Braxton Bragg and Yasmil Bucce might not stay unknown for long if they keep having weeks like this.
Each Tuesday on Camden Chat, we look back on the last week of action from the Orioles minor league affiliates, with a particular focus on the performance of players from Camden Chat’s composite top Orioles prospect list.
This past week saw two more notable Orioles prospects placed on the injured list, with #8 (tied) prospect Michael Forret (lower back strain) and honorable mention Alex Pham (right forearm inflammation) each landing on the IL at their respective levels. They join these ranked prospects on the IL:
- #3 – OF Enrique Bradfield Jr. (hamstring)
- #5 – RHP Chayce McDermott (lat strain, rehab begun)
- #10 – RHP Patrick Reilly (right elbow)
- #11 – LHP Luis de León (not reported)
- #15 (tied) – RHP Keeler Morfe (finger)
- HM – OF Thomas Sosa (not reported)
That’s in addition to 14 players who are on the IL for the major league team. (McDermott is double-counted as he is a prospect who is also on the MLB IL.) It’s a lot of injuries! Forret, Reilly, and Pham all being hurt is a damper on hopes of getting some pitchers from the farm into next year’s starting rotation. At least for Forret it’s not an arm problem.
Triple-A Norfolk Tides
- Last week: 3-3 at Charlotte (White Sox)
- Next opponent: at Nashville (Brewers)
- Overall record and standing: 12-20, ninth place (10.5 GB) in International League East
Whenever I am sitting down to do one of these weekly reviews, I hope that I can relay actual good stats from some prospects. For Norfolk at least, there’s good news, because most of the hitters you probably care about came through over these games. Coby Mayo got in two dingers before getting called back up to the Orioles. Jud Fabian also homered twice – and perhaps more importantly for him, drew five walks while only striking out twice. If only Fabian’s batting was better than 3-17…
One guy who didn’t have batting average problems was Dylan Beavers, who picked up ten hits across six games, and stole a pair of bases as well. After a .964 OPS for the week, Beavers is up to a .292/.402/.426. It’s an intriguing OBP over 30 games at the level. Norfolk’s best hitter for the week was non-prospect Luis Vázquez, with eight hits – including four doubles and a homer – in only five games played.
Some pitchers got in on this party as well. Brandon Young, who could potentially start Wednesday’s Orioles game if a pitcher goes on the injured list, pitched six innings with two runs allowed, walking only two batters while striking out five. Kyle Brnovich’s five-inning start also saw two runs surrendered, with five hits and one walk to four strikeouts. Not so good was Cameron Weston, who gave up three runs in a 1.2 inning start. Weston’s ERA for the season is now 5.96.
Rehabbing big leaguers
- RHP Chayce McDermott – Four shutout innings, allowing one hit, one walk, and one hit batter, with three strikeouts
- LHP Trevor Rogers – Two starts that only totaled 4.2 IP, with seven runs allowed, easing nobody’s angst about trading for him last year
Double-A Chesapeake Baysox
- Last week: 2-4 at Hartford (Rockies)
- Next opponent: at Portland (Red Sox)
- Overall record and standing: 13-14, tied-fourth place (4 GB) in Eastern League Southwest
Since Bradfield is on the injured list, the guy to pay attention to in this lineup for me is maybe-catcher Creed Willems, who mashed a pair of taters across five games played this week, walking twice and only striking out once. It’s interesting stuff from the 21-year-old, who, by the way, is throwing out 31% of would-be base-stealers. For the season, he’s OPSing .884. I’m curious.
Outfielder Douglas Hodo was at the top of this pack. Hodo also homered twice while picking up seven hits over six games. On the bottom end were guys like Frederick Bencosme (4-21, though he did add four walks) and Silas Ardoin (4-19 with no extra base hits).
We continue to have good things to say about unranked pitching prospect Braxton Bragg, who has a long way to go in the quest to become the top search engine result for his own name. Bragg got a two-start week in, striking out 13 dudes in nine innings. Bragg’s ERA isn’t bad but there were SEVEN unearned runs in there too. Between Chesapeake and Aberdeen, Bragg now has a 0.61 ERA for the season. Not so good: Trace Bright, who gave up five runs in five innings.
Chesapeake season-to-date stats.
High-A Aberdeen IronBirds
- Last week: 1-5 vs. Bowling Green (Rays)
- Next opponent: at Jersey Shore (Phillies)
- Overall record and standing: 10-17, tied-fourth place (9 GB) in South Atlantic League North
Aberdeen’s guys to watch are mostly the 2024 draft picks who are assigned here. The best to report from this bunch over the last week is Griff O’Ferrall, who had a home run in a 5-19 week, with two walks and only one strikeout, plus a pair of stolen bases. He’s only OPSing .605 for the season after this, so we need to see some more good weeks to get going. My favorite low-level prospect, Aron Estrada, had seven hits in five games, including two doubles, and he stole a pair of bases. Estrada’s season OPS is .748.
Not so good news from the rest of the bunch: Vance Honeycutt 4-20 with seven strikeouts, Ethan Anderson 2-14, Austin Overn 2-18. With some tough numbers for recent international signee Leandro Arias (3-18) as well.
For the pitchers, Trey Gibson hit double digits for strikeouts in a single start (10 SO in 4.2 IP), with a solo home run being his only hit allowed. Gibson now has a 6.64 ERA after this start, so like O’Ferrall and others, he needs some more good weeks. Nestor German struck out seven batters and walked none in a 5.1 inning start where he gave up two runs.
Aberdeen season-to-date stats.
Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds
- Last week: 2-4 at Fayetteville (Astros)
- Next opponent: at Myrtle Beach (Cubs)
- Overall record and standing: 7-20, last place (11.5 GB) in Carolina League North
In terms of our composite rankings, the only guy in the top 20 who was with Delmarva is Morfe, who’s now on the injured list. There are a couple of guys who may be starting to emerge here, which was seen in the past week.
This was a fantastic week for outfielder Braylin Tavera, a former seven-figure bonus guy who had a rough time at this level a year ago. However, he’s still just 20 years old and if he was an American college player, wouldn’t be eligible to be drafted until next year, so it’s still interesting if he clicks. How about three bombs in the past week, plus six walks and a stolen base? It was a 1.467 OPS for the week and Tavera is at .843 for the season.
Another 20-year-old from that signing class is catcher Yasmil Bucce. The Venezuelan had ten hits over the past week, five of which went for extra bases. That’s good! Bucce is now hitting .309/.417/.531 in 23 games this season. If a reliable international pipeline is going to develop, this is probably what it would look like: Guys maybe starting to break out at Low-A when they’re 20.
Delmarva season-to-date stats.
Florida Complex League
This short-season, rookie-level league got rolling on Saturday. They’ve played two games. For recent, lower-level high school draftees and younger international signings, it’s the first taste of American pro ball. For the obsessives out there, it’s a roster with some interesting names to follow: 2024 high school picks DJ Layton and Nate George, infielders Luis Almeyda, Elvin Garcia, Joshua Liranzo, and outfielders Stiven Martinez and Jordan Sanchez.
Particularly intriguing for me to follow will be Garcia, who recently checked in as the #5 Orioles prospect on FanGraphs top 50 Orioles list. That’s worth noticing for a guy who only signed in January 2024.
**
Last week, the choice was between Beavers and the now-injured Pham, with 59% of voters choosing Pham. Unfortunately, no chance for two in a row from him this week: Other weekly winners up to this point: Braxton Bragg, Vance Honeycutt, and Brandon Young.
You have the chance to give us the first repeat winner of the year if you like what Bragg was able to deliver. Tough competition this week as there are a number of deserving players.