Tapped to represent Rox in Futures Game, Condon now thriving in Double-A

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

DENVER -- Rockies No. 1/MLB Pipeline No. 23 prospect Charlie Condon resisted the urge to make up for lost time. But that’s exactly what he accomplished.

Condon, last year’s third overall MLB Draft pick after a record-setting season at the University of Georgia, tried to push through a hand injury and struggled to a .180 average in his first 25 professional games at High-A Spokane. Then in his first Minor League Spring Training game this year, he sustained a non-displaced fracture of his left wrist, and missed much of the first half of the season.

But since being cleared to begin his 2025 season, Condon’s .311/.416/.424 performance in 48 total Minor League games this year has advanced him to Double-A Hartford – and earned him an invitation to the 26th All-Star Futures Game in Atlanta on July 12 (2 p.m. MT on MLB Network, MLB.TV, MLB.com and via the MLB app).

“When you have a setback like that game one of Spring Training, it's tough because you’ve got to slow yourself down,” Condon said Friday, before the Rockies' 3-2 loss to the White Sox. “I can't go back and un-break my wrist. I've got to be able to be comfortable with the process that it's going to take to get me back to the field.

“I had to understand that priority number one was getting healthy again, and that the rest of the season would be waiting for me whenever I was back. Once I got back, it was just about not trying to make up ground. You don't have to be superhuman. You’ve just got to be you.”

After a nine-game rehab assignment in the Arizona Complex League, Condon blew through Spokane to the tune of a .312/.431/.420 slash line with three home runs and six doubles. Condon continued the hot hitting after joining Double-A Hartford this week.

Condon’s first hit was an RBI single on Wednesday night off Mets left-hander Sean Manaea, who was with Binghamton on a Minor League rehab assignment.

“It's a little bit of a welcome moment when you've got a rehabbing big leaguer throwing game one,” Condon said. “It’s playing the same game you’ve played your whole life. But it was definitely good to find some success there, break that ice and also get to drive across the run that helped us win that game.”

Condon fashioned his first big Double-A night on Friday, going 2-for-4 with two doubles and four RBIs in Hartford’s 4-1 victory over Binghamton. He is 4-for-12 (.333) with five RBIs against three strikeouts for the Yard Goats.

Last year’s struggles were understandable. Condon was coming off a collegiate season during which he knocked a BBCOR-era record 37 home runs, and led the NCAA in batting average (.433), slugging percentage (1.009) and OPS (1.565 OPS). His approach this year, however, has been eye-opening.

“He’s taking what they’re giving him,” said Chris Forbes, the Rockies’ player development director. “He was still showing that he’s got it, the power. His home runs were going to center. And you want to see that.”

Entering pro-ball, the 6-foot-6 Condon was considered a “corner bat,” with the idea that he would hit while finding a position. He played primarily third base and outfield at Georgia, but also saw action at first base in 42 games over his two seasons.

Injured while playing the outfield in the spring, Condon has played mostly first base and said he has “gotten more comfortable.” He still shows up occasionally at third base and in left field.

“He really does seem natural at first base,” Forbes said. “He’s a massive target. He’s got a little technique stuff to work on as he gets back into playing.”