A slew of injured O’s prospects are starting to rehab, some who will be more immediately useful to the Orioles than others.
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.
Triple-A Norfolk Tides
- Last week: 2-4 at Nashville Sounds (Brewers)
- Next opponent: vs. Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Marlins)
- Overall record and standing: 14-24, ninth place (12.5 GB) in International League East
Potentially good news for the Orioles’ improving but still mediocre starting rotation: a couple of hurlers, Chayce McDermott (#5 prospect) and Trevor Rogers, have returned from injury and are one stop away at Norfolk. Granted, McDermott has only one career MLB appearance to his name and Rogers likely doesn’t inspire much confidence among O’s fans, but if either is an upgrade over Kyle Gibson, we’ll take that. This week, Rogers worked 4.1 innings and McDermott 4.0, with each allowing one run. They’ll probably need to get stretched out a little more before they’re considered for a promotion to the Birds.
The Tides’ bullpen did some good work this week, as there were six relievers who worked multiple outings without allowing a run, including righty Roansy Contreras (four innings, six Ks). Among that group was another rehabbing big leaguer, Andrew Kittredge, who allowed five baserunners but no runs in two innings.
On the hitting side, #1 prospect Samuel Basallo had a fine series with three extra-base hits, including his fourth home run. He’s batting .232/.316/.449 in 20 games, but has yet to play catcher this year due to elbow inflammation. First baseman TT Bowens played only four of the six games but made the most of them, swatting two homers and a triple.
Dylan Beavers (#5), who was a player of the week candidate in our weekly poll for three consecutive weeks without winning, will not crack the list this time around. He was just 4-for-20. And Coby Mayo (#2), optioned back to Norfolk after a forgettable stint with the Orioles, was 0-for-9 with four walks.
Double-A Chesapeake Baysox
- Last week: 3-2 at Portland Sea Dogs
- Next opponent: vs. Akron RubberDucks (Guardians)
- Overall record and standing: 16-16, fourth place (4.5 GB) in Eastern League Southwest
The newest out-of-nowhere prospect on my radar is 24-year-old righty Braxton Bragg. Before this year I was only vaguely aware of his name, and even then it might be that I was remembering some Civil War history. This Bragg was an eighth-round pick from Dallas Baptist in 2023 who spent last year at Delmarva, then needed only three starts at High-A this year — 16.1 IP, 0 ER — before his promotion to Chesapeake. He’s off to a hot start at Double-A as well, with a 1.56 ERA in four games. This week he went four innings and gave up four runs, but only one was earned, and he struck out eight.
One weird factoid about Bragg: including this week, he has given up 12 runs but only three earned runs. Why his teammates play especially bad defense behind him, we may never know. The Baysox have allowed 23 unearned runs this year, fourth-most in the Eastern League.
Another lesser known prospect having a good season is catcher Adam Retzbach, a 14th-round pick in 2022. Retzbach was Chesapeake’s best hitter this week with a team-leading seven hits, three doubles, and five RBIs. He’s got an .897 OPS for the year. Close behind him at .885 is fellow catcher Creed Willems (#20 prospect), who was 5-for-15 this week.
High-A Aberdeen IronBirds
- Last week: 3-3 at Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- Next opponent: at Hudson Valley Renegades (Yankees)
- Overall record and standing: 13-20, fourth place (10.5 GB) in South Atlantic League North
The IronBirds’ lineup is not exactly a parade of sluggers. They’ve hit only 14 home runs in 33 games this season, tied for last in the league. This week they had just one, by shortstop Leandro Arias.
Among the Orioles’ many 2024 draftees at this level, PPI pick Griff O’Ferrall (#7 prospect) and third-rounder Austin Overn each reached base nine times this week. First-round pick Vance Honeycutt (#4) and second-rounder Ethan Anderson (#14) were less successful, combining to go 5-for-40. Honeycutt struck out 12 times in 19 at-bats. His .204/.328/.291 line and one home run in 29 games is not exactly where the Orioles hoped he would be, but it’s still very early in his pro career.
On the mound, starters Nestor German (#8, tied) and Blake Money and each delivered an impressive outing. Money worked 5.1 scoreless innings and struck out six, while German threw four frames without allowing an earned run while fanning seven. Another intriguing Aberdeen pitcher, Michael Forret (#8, tied), remains on the injured list with a lower back strain.
Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds
- Last week: 3-3 at Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Cubs)
- Next opponent: vs. Fredericksburg Nationals
- Overall record and standing: 10-23, last place (12.5 GB) in Carolina League North
The Shorebirds had their second non-losing series of the season, rattling off three wins in a row from Wednesday to Friday. Delmarva pitched pretty well for the first five games — allowing three or fewer runs in four of them — before getting blown out, 11-0, in the finale. Right-hander Jack Crowder, a ninth-round pick last year, made his professional debut and could hardly have done better, throwing five scoreless innings with five strikeouts.
Also making his season debut was Luis De León, the Orioles’ #11 prospect, who got a late start to the season with an undisclosed injury. The Dominican lefty with high heat but control problems was limited to 1.1 innings in his return this week, in which he struck out three and walked two.
On the offensive side, the only hitter to play all six games of the series was outfielder Braylin Tavera, who went just 3-for-22 and fanned 10 times. The Shorebirds’ best two hitters of the week were their catchers, Cole Urman and Yasmil Bucce. Urman’s six hits led the club and he hit Delmarva’s only homer of the series, while Bucce drew a team-leading eight walks. The 20-year-old Bucce, signed out of Venezuela in 2021, has quietly become a player to watch. His .433 OBP and .923 OPS this year are the highest marks of any Orioles minor leaguer.
Florida Complex League
The FCL Orioles began their season and are 2-4 thus far. Their most notable player at the moment is a rehabbing Enrique Bradfield Jr. (#3 prospect), who made his return from a hamstring injury on Thursday and is 3-for-9.
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Last week, Braxton Bragg became our first repeat player of the week winner, edging out perpetual bridesmaid Dylan Beavers by just eight votes out of the 154 cast. In four of the five weeks so far, the winner has been a pitcher (Bragg twice, Alex Pham and Brandon Young once each), a somewhat surprising result for an O’s system that isn’t considered to be stocked with pitching prospects. The only position player to win so far is Vance Honeycutt.
This week there’s another pitcher on the ballot along with two hitters. Who ya got?