More than half of prospect-heavy Norfolk lineup could probably have made a bunch of MLB rosters
One of the most readily apparent signs of the talent in the Orioles organization is how loaded the Triple-A Norfolk Tides roster is going to be to start the season. More than half of the starting lineup could probably have MLB jobs on multiple teams and three of the starting pitchers are worth tracking as future big league prospects.
If you can believe it, that’s actually a less loaded Tides roster than we found this time a year ago. Last year’s Norfolk break camp roster had six MLB-wide top 100 prospects on it, and 10 of the 30 top Orioles prospects as judged by MLB Pipeline. For 2024, it’s “only” three top 100 guys and “only” seven of the Orioles top 30.
The smaller number of top 100 guys is because of successful graduations to the Orioles for Grayson Rodriguez and Jordan Westburg, Colton Cowser making the Orioles Opening Day roster this year, plus the trade of DL Hall and Joey Ortiz. There being fewer of the Orioles top 30 prospects is also due to the team’s increase in quality of recent international amateur signings, who will hopefully gradually climb their way towards Triple-A over the next couple of seasons.
A fun bunch that will be worth following on a nightly basis remains. Norfolk’s season will be opening tonight while the Orioles are off, so if you’re an MLB.tv subscriber, you can use the perk of free access to minor league games and tune in. Maybe Jackson Holliday will even face a lefty pitcher, which was one part of the public justification for why his first game of the year is in a Tides uniform and not an Orioles one.
Below is the Tides break camp roster that was announced by the Orioles earlier this week. It’s still subject to change before game time. Players whose names are listed in italics are on the Orioles 40-man roster already, meaning that they can be called up without the team needing to make any adjustments there.
Pitchers
- Justin Armbruester
- Bryan Baker
- Wandisson Charles
- Tucker Davidson
- Luis González
- Jonathan Heasley
- Nolan Hoffman
- Matt Krook
- Chayce McDermott
- Kaleb Ort
- Cade Povich
- Garrett Stallings
- Albert Suárez
- Andrew Suárez
- Nick Vespi
- Bruce Zimmermann
There were seven eventual 2023 Orioles pitchers on the break camp roster for the Tides a year ago, including a couple who appeared before long – Yennier Cano and Grayson Rodriguez. Six of the seven were on the 40-man roster this time last year.
That pattern could play out a bit differently this year, since there’s a solid chance of any of Armbruester, McDermott, and Povich getting involved, provided that they are able to develop enough and that a role that might suit them on the big club opens up. Charles is somebody who is ticketed for the big league bullpen if he ever is able to show that he can stop walking so many dudes.
Catchers
- David Bañuelos
- Maverick Handley
Handley was drafted by the Orioles later in the same draft where they selected Adley Rutschman with the #1 pick. His distinct first name has made him a fun guy to root for as a future backup, but the team chose to add veteran James McCann rather than go with two relatively inexperienced backstops at the outset of Rutschman’s career. Handley had a mighty respectable .373 OBP in 69 games with the Tides last year, but he only slugged .329.
Infielders
- Diego Castillo
- Jackson Holliday
- Coby Mayo
- Connor Norby
- Errol Robinson
In contrast to the pitching staff, where there was a lot of 40-man roster overflow, these infielders – well, the three who are prospects – are here precisely because they aren’t on the 40-man already and the O’s weren’t willing to discard any of their existing 40-man players that would clear a spot for the prospects, but also potentially cost the Orioles to lose a payer on waivers. This was defensible regarding Mayo and Norby. For Holliday, that’s less true. Who will actually play for the O’s and who will end up as trade bait?
Outfielders
- Peyton Burdick
- Heston Kjerstad
- Daniel Johnson
- Kyle Stowers
This could really be a ridiculous Tides lineup to begin the season when you add Kjerstad and Stowers to the bona fide infield prospects. Bombs away on nearly a nightly basis. I want all of these guys to get a shot, but also, at this point, I don’t want anyone on the Orioles to get hurt or suck enough that it makes sense to give one of the Norfolk batters a shot. That’s the biggest change for fans compared to two years ago. The team is going to be picking and choosing spots for these young guys going forward.