Experts Worried About Colorado Rockies' Charlie Condon Despite Top 100 Ranking

Charlie Condon may have landed at No. 29 in MLB Pipeline's preseason rankings, but the staff admitted to moving the Colorado Rockies prospect down due to his initial struggles in the minors.

Georgia's Charlie Condon (24) takes the field at the start of a NCAA Athens Regional baseball game against UNCW in Athens, Ga., on Saturday, June 1, 2024. | Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK

For as much hype as there was around him last summer, Charlie Condon is heading into 2025 surrounded by much more trepidation.

MLB Pipeline writer Sam Dykstra published an article Tuesday breaking down the six top 100 prospects who sparked the most debate between him and senior writers Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo. Outfielder Charlie Condon, ranked No. 1 in the Colorado Rockies' farm system and No. 29 overall, was one of those prospects.

The Rockies selected Condon with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. He was fresh off winning the Golden Spikes Award at the University of Georgia, batting .433 with 37 home runs, 20 doubles, 78 RBI and a 1.565 OPS in 60 NCAA games last season.

After turning pro, however, Condon hit just .180 with one home run, four doubles, 11 RBI and a .518 OPS across 25 High-A contests.

Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt revealed at a recent fan event that Condon played through a thumb bruise last season without telling anybody, possibly leading to his struggles at the plate. Still, the lack of production was concerning.

Dykstra wrote that he and his colleagues dropped Condon down a few spots from the earlier versions of their rankings. When the rankings were updated last August, Condon debuted at No. 12.

The 17-spot drop reflects the concerns of the scouting community, as Dykstra reported that external feedback indicated that perhaps Condon's struggles might not have been a result of an injury or an unfair sample size after all.

Condon remains a top-30 prospect in baseball, but it seems like the MLB Pipeline team is willing to drop him even further if his spotty 2024 proves not to be a fluke. At the same time, a return to his college form would likely warrant a leap in the rankings for Condon.

The soon-to-be 22-year-old is expected to make his big league debut in 2026, so he has time to work out the kinks.

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• ROCKIES ICONS DROP OFF BALLOT: Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos González failed to earn the 5% of votes required to hang around on the Hall of Fame ballot for 2026 and beyond. CLICK HERE

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