The Rockies’ last five first-round picks tell the same old draft story: the upside is obvious on draft night, but the real answer takes years to show up. With another MLB Draft approaching, it’s a fitting moment to look back and sort Colorado’s recent first-rounders based on what they look like now - not just what they were billed as then.
At the top sits Charlie Condon, and it’s easy to see why. The No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft needed a little time to settle in, but once he did, the bat started to look exactly like the one that made him such a prized selection.
He hasn’t reached the majors yet, but at Triple-A he’s done just about everything a prospect can do. In 75 games, Condon is hitting .294 with 20 home runs, 60 RBI, a .415 on-base percentage and a 1.016 OPS.
The walk total jumps off the page too: 50 free passes, a sign of the patience that has become one of his biggest calling cards. Right now, he’s Colorado’s premier prospect.
Chase Dollander comes next, and his case is built on the kind of stuff that can change a rotation. The Rockies took him ninth overall in the 2023 MLB Draft hoping he’d grow into the ace they’ve been searching for.
There have been bumps, especially with injuries, but the talent is showing through. In 10 appearances in 2026, Dollander posted a 3.89 ERA with 47 strikeouts across 44 innings.
The swing-and-miss ability is real. Unfortunately, his season ended with right elbow surgery, so the long view is still the one that matters most here.
If he gets healthy and stays on the mound, Colorado can still dream on him as a rotation anchor.
Ethan Holliday lands third, and even that might feel a little aggressive given how early he is in the process. Still, the Rockies clearly think they’ve got a franchise piece in the fourth overall pick.
At 19, the shortstop is already flashing the kind of production that made him one of the elite prospects in the game. In 33 games with Single-A Fresno this year, Holliday is hitting .262 with nine home runs, 32 RBI, a .395 on-base percentage and a .952 OPS.
With Condon and Dollander working toward Denver, Holliday looks like part of the next wave.
Gabriel Hughes has had a different path, but he’s back on the radar after dealing with Tommy John surgery early in his development. In 2026, he made 11 minor league appearances and put up a 4.63 ERA with 58 strikeouts in 46.2 innings.
Then came the call-up, and he made it count. In his first career save, Hughes threw three scoreless innings and allowed only two hits.
His role is still up in the air, but the Rockies have already seen enough to know he has impact potential.
Brendan Rodgers rounds out the group. He never became the star Colorado probably envisioned when it drafted him, but he still put together a solid big league run.
Over six seasons with the Rockies, Rodgers played in 452 games and hit .267 with 449 hits, 94 doubles, 45 home runs and 197 RBI. His best stretch came in 2021, when he batted .284 with 15 home runs and 51 RBI.
Then in 2022, he won a Gold Glove while hitting .266 with 140 hits, 30 doubles, 13 home runs and 63 RBI. Rodgers left after the 2025 season, signed with the Boston Red Sox in February of 2026, and then suffered an injury in spring training that will keep him out for the entire 2026 season.
In Other News...
Jake McCarthy Is Becoming Arizonas Latest Outfield What If
Jake McCarthys move to Colorado has turned into one of the quieter feel-good stories of the Rockies season. Drafted by Arizona in 2018 and up in the majors by 2021, McCarthy arrived in the offseason with something to prove, and he has spent the first half of 2026 looking like a player who finally found the right fit. His bat has been a real spark for a Rockies lineup that has been better than expected, and his all-around production has made him easy to notice in a division where every extra base matters.
The broader Arizona angle only makes the story more interesting. McCarthy and Alek Thomas once represented part of the Diamondbacks young outfield future, but their paths have gone in very different directions since then, with McCarthy thriving in Denver and Thomas struggling badly before moving on to the Dodgers. For Arizona, it is another reminder that outfield development is rarely linear, and for Colorado it is a welcome sign that one of the offseason additions is giving the club far more than just depth. [Read more 🡒]
Rockies Face A Huge Draft Test After Years Of First Round Frustration
As the MLB Draft approaches, the Rockies are again trying to turn a long-running organizational weakness into something sturdier. General manager Josh Byrnes and president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta have spent time laying out a clearer philosophy for the selection process, one built around scoring runs, identifying the best player available and backing that approach with stronger data models and a more unified internal vision.
The challenge, of course, is that Colorados draft board is never quite the same as everyone elses. Pitching at altitude remains a special case in Denver, and the club is digging into why some arms translate there while others do not. Recent draft history also gives the front office plenty to weigh, with only Gabriel Hughes on the active roster among the teams recent first-rounders while Chase Dollander is coming back from Tommy John surgery and Jordan Beck and Sterlin Thompson are still in Triple-A. [Read more 🡒]