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Rockies Prospect Charlie Condon Makes History in the AFL

The 2024 third overall pick has enjoyed a productive, and now historical campaign in the AFL.

Tobey Schulman

Georgia's Charlie Condon (24) takes the field at the start a NCAA Athens Regional baseball game against Army in Athens, Ga., on Friday, May 31, 2024. Georgia won 8-7.
Georgia's Charlie Condon (24) takes the field at the start a NCAA Athens Regional baseball game against Army in Athens, Ga., on Friday, May 31, 2024. Georgia won 8-7. / Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Down on the Colorado Rockies farm there’s been a lot to be excited about, especially after last night. In a Wednesday night contest in the Arizona Fall League, Colorado Rockies prospect Charlie Condon put together an incredible, five-hit performance.

It was the most hits in a single game for Condon in his entire professional career so far. As far as the Arizona Fall League record goes, that was just the eighth time a player has tallied five hits in a single contest.

He now leads the Salt River Rafters roster with 15 hits. It’s notably one more hit than Pirates prospect Esmerlyn Valdez, who’s seen eight of his 14 hits travel over the fence for home runs. Condon has only seen three of these hits go for extra bases, one resulting in a home run.

Condon came across to score two runs in his five-for-six performance last night. That now brings his total in the AFL to 12 runs, second to Esmerlyn Valdez, who has 15. While his five hits didn’t drive in any runs, he is still in the top three on the Rafters roster with nine runs batted in.

Having one of their top prospects producing at a high level in the desert is incredibly encouraging for the Rockies organization. In 11 games now this fall, Condon has slashed .341/.420/.477 with an .897 OPS. 

It’s even more encouraging to see other top prospects from the Colorado system succeed around Condon. Jared Thomas, the eighth ranked Roprospect by MLB Pipeline has still been able to maintain an OPS over .900 in his seven games played.

While the production overall is encouraging to both fans and the organization, some may view the lack of extra base hits as a concern for a prospect like Condon. A bat with 60-grade power on MLB Pipeline, his sheer raw pop is something that’s been very highly praised historically.

If that is a concern to any, it’s worth noting that Condon experienced production similar to this while with High-A Spokane earlier this year. In those 35 games, he slashed .312/.431/.420 with only three home runs.

At the time it seemed very odd that a bat so well known for his power, would see so few hits go for homers. That home run production came about eventually, as he hit 11 long balls in 55 games with Double-A Hartford. The power he has is inevitable.

Condon will look to continue to build off of this performance throughout the rest of the fall. With what he’s done so far throughout his professional career, it’s very hard not to get excited about the 2024 Golden Spikes Award winners' future.

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Tobey Schulman
TOBEY SCHULMAN

Tobey Schulman is a freelance writer currently covering baseball in the South Florida area, independently on X and SubStack. Prior to freelancing, Tobey was a writer for The Skippers View, covering both Major and Minor League Baseball. Over the past year, he has grown a following of almost 10,000 on X, while covering all things across the sport, both professional and amateur. In his free time he produces and live streams a podcast ‘Inside The Diamond’, where he co-hosts player interviews, breakdowns, and game watch parties.

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