Joshua L. Jones-USA TODAY NETWORK
Charlie Condon was drafted simply final 12 months, so in contrast to the earlier installments on this collectionthe 22-year-old nook infielder isn’t precisely revisiting “an previous scouting report” right here. The observations and opinions he’s responding to had been written by Eric Longenhagen this previous January, lower than sixth months after Condon was drafted third total by Colorado out of the College of Georgia. On the time, the younger energy hitter had solely 109 minor league plate appearances underneath his belt within the Excessive-A Northwest League.
Eric wasn’t as bullish on him as many different evaluators had been when our 2025 Rockies High Prospects checklist was printed. Our lead prospect analyst ranked Condon second in what he described as a “gifted however imbalanced system,” however Eric additionally gave him only a 45+ FV, citing final 12 months’s poor efficiency throughout his first skilled season as one of many causes to be involved; Condon slashed .180/.248/.270 with a 40 wRC+.
The 6-foot-6, 215-pound right-handed hitter is doing his finest to dispel doubts that he can turn into an offensive pressure on the large league degree. After recovering from a non-displaced fracture of his left wrist suffered in spring coaching, Condon put up a 131 wRC+ over 167 plate appearances with Excessive-A Spokane this season and earned a promotion to Double-A. Since becoming a member of the Hartford Yard Goats at first of this month, he’s gone 6-for-27 with a pair of two-baggers.
In a twist to our Previous Scouting Stories collection, listed here are Condon’s responses to excerpts from Eric’s January write-up.
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“Condon went third total, signed for $9.25 million, after which had a no good very unhealthy professional debut at Spokane throughout which he hit .180 and struck out 31.2% of the time.”
“That’s simply baseball, man, “ Condon stated of his disappointing debut. “It’s a part of the training expertise, and you’ve got to have the ability to settle for failure and take the positives out of it. I believe I’ve realized since then. It’s a troublesome sport.
“A few of it was timing,” the slugger stated when requested to elaborate. “I used to be additionally getting a bit large typically. I needed to clear up some issues with my bat path to assist prepare for this 12 months.”
“Throughout instructs, Condon performed protection however didn’t get at-bats, as if he was being given time away from the plate to reset.”
“I used to be coping with a hand harm that I performed by that first 12 months of professional ball,” Condon defined. “I used to be coping with that as nicely. We had been attempting to get on high of that at instructs, so I type of took a while off of hitting to let my hand heal. So sure, I used to be simply engaged on some protection stuff.”
“Condon’s swing is comparatively grooved and stiff. He swings actually laborious and has an unimaginable potential to activate pitches on the internal third, particularly for a 6-foot-6 man, however Condon doesn’t have nice really feel for manipulating the barrel.”
“That’s somebody’s opinion,” the first-rounder replied. “I disagree with it. I hit .430 in school, so no person can actually say that. I do know that the hit software is in there. I didn’t present it very nicely final 12 months, however I believe I can manipulate the barrel fairly nicely.
“Everyone has acquired their cold and hot zones,” he added. “However I believe I’m fairly good at what I do. I simply must proceed to tighten issues up and present it on this stage.”
“He was late on mainly every little thing after the draft and wholly unable to tug the ball, which wasn’t the case when he was at Georgia, the place Condon had a 90% contact fee towards fastballs.”
“Yeah, I simply didn’t have an amazing 12 months,” Condon admitted. “I needed to clear that up. Now it’s higher.”
“He performed third base, first base, and all three outfield spots throughout his time in Athens, and third base and left subject after the draft.”
“I’m going to proceed to maintain enjoying quite a lot of positions,” Condon stated. “I’m enjoying quite a lot of first base proper now. It’s simply wherever they want me, wherever I might help.”
“He’s a greater thrower from the outfield than he’s from third base, and I assumed he appeared surprisingly skillful in heart subject at Georgia.”
“I used to be simply attempting to bounce round and play as many positions as I can,” he defined. “I performed quite a lot of nook outfield earlier than, and my final 12 months of college they tried me in heart subject. I used to be fairly comfy there, too. I’ve been in a position to transfer round.”
“Right here Condon is projected as a flawed however highly effective multi-positional position participant slightly than an affect third baseman.”
“Once more, that’s somebody’s opinion,” countered Condon. “Not mine. I disagree. I believe I’m actually good at what I do. I’m going to maintain enjoying my sport and placing within the work that acquired me right here.”
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Earlier “Previous Scouting Stories Revisited” interviews could be discovered by these hyperlinks: Shane Baz, Cody Bellinger, Matthew Boyd, Dylan Stop, Matt Chapman, Erick Fedde, Kyle Freeland, Max Fried, Lucas Giolito, Randal Grichuk, Ian Happ, Jeff Hoffman, Tanner Houck, Matthew Liberatore, Sean Newcomb, Bailey Ober, Matt Olson, Austin Riley, Joe Ryan, Max Scherzer, Marcus Semien.
