With how Charlie Condon is playing, you might think that the Georgia slugger is straight out of a video game.
But Condon’s performance this season has been very real and is tormenting all the college pitchers that face MLB Pipeline’s No. 4 Draft prospect. There’s a reason why experts predict that Condon is a potential top-two Draft selection – choices owned by the Guardians and Reds, in that order.
This time, the nation’s No. 6 team, the Tennessee Volunteers, experienced how hard it is to contain the 20-year-old’s raw power.
Condon walked into Knoxville with a five-game hitting streak and extended it with an exclamation mark. He recorded five hits Saturday, two of which left the yard.
As Condon trotted around the bases for his second homer of the night, the broadcast captured his unreal slash line (.525/.637/1.232) and 19 home runs -- all categories in which he leads the nation. Earlier this season, Condon whacked three homers in a game and so far, has gone yard in 13 of the 27 games he has played in.
For context: Condon's slugging percentage is on pace to smash the all-time single-season D-1 mark set by Pete Incaviglia (Oklahoma State, 1.140) in 1985; his .939 mark over two years on campus with the Bulldogs would also set a new career record, topping Rickie Weeks' (Southern Univ., 2001-03) mark of .927.
Official on-base percentage calculations only date back to 2008, but since then, only one batter -- the Angels' Nolan Schanuel in '23 -- produced an OBP north of .600 (.615). Since 1991, no batter has hit at least .500 in a year; Condon's current mark (.525) would rank tied for fifth on the all-time single-season batting average list.
To boot, no hitter has finished with the nation's top average and slugging percentage in the same year since 2009 (Bryce Brentz, Middle Tennessee State).
Condon is picking up where he left off last season, as he posted one of the best seasons in NCAA history for a freshman. He hit .386 with 25 home runs and 67 RBIs, capturing the team's Triple Crown. He was named the SEC Freshman of the Year, with his homer total setting the conference's freshman record.
That’s not bad for a guy who was overlooked out of high school and had to walk-on at Georgia. Now, Condon is looking like a potential future impact bat for the team that selects him in this year’s Draft.