The Rockies' 1st Round 3rd Overall Draft Pick: Charlie Condon

Before two years of arguably the best hitting the University of Georgia has seen, Rockies’ 1st round 3rd overall draft pick Charlie Condon was a ‘walk-on’ player even after some impressive high school ball. A walk-on is when a player isn’t offered an athletic scholarship to their school of choice, and they successfully try out and make that team.

After only receiving offers from Division 3 colleges that had an interest in him playing baseball and quarterback, Condon chose to try out for the University of Tennessee team, where they weren’t interested in his talents. Though his power left much to be desired at this time, it’s still strange that a 6’5” ballplayer with good bat speed didn't receive a Division 1 or 2 offer. Georgia liked what they saw and decided to give him a shot.

Condon was redshirted by Georgia his freshman year. This could’ve been for a number of reasons, including a high school injury he had in 2020, but in retrospect, he could’ve produced for the team earlier than they expected. On the upside, this likely gave Charlie some extra time to focus on bulking up, perfecting his mechanics, and maybe even studying film so he could wreak havoc on SEC pitching the following two years.

During the 2023-24 college baseball seasons where Condon was on the Bulldogs’ roster, 14% of his at-bats resulted in a home run, 52% of his hits were extra bases, he hit a .410 batting average, and managed to strike out fewer times than walking while starting in every single game. It was enough for him to become the highest-drafted player out of Georgia ever, passing Jeff Pyburn, who was drafted 5th overall in 1980.

Following being drafted and inking a contract that included a record-breaking 9.25 million dollar signing bonus, Charlie was able to sneak in 25 minor league games before the season came to an end. He didn’t have much success, but the 100 at-bats he had is far too little of an amount to start making judgments on or even to call it a slump. Starting out in High-A ball last year, fans have every reason to believe that he’ll start in Double-A in 2025 because of his sheer power and expected track. On the contrary, it’s important to remember that more time in the minor league system usually proves to be beneficial even for the best of young players.

Another main factor in his trajectory to the MLB would be his defense. Though there aren’t any red flags with his glove, it’s important for the Rockies to establish a starting position for him. He played an array of positions in college, from corner infield to corner outfield and even some center. It’s especially nice for a MLB team to have that sort of defensive flexibility, still the first priority should be to find him a starting role that would best fit his tools, not just now, but for the future as well. Rockies GM Bill Schmidt said he likes the idea of him playing corner outfield. In spite of the fact that many Colorado outfield prospects could flourish, causing moves that could happen leading to Condon’s call-up. It’s possible they decide to pivot, with the potential of lowering his injury risk by putting him at 1st or 3rd base, which could also be complicated given Michael Toglia and Ryan McMahon’s roles.

Even though elite strength is all over the league today, the volume of raw power Charlie has is honestly incomparable to any former or current Rockie out of the draft and international prospect signing period. His exit velocities have already reached 115 MPH in-game (college with BBCOR), and it was even rumored he could surpass that. Not only is this good news because fans will get to see some monster shots, but it means he should have the ability to hit it out of the hitter-friendly park from foul pole to foul pole on mishits, as well as with a softer, more controlled approach.

The Rockies got an incredible prospect in Charlie Condon, and fans should be stoked for this pick. Some may view this as a ‘start,’ but truthfully, the organization has stacked a number of young players that can make an impact soon and are expected to funnel in around the same time Condon does. It will surely be interesting to see what kind of team is formed around him, as there are several current and potential future Rockies that are anticipated to have a spot on the starting squad over the next couple years.