8 and 8-7. The 20-17 and 8-7 losses were especially representative of the season. Santa Fe scored enough runs to win on most nights but still came away with losses. The Fuego were constantly forced into games where their hitters needed to be almost perfect because the pitching staff offered so little margin for error.

A 10-7 road victory stopped that four-game slide, but Santa Fe returned home and suffered its most difficult loss of the season, a 38-12 defeat on July 24. The game represented the extreme end of everything that could happen at Fort Marcy. The altitude, short fences and a depleted pitching staff combined to create another enormous score, and Santa Fe simply couldn't stop the opposing offense.

The Fuego came remarkably close to responding the following night but lost 16-15. Another 10-7 loss followed. Even with the season effectively decided, Santa Fe continued playing hard and responded with a 15-8 victory on July 27.

The following night produced one of the most remarkable results of the entire season.

Santa Fe won 13-0 on the road.

For a team that had spent the summer struggling to prevent runs, a 13-run shutout was almost unimaginable. The victory demonstrated what the Fuego had been searching for all season: an offensive performance combined with complete control on the mound. It was the type of game Santa Fe simply hadn't been able to produce consistently enough.

The Fuego closed the season with a 12-3 loss on July 29, completing the year with a 17-33 record.

The final record reflected a team with tremendous offensive talent but severe pitching problems. Santa Fe had won games by scores of 32-11, 24-17, 16-11, 16-8, 15-8, 14-11 and 13-9. The Fuego had also shown they could win close games, taking victories of 6-5, 14-13, 2-1, 7-6, 10-9 and 5-4. The ability to win was clearly there, but Santa Fe couldn't do it consistently enough to challenge for a postseason position.

The number of close losses made the final record even more frustrating. Santa Fe lost 16-15 twice, lost 14-13, 8-7 and dropped several other games in which the offense kept the Fuego within striking distance. A few additional outs from the pitching staff in those games could have made the final record look significantly different.

The 2025 season also reinforced just how difficult roster construction had become for Santa Fe. The Fuego had no shortage of hitters. Chavez hit 21 home runs, Grabanski hit 14, Razo hit 13, Phillips hit 11 and Copeland hit 10. Martinez added eight and Steig seven. Santa Fe had power throughout the lineup and several players capable of hitting well above .300.

Finding enough pitching was a completely different challenge. Campbell gave the Fuego 89.1 innings and was asked to carry an enormous portion of the workload. Muccilli threw 46.2 innings, Trujillo threw 35.2 and Wu worked 36.2, but the staff never developed enough consistency behind them. Position players regularly taking the mound became the clearest indication of the problem.

That pitching shortage was particularly damaging in Santa Fe because Fort Marcy has never been forgiving. Since the Fuego's inaugural season, the approximately 7,000-foot elevation and short outfield fences have made the ballpark one of the most extreme offensive environments in independent baseball. Successful Fuego teams have never needed traditional low-ERA pitching staffs, but they have needed pitchers capable of surviving innings and keeping games within reach.

The 2025 team simply didn't have enough of them.

The result was another summer of enormous offensive totals. Santa Fe scored 32 runs in one victory and 24 in another. The Fuego scored 17 runs in a loss and 15 in another. Opponents scored 38, 34, 26 and 25 against Santa Fe during some of the most difficult nights of the season.

Yet the year wasn't without encouraging individual performances. Chavez's 21 home runs in only 34 games established him as the premier power threat on the roster. Razo's .378 average with 13 home runs provided an excellent combination of consistency and power. Copeland hit .362 while contributing home runs, walks and stolen bases. Grabanski delivered 14 home runs, Steig drove in 50 and Phillips hit 11 home runs in only 30 games.

Campbell's season on the mound also deserved recognition. He was asked to pitch more innings than anyone else on the team and finished with a winning 6-5 record despite Santa Fe going 17-33 overall. He made 13 starts, completed four games and threw nearly 90 innings. On a pitching staff that was constantly searching for available arms, Campbell repeatedly took the baseball and gave the Fuego innings.

The 13-0 victory near the end of the season offered perhaps the clearest example of what Santa Fe needed to become competitive again. The offense didn't have to score 25 or 30 runs. When the pitching worked, 13 was more than enough. The problem was that those nights were far too rare during the 2025 season.

The final 17-33 record kept Santa Fe out of the playoffs and represented another disappointing summer for a franchise that had once established itself as one of the Pecos League's most recognizable clubs. Fort Marcy remained one of the league's most unique venues, the Fuego remained capable of producing spectacular offensive performances and Santa Fe continued to feature players capable of putting up enormous individual statistics. What the team lacked was the pitching depth necessary to turn those strengths into sustained winning baseball.

By the end of July, the story of the 2025 Santa Fe Fuego was clear. This was a team that could hit with almost anyone. Chavez could change a game with one swing. Razo, Copeland and Steig could consistently reach base. Grabanski and Phillips supplied additional power. On the right night, the Fuego could score 20 or 30 runs and make Fort Marcy look exactly like the offensive playground it had been since 2012.

But baseball at Fort Marcy has always required something more than offense. The best Santa Fe teams have been the ones that found pitchers capable of surviving the altitude, keeping the baseball in the ballpark often enough and giving the hitters an opportunity to win the game. The 2025 Fuego never found enough of those pitchers.

Santa Fe finished 17-33 and missed the postseason, ending another difficult year at Fort Marcy. The record was disappointing, but the season still produced memorable performances from Chavez, Razo, Copeland, Grabanski, Steig and Campbell and another collection of the wild scores that have become part of Fuego history.

The offense was there. The power was there. Fort Marcy remained as unpredictable as ever. What was missing was enough pitching to put everything together, and that ultimately defined the 2025 Santa Fe Fuego season.