Conda-Bogan is easy to root for, having signed with Kansas City from an independent league team after not coming to terms with Toronto in the 32^nd round of the 2017 Draft. He put up excellent numbers out of the bullpen at Low-A Lexington, and the Royals swapped him for Brian Goodwin in a one-for-one deal. I saw him before the trade in May, then caught Conda-Bogan’s first appearance as a Nationals prospect with High-A Potomac.

He’s a thick-framed 6’3’’ and 230 pounds, and while he has a power pitcher’s build; Condra-Bogan will need to keep the body in check as he ages. There’s limited deception in his delivery, as he pitches solely from the stretch with a deliberate operation that hitters can time up. Most of Condra-Bogan’s prospect value is tied up in his fastball velocity, which touches the 96-to-97 mph range at best and sits in the mid-90s. It flashes run action, especially down in the zone, but there isn’t much command and he relies on throwing hard to get away with his spots. A mid-80s slider is the primary off-speed, showing tight spin and more vertical depth than lateral movement. It’s presently a fringy pitch that might get to average, but I didn’t feel as though the slider is likely to miss bats at higher levels. Condra-Bogan mixes a change with good velocity separation at 80-to-84 mph, but he slows his arm and floats the pitch, negating some of the effect.

The best-case scenario is a FV 40 middle reliever who pairs an above-average fastball with enough off-speed and control to hang around the big leagues. Condra-Bogan is a limited athlete whose velocity wavers greatly, sometimes down as low as the 90-to-92 range when he’s tired. There’s plenty of room to fall short of a regular ML bullpen ceiling—if the fastball backs up, he lacks a separator otherwise and projects closer to a 4A type who gets cups of coffee.