In 2020, when the draft was truncated to five rounds because of Covid, the Orioles signed a handful of players, who would have been drafted but weren’t, to free-agent contracts. One was Brandon Young.
Four years later and two years after his second Tommy John surgery, Young has been named the Orioles’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year, an award named after Jim Palmer.
Young has never been a top-tier prospect, but this year he’s gained some traction, and is the team’s 19th-highest-rated prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. He’s also captured the attention of Orioles executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias, who said last month that the 26-year-old Young was on his “radar screen.”
The 6-foot-6 right-hander, who’s 5-3 with a 3.32 ERA in 19 games, 17 starts, for Triple-A Norfolk, is averaging 10 strikeouts per nine innings and just eight hits per nine in advance of his final start of the season on Friday night against Nashville.
He didn’t initially know about Elias’ endorsement. Teammate, Chayce McDermott told him about it.
“He just made it more of a realization, I’d say. I didn’t even know he said it at the time,” Young said in a video conference call.
Even though Elias’ remark in an August 10th news briefing in St. Petersburg, Florida was unprompted, it raised speculation that Young would soon be coming to the Orioles.
Though he hasn’t gotten the call yet, Young is a certainty to be added to the 40-man roster in advance of December’s Rule 5 draft.
“I thought this was really cool,” he said. “I think I am close. I think it’s cool that he said that.”
Young wasn’t invited to major league spring training and was never added to the daily invitation list for Grapefruit League games. He’ll get his shot next February.
“My goal is to be a big leaguer,” Young said. “If it’s not this year, it’s definitely next.”
Young attended Louisiana-Lafayette and since he was chosen in the five-round draft, he could choose his team.
“I was definitely fortunate enough to have the opportunity to play professional baseball, which I’ve been dreaming about since I was a kid and to pick my team was huge, but the Orioles were pitching me,” he said. “It made so much sense, and I’m glad I made that decision, for sure.”
Young pitched for Single-A Delmarva and High-A Aberdeen in 2021 and after three sharp starts for Double-A Bowie in 2022, had Tommy John surgery. He made his way back through the Florida Complex Laague Orioles, Shorebirds, IronBirds and Baysox last year after surgery.
This year, Young was promoted to Norfolk after seven appearances for Bowie.
“Very encouraging, very nice to see, not only the work that I put in, but some of the patience that I had for those two years almost,” he said. “It was super tough to have the year go by and see all my friends and teammates make the big leagues, stuff like that, and I’m stuck in Florida, and just trying to get healthy. To have the success I had earlier in the season in Double-A was nice to see.”
Having two Tommy John surgeries before reaching Triple-A had to be discouraging.
“Those thoughts definitely go through your head. My first time, I was young, I didn’t really think about that stuff,” Young said. “This time, being older, the competition and the talent we had in this system, definitely those thoughts crept in, but at the end of the day, I kept a positive attitude.”
Young hopes that a productive offseason follows a successful 2024 season, setting up a big league debut in 2025.
“I think I can clean up some of my mechanics, definitely,” he said. “Build my workload. I’ve thrown the most innings I have this year in my life. Hopefully next year, I can throw even more, sustaining that workload even stronger, better conditioning I would say.”
Mayo top player
Coby Mayo was named the Orioles’ Minor League Player of the Year, an award named after Brooks Robinson. Mayo, who plays third and first base, hit .293 with 22 home runs and 67 RBIs for Norfolk.
Mayo remains the club’s top-ranked prospect and is hitting .081 (3-for-37) in two stints with the Orioles.
Notes: Samuel Vega, Latin American coordinator of instruction, was the winner of the Cal Ripken Sr. Player Development Award, and Donovan O’Dowd was the Jim Russo Scout of the Year.