Charlie Condon, Rockies’ top prospect, learning lessons climbing minor league ladder ...Middle East

At the University of Georgia, Charlie Condon donned a superhero’s cape.

When the Rockies selected him with the third overall pick of last year’s draft, Danny Montgomery, the assistant GM of scouting, said: “He’s the kind of guy who has the chance to change the face of the organization.”

Not quite a year later, after a tough first pro season, Condon remains a hot prospect, ranked No. 1 in the Rockies organization and No. 22 overall by MLB Pipeline. Some day, the 22-year-old might leap tall buildings in a single bound, but for now, Condon is content to learn his trade.

“I try not to press,” the Hartford Yard Goat first baseman/right fielder said Friday during a Zoom interview from Binghamton, N.Y. “You don’t have to be superhuman, you just have to be you. You can’t be reaching for things that are unattainable. You can’t hit five home runs in one game. You’ve just got to bring your best every day.”

Condon’s best earned him a promotion from High-A Spokane to Double-A Hartford just last week. He was also invited to play in the annual All-Star Futures Game on July 12 in Atlanta.

Pretty cool, right?

“Absolutely,” the Georgia native said. “I will get to spend some time at a ballpark I grew up going to. So, to be able to play on a field like that and be back home is pretty cool.”

Condon was a college baseball superstar in 2024. He swept the sports’ top awards, including the Dick Howser Trophy as the best collegiate player in the nation and the Golden Spikes Award for the best amateur player at all levels. He hit 37 home runs, the most by a college player in the last quarter-century, and also posted the highest OPS (1.565) in the talent-rich SEC. He batted .433, walked 57 times and struck out 41.

But pro baseball taught him some lessons. A broken wrist suffered during spring training this year taught him some more.

Condon, who received a $9.25 million signing bonus, struggled last year in his first season in the minors. Playing at High-A Spokane, he slashed just .180/.248/.270 with one home run, one triple, four doubles and 11 RBIs. He struck out 34 times in 109 plate appearances (31%). He played much of the season with a bone spur on his right ring finger.

“Last year, going straight to Spokane, and then switching his grip on the bat to be more comfortable, was an adjustment,” Rockies farm director Chris Forbes said. “That was a roller-coaster ride in his first year of pro ball. Spokane was a grind for him, going from the Golden Spikes winner to a first-rounder. All of that stuff.”

The plan all along was for Condon to begin this season at Spokane, work on becoming a better first baseman, work on hitting the ball to all fields, and go from there. But in his first spring training game, Condon broke his left wrist diving to make a catch in the outfield. The good news was that Condon sustained no ligament damage, and no surgery was needed.

Once Condon’s wrist healed, he quickly made his mark at Spokane, hitting .312 with three homers and six doubles in 35 games.

“It was tough,” he said of the injury. “When you get hurt in Game 1 of spring training, you kind of have to slow yourself down. I had to realize that nothing was going to change because I broke my wrist. I can’t go back and unbreak my wrist.

“I had to be comfortable going through the process to get back on the field. I had to understand I was going to miss a big chunk of the first part of the season. Yeah, that was frustrating for me, but I knew the game would be waiting for me whenever I got back. That was a good lesson, learning to take things in stride.”

In his first three games at Double-A, Condon hit 2 for 8. He understands that the transition is not supposed to be easy.

“Everyone knows that the Eastern League is one of the most challenging leagues in minor league baseball,” he said. “It feels a step closer to the big leagues, for sure.”

Forbes describes the well-spoken Condon as “smart” and “mature.” Little wonder that Condon describes his plan at Hartford as “Getting out there and putting your best foot forward for a game you’ve been playing your whole life.”

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He also understands that pro baseball is a world removed from college ball.

“In college ball, you’re going to have a lot of opportunities to have success, you’re going to get a lot of pitches to hit,” he said. “So I think that’s been the biggest adjustment from the offensive side — doing damage on the mistakes you do get, because there aren’t as many of them.

“I’ve been trying to be really good about not chasing pitches out of the zone. I think you have to earn your opportunities to succeed a lot more than in college.”

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