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

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 announced 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 in the Rockies organization and No overall by MLB Pipeline Selected day the -year-old might leap tall buildings in a single bound but for now Condon is content to learn his pact I try not to press the Hartford Yard Goats first baseman right fielder disclosed 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 event 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 Challenge on July in Atlanta Pretty cool right Absolutely the Georgia native commented I will get to spend various 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 He swept the sports top awards including the Dick Howser Trophy as the best collegiate contestant in the nation and the Golden Spikes Award for the best amateur participant at all levels He hit home runs the the majority by a college contestant in the last quarter-century and also posted the highest OPS in the talent-rich SEC He batted walked times and struck out But pro baseball taught him various lessons A broken wrist suffered during spring training this year taught him chosen more Condon who received a million signing bonus struggled last year in his first season in the minors Playing at High-A Spokane he slashed just with one home run one triple four doubles and RBIs He struck out times in plate appearances 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 relaxed was an adjustment Rockies farm director Chris Forbes declared 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 event 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 speedily made his mark at Spokane hitting with three homers and six doubles in games It was tough he reported of the injury When you get hurt in Event 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 confident 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 encounter 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 for He understands that the transition is not supposed to be easy Everyone knows that the Eastern League is one of the the majority challenging leagues in minor league baseball he disclosed 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 contest you ve been playing your whole life Related Articles Rockies Journal White Sox series is a history lesson for reeling Colorado Kyle Freeland brushes off bad luck gives Rockies six solid innings Rockies hang on beat Astros behind Thairo Estrada s big day Jose Altuve passes Jeff Bagwell on Houston s all-time hit list as Astros beat Rockies Astros slam Rockies Chase Dollander hang on for - win 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 noted 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 multiple 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 Want more Rockies news Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis