Top Rockies prospect Condon opens season with Isotopes

Charlie Condon has stood on the freshly cut green grass of a baseball field before.

He's put on the crisp, clean new uniform for a preseason team photo plenty.

And he's even had microphones stuck in his face from hundreds of reporters through the years asking the same cliché questions about being a baseball star with lofty expectations.

What he hadn't done before Wednesday afternoon at Isotopes Park was take a look at the Sandias or draw in a big breath of that thin mile-high air players in the Colorado Rockies organization hear about before the get to the Triple A level.

"I've heard a lot about this place," the 6-foot-4, 215-pound former No. 3 draft pick of the Colorado Rockies said.

And just before the questions starting getting fired at him like fastballs (eh, maybe softballs) from the handful of Albuquerque area reporters talking to him shortly after he arrived in town for the first time, Condon did something not often seen in a media scrum: He turned around and he just looked.

"This is nice," the first baseman/outfielder said, before fielding another batch of questions and taking the team photo for an Isotopes team that opens its 2026 season Friday on the road against the Oklahoma City Comets.

The future of an MLB franchise — who just spent the past six weeks proving in every way that he's good enough to be in the big leagues right now — took a moment not to gripe about where he was, but to appreciate it.

Yes, Albuquerque may be but a brief stop on the journey to Big League stardom for the No.2 prospect in the Rockies organization — he also broke college baseball's modern era home run record two years ago at the University of Georgia — but it's where he is now, and he plans to treat his time at the Triple-A level not as an inconvenience, but but an opportunity.

"I've heard a lot about Albuquerque and the Isotopes, and really the whole PCL I've heard more of a hitter-friendly league with altitude and things like that," said Condon, before emphasizing he doesn't plan to succumb to the temptation of altering his swing in any way to try and take more advantage of the thin air.

"I'm excited to be here, but for me, it's just about putting together good at-bats, situational hitting and things like that."

There is an Isotopes roster full of Rockies prospects who will take the field this season — Friday on the road for three games before the Triple-A club’s home opener on Tuesday against the Reno Aces.

But expectations aren't as high for any of them as they are for Condon — something he says he can’t let distract him.

"My expectation is to go out and play my best game I can on Friday in Oklahoma City," he said. "It's hard to start playing the GM game of, hey, I need to get myself out of here. You can spiral really quick. It's awesome to have people expecting that much of me. It means I've done a good job of putting myself in a good spot. But I expect a lot out of myself."

His new manager, Pedro Lopez, who enters his fourth season as the Isotopes manager, is excited to watch Condon's continued development after a great spring.

"For Chuck, the most important thing is trying to get some of those at-bats underneath his belt," Lopez said. "He had a terrific spring training. I thought that he did a really good job playing first (base), playing the outfield, in right, any of the corner outfield positions. ... Really happy that he's here. Now, we just got to make sure that he gets his at-bats, gets used to the altitude playing the outfield here and hopefully not too long from now, he's able to contribute to the Big League club."

Lopez said the general expectation for Condon is about a 50/50 split between first base and playing the corner outfield positions in what is likely to be only a few months with the team — a split that might be a little heavier in the outfield in Albuquerque so he can get used to fielding fly balls at high elevation.

That's our Orbit!

On Wednesday, USA TODAY announced that Orbit, the Isotopes loveable mascot, has won the 10Best Readers’ Choice Award for Best Minor League Baseball Mascot for the second-straight year, as voted on by fans in a nationwide contest.

Orbit was one of 20 Minor League Baseball mascots chosen by a panel of experts and USA TODAY 10Best editors to participate in the contest. Fans voted for their favorite mascot from Feb. 16 through March 16.

“Thanks to all of the fans for spreading the love and getting folks from all across the country to vote for me,” Isotopes mascot Orbit wrote in a statement. “I love being the face of the Isotopes franchise and it’s an honor to represent the best fans in the country.”

Orbit’s Birthday celebration is scheduled for June 26 at 6:35 p.m. when the Isotopes take on Salt Lake. The first 2,000 fans will receive an Orbit Hat.

Reach Geoff Grammer at ggrammer@abqjournal.com or follow him on Twitter (X) @GeoffGrammer.