Condon gets first HR out of way on 4-hit night

One 0-fer was enough for Charlie Condon.

After going hitless in his professional debut on Tuesday night, the No. 3 pick in last month's Draft hit his first home run and finished with four hits to help lead High-A Spokane past Tri-City, 7-0, on Wednesday at Gesa Stadium.

The University of Georgia product fell a triple shy of the cycle and also swiped his first base.

Condon, who earned both the Golden Spikes Award as the country’s top amateur baseball player and the Dick Howser Trophy as college baseball’s national player of the year, quickly shook off the three-strikeout performance in his debut. The 21-year-old collected his first pro hit on a single to right field and stole second for his first theft in the opening frame.

Condon doubled to left and scored the first run of the game in the fourth and was retired on a groundout in the fifth. Up in the count, 2-0, during his fourth plate appearance of the night in the seventh, the native of Marietta, Georgia, unloaded for his first long ball -- a majestic drive that stayed fair down the left-field line.

Needing a triple to complete the cycle, Condon settled for a second single, his fourth hit, in the eighth.

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Perhaps such an offensive outburst came earlier than expected, but it was also the type of performance fans have come to expect from the 6-foot-6, 216-pounder. Condon paced the NCAA in most major offensive categories while batting .433/.556/1.009 -- good for a 1.565 OPS -- in 60 games for the Bulldogs.

His 37 homers led the nation and stand as the highest total by a D1 college player since former Major League All-Star Lance Berkman clubbed 41 for Rice in 1997. Condon outlasted fellow first-round pick and SEC denizen Jac Caglianone, who left the yard 35 times for Florida before going sixth overall to Kansas City.

The only question about Condon was about how high he would go in the 2024 Draft. While his wasn't the first name called, he agreed to a $9.25 million signing bonus, matching No. 2 overall pick Chase Burns for the largest one in Draft history.

“External expectations seem to change as you continue to have success or not have success," Condon told MLB.com after signing with the Rockies last month. "What people around the game of baseball are going to think about me is going to continue to change, but I will always expect a much higher standard of myself than anyone else will expect from me.”