How quickly can No. 2 prospect Condon help out Rockies?

DENVER -- New Rockies leadership is devoted to correcting what’s wrong, but new president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta believes first-base prospect Charlie Condon (MLB Pipeline No. 61/Rockies No. 2) is high on the list of what’s going right.

Selected third overall out of Georgia in 2024, Condon played through a right hand injury that slowed him that summer and sustained a fractured left wrist during last Spring Training. Once healthy, however, Condon fashioned a strong Minor League season that finished at Double-A Hartford, and an even more notable Arizona Fall League campaign.

The question now is, how quickly will Condon’s progress land him in Denver?

After one full pro season, Condon is a cinch to be invited to Major League Spring Training to be tested against the game’s best. While normal progress dictates he either begin next season at Hartford or at Triple-A Albuquerque, DePodesta has seen and heard enough to give Condon a chance to make his timeline even quicker.

But Opening Day quicker?

“I’d say never say never on our players,” DePodesta said. “He did have a chance through the second half of last year to stay healthy, and then had a really nice Fall League. He’s obviously a very talented player.

“At the same time, we want to create a discussion where he has to go out there and make it happen. But certainly he’ll have some opportunities to do so.”

As in Arthur Murray Ballroom Dancing, sometimes step diagrams are needed before you can truly cut the rug. But many aspects of Condon’s game show that he may be ready to jump into the Soul Train line and get into the Major League groove already.

No one with the Rockies wants to hand out a scouting report. But there is no concern about Condon’s ability to make hard contact against pitches in the mid 90s and above. His overall chase rate -- swings outside the strike zone -- was low enough in the Minors and the Fall League, where the best prospects pitch, to suggest he will have a fighting chance to adjust to Major League pitching. (Young players often chase and struggle, even mightily, but the ones who adjust become stars.)

He will have to show improvement against the breaking ball, where there has been a higher level of swing and miss. The issue isn’t hitting the good-to-great, top level breaking pitch that he has yet to see. Those pitches dive out of the strike zone. The question will be swing decisions.

“He has all the traits that you look for in a power hitter,” assistant player development director Jesse Stender said. “For how long he’s been in pro ball, which isn’t long at all, he’s very selective at the plate.

“Usually guys get up to Double-A, and they don’t want to hit with two strikes. With Charlie, he seemingly is always in two strikes just because he works the count. That’s good and that’s bad -- good, obviously because he’s seen a lot of pitches and he’s trying to get his. It’s bad because in Double-A, Triple-A and the big leagues, you’re getting to two strikes and you’re seeing their best offering, and there’s going to be a lot of swing and miss.”

In his Draft year, Condon set the single-season BBCOR (bat-ball coefficient of restitution) record for home runs with 37. Late last season there were indications that his power is translating. He hit 11 homers in 55 games for Hartford in an Eastern League that Ryan Clifford of Binghamton (Mets) led with 24 homers in 105 contests. For his pro career, he has a regular-season slash line of .249/.351/.406, and in the Fall League, he had one homer but his slash was .337/.439/.434.

The number that could be concerning is 146 -- the combined total of Minor League regular-season and Fall League contests.

Also, after playing lots of different positions around the diamond at Georgia, Condon is learning the nuances and working on efficient movement at first base. Stender said the Rockies have kept the outfield, where he has moved with comfort, on the table just in case, but first base is the emphasis.

“He got delayed a little bit [by injuries], but given the lack of reps, he’s taking to it quite well,” Stender said. “That speaks to the experience he’s had playing there in college. And he’s a big boy, but he can move. The first step and the quickness will come, but the hands work. If you watch him, he looks comfortable around the bag.”

For now, the expected first basemen on the Major League roster are Blaine Crim, who hit for power late last season after debuting at age 27, and Troy Johnston (also an outfielder), who debuted with the Marlins at 28 last year and was just like Crim with the power. Do the Rockies add a bat with more Major League experience? Whatever they do now or when the season begins, signs point to Condon receiving a chance to be the long-term solution at first base.

Stender noted that Condon brings uncommon maturity. His power last season helped Hartford challenge for a playoff spot. He also earned the Dernell Stenson Sportsmanship Award in the Fall League, which spoke to his comfort in the clubhouse and among fans in the community.

Spring Training will give him a chance to show where he stands in terms of technique, comfort level and in-game savvy.

“I need to get to know him better and get some of those details,” DePodesta said. “The good news for us is he’s versatile defensively and he played at a great college program at a very high level, so a lot of those things are more advanced than maybe a typical Draft pick.”