Charlie Condon’s plans for a rebound season hit a detour.
The Rockies’ top positional prospect has a broken left wrist and will be out at least six weeks, MLB.com reported. The third baseman/outfielder sustained the injury on Tuesday while diving to make a catch against the Athletics in his first minor league game of spring training.
Condon, the third overall selection in last year’s draft out of the University of Georgia, was diagnosed with a non-displaced fracture on Friday. The good news is that Condon suffered no ligament damage and no surgery is needed.
“It’s probably the best-case scenario, in the sense that we knew it was a fracture and we were hoping it was a non-displaced fracture, and that was confirmed this morning,” Chris Forbes, the Rockies’ director of player development, told MLB.com. “The ligament damage was what we were hoping to avoid, and we did.”
Forbes said Condon will wear a wrist splint for four weeks and then begin strengthening the wrist. The hope is that Condon will resume baseball activities in six weeks.
Condon, who received a $9.25 million signing bonus, struggled last year in his first season in pro baseball, playing at High-A Spokane. He slashed .180/.248/.270 with one home run, one triple, four doubles, 11 RBIs and four stolen bases in 25 games. He struck out 34 times in 109 plate appearances (31%). He played much of the season with a bone spur on his right ring finger.
Now Condon is injured again, but he said he is relieved that the wrist injury was not more serious.
“I found out that it was fractured the same day,” Condon told MLB.com on Friday. “Hearing that today, that it’s nothing but a small fracture — honestly, it’s about as good as it gets as far as a broken bone goes. It was a big-time relief. It kind of gives me a little bit of a path of where and when I’ll be back.”
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