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Colorado Rockies Top Prospect Charlie Condon Played Through Thumb Injury in 2024

Charlie Condon struggled in the minor leagues last season, but Colorado Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt revealed that the first round pick had been dealing with a bruised thumb.
Sam Connon|
Georgia's Charlie Condon (24) slides into second base during a NCAA Athens Regional baseball game against Army in Athens, Ga., on Friday, May 31, 2024.
Georgia's Charlie Condon (24) slides into second base during a NCAA Athens Regional baseball game against Army in Athens, Ga., on Friday, May 31, 2024. | Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK

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Colorado Rockies

Despite being the crown jewel of the Colorado Rockies' 2024 draft class, Charlie Condon failed to impress in the minor leagues last summer.

The 21-year-old outfielder hit just .180 with one home run, four doubles, 11 RBI and a .518 OPS in 25 High-A contests. That production was a far cry from what earned him the Golden Spikes Award at the University of Georgia earlier in the year, considering he hit .433 with 37 home runs, 20 doubles, 78 RBI and a 1.565 OPS in 60 NCAA games.

Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt spoke on the No. 3 overall pick's struggles on Saturday, explaining them away with a previously unpublicized injury.

"The thing with Charlie last year going out and – he had bruised his thumb and kinda didn't tell us that he had bruised his thumb," Schmidt said. "So he kinda played through it, which I think affected the performance."

Schmidt said that, while there have been internal talks, the Rockies have not yet decided which level Condon should start at in 2025. He was not included among Colorado's non-roster invitees for Spring Training, so his promotion to the big leagues is unlikely to come anytime soon.

Condon was ranked as the No. 6 outfielder prospect in baseball last week. When MLB Pipeline's fully-updated Top 100 list was revealed on Friday, Condon came in at No. 29 – down 17 spots from where he debuted in August 2024.

MLB Pipeline has Condon's power tool graded at a 70, while his hit and arm tools earned 55s. Condon's field and run tools got a 50 and a 40, respectively.

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon is a staff writer covering baseball for “Fastball on SI.’’ He previously covered UCLA Athletics for On SI’s All Bruins site, and is a UCLA graduate, with his work there as a sports columnist receiving awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for On SI’s New England Patriots site, Patriots Country, and he was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk. Sam lives in Boston.

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