The Orioles’ #1 prospect just kept smashing baseballs this week, while four Delmarva pitchers combined for a no-hitter.
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.
No Orioles affiliates had a winning record this past week…but none had a losing record, either. All four teams went 3-3. Hooray, mediocrity.
Triple-A Norfolk Tides
- Last week: 3-3 at Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Marlins)
- Next opponent: three games vs. Syracuse Mets
- Second half record: 7-9, seventh place (6.5 GB) in International League East
- Overall season record: 37-52
Hey, just what the Orioles needed, another pitcher with an elbow injury! The club’s closest-to-ready pitching prospect, Chayce McDermott (#5), left his Thursday start with right elbow discomfort, which more often than not is the precursor to some very bad news. The O’s haven’t yet provided an update on McDermott’s condition, but if he has to go under the knife, he’d join an extensive list of O’s major and minor league pitchers to do so in the past calendar year. It sucks.
There were some happier developments for Norfolk. Specifically: Samuel Basallo. The Orioles’ #1 prospect continued to demolish the ball, crushing three homers and three doubles while driving in 10 this week. Basallo now has 19 homers and a .974 OPS in 62 games for Norfolk, and the clamoring of O’s fans to promote him to the majors grows ever louder.
I understand the temptation to let Basallo get some immediate MLB experience in a lost Orioles season. But to me, the fact that it’s a lost Orioles season is all the more reason not to burn a year of Basallo’s service time by calling him up too early. Let him keep working on his catching skills at Triple-A and he’ll be up by late August or September. Patience, friends.
Elsewhere, infielder Jeremiah Jackson is still sizzling at the plate with a team-leading eight hits this week, boosting his season slash line to .306/.333/.521. One potential pitfall, though: Jackson has only 12 walks in 77 games. Still, he’s someone to keep an eye on as a potential utility infielder option for the Orioles, even if he’s not considered a prospect. Elsewhere, Dylan Beavers (#6) had one of his quieter weeks, going 4-for-19 with no extra-base hits, while Heston Kjerstad showed signs of life with a homer and double on Saturday.
Double-A Chesapeake Baysox
- Last week: 3-3 vs. Reading Fightin Phils (Phillies)
- Next opponent: three games at Erie SeaWolves/Moon Mammoths
- Second half record: 6-12, sixth place (5.0GB) in Eastern League Southwest
- Overall season record: 37-48
It was a condensed series for the Baysox and Fightin Phils, whose first two games were rained out, forcing doubleheaders on both Thursday and Saturday. The finale featured a rehab appearance from Zach Eflin, who gave up five hits in four innings as he returns from a lower back injury.
The only Baysox pitcher to work more than five innings this week was Ryan Long, who delivered a six-inning, two-run quality start. Righty prospect Nestor German (#8, tied) struck out five in a five-inning performance. German’s 4.50 ERA for the Baysox this year isn’t great, but his 10.1 K/9 and 1.19 WHIP are workable. Fellow starters Trace Bright (#18, tied), Trey Gibson (#15, tied) and Blake Money each allowed two earned runs this week, with none going longer than 4.1 innings.
On offense, the Baysox tallied eight home runs this week, tied for the league lead. Creed Willems (#20) had two of them, snapping a 12-game drought. The slugging catcher has rounded back into form in July (.412/.500/.647) after a brutal performance in June (.141/.235/.225). Also bopping two dingers this week was infielder Max Wagner, the Orioles’ 2022 second round pick. Injuries and ineffectiveness have knocked Wagner out of prospect status, but it’s nice to see him have a good series.
Enrique Bradfield Jr. (#3) played only one game this week, going 1-for-3 on Thursday. I haven’t seen any official word about why he was so limited, but it could be related to the hamstring injuries that sidelined him for several weeks earlier this season.
High-A Aberdeen IronBirds
- Last week: 3-3 vs. Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies)
- Next opponent: three games at Wilmington Blue Rocks (Nationals)
- Second half record: 9-12, fifth place (6.0 GB) in South Atlantic League North
- Overall season record: 33-53
Let’s get this out of the way: outfielder Vance Honeycutt (#4) added eight more strikeouts to his season total during a 3-for-19 week. His 125 strikeouts are the most in the South Atlantic League and tied for the most in minor league baseball (along with Triple-A Salt Lake first baseman and erstwhile major leaguer Niko Kavadas). Things are just not getting any better for the Orioles’ 2024 first round pick.
There were no particular offensive standouts for the hitting-challenged IronBirds this week. The closest was Aron Estrada, who reached base seven times with three hits and four walks, and powered his fifth home run. Griff O’Ferrall (#7) was the only batter with more than four hits, but his six knocks were all singles and he didn’t draw a walk.
The IronBirds are putting together an interesting starting rotation fronted by prospects Michael Forret (#8, tied) and Luis De León (#11). While De León hasn’t found the results to match his intriguing stuff — giving up five runs in four innings this week to inflate his Aberdeen ERA to 5.17 — Forret has posted an excellent 1.99 mark despite a middling outing this week. Right-hander Jacob Cravey, a 2023 sixth-rounder, just earned a promotion to Aberdeen and was solid in his High-A debut, throwing 5.1 innings with one earned run allowed. And Cohen Achen, normally a starter, was dominant in long relief this week, throwing five perfect innings with six strikeouts.
Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds
- Last week: 3-3 at Fayetteville Woodpeckers (Astros)
- Next opponent: three games vs. Carolina Mudcats (Brewers)
- Second half record: 7-14, sixth place (6.0 GB) in Carolina League North
- Overall season record: 34-53
The Shorebirds continue to have the worst overall record in the Carolina League, but they had the most impressive win of any O’s affiliate this week, throwing a combined no-hitter Thursday. Starter Jack Crowder went six hitless with eight strikeouts before Adrián Delgado, Joe Glassey, and Deivy Cruz worked an inning apiece to finish the impressive feat. (It was Cruz’s second straight year being part of a combined no-hitter; he also did it with Aberdeen last year.) The Shorebirds nearly lost anyway on an unearned run before Edwin Amparo’s two-run homer in the ninth saved them.
As is usually the case with the Shorebirds, there was little offense to be found. Even Nate George cooled off, posting a .590 OPS for the week, while the team’s best hitter this year, Yasmil Bucce, was 3-for-16. On the mound, Evan Yates delivered a five-inning, one-run, eight-strikeout performance. Ben Vespi, brother of Nick, was tagged for nine hits and four runs in 6.1 innings, but 13 of the 19 outs he recorded were on strikeouts.
Florida Complex League and Dominican Summer League
You have to dig down to the FCL to find an Orioles affiliate with a winning record. This team is an impressive 28-19 so far. Newly minted Baseball America top-100 prospect Esteban Mejia, an 18-year-old Dominican righty with an electric arm, dazzled again this week with 4.1 scoreless innings and five strikeouts. Mejia has a 2.21 ERA and 11.3 K/9 in his nine starts. The team’s best hitter has been 19-year-old Jordan Sanchez, an outfielder from Cuba, who’s rocking a .964 OPS and a team-leading 32 RBIs in 43 games.
In the DSL, the Orioles’ two teams — Orange and Black — are a combined 23-38. The biggest early standout is 18-year-old Orioles Orange infielder Jemone Nuel. Signed out of the Dominican in 2024, Nuel is batting .303 with a .981 OPS in 31 games. Incredibly, he has nearly twice as many walks (34) as strikeouts (19). He’s also 28-for-31 in stolen base attempts.
**
Dylan Beavers was the runaway winner of last week’s poll, earning 72% of the vote in a four-way race. He becomes our third two-time winner, joining Braxton Bragg and Nate George. Our other winners so far this year: Brandon Young, Vance Honeycutt, Alex Pham, Adam Retzbach, Samuel Basallo, Yasmil Bucce, and Trey Gibson.
I was tempted to make this week a Soviet poll, but instead we’ll have a two-person ballot. Choose wisely.