Farther down the farm, Delmarva had an uncommon winning week with heavy hitting from Aneudis Mordán
Here on Camden Chat, in addition to our daily minor league coverage, we’ll be stepping back every Tuesday morning to look at the bigger picture across a whole week of results and how the team’s prospects are faring so far. Most of the focus will be on players from Camden Chat’s composite top O’s prospects list, with mentions of some standout efforts from players who could be ranked on a future list.
Triple-A Norfolk Tides
- Past week: 2-4 at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Yankees)
- Coming week: vs. Memphis (33-30, Cardinals)
- Season record: 32-31, tied for fourth place (11 games back) of ten teams in International League East
A regular theme of this season has been Tides pitchers getting their butts kicked and this past week was no exception, with Norfolk allowing double digits in the final three games (all losses) of this week’s series, and seven runs in another loss earlier on. The good news, such as it is, is that it’s mostly the relievers who stink. The group that Mike Elias has assembled on the 40-man roster are almost all pitching poorly.
The most interesting (maybe only interesting) pitcher left with the Tides now that Cade Povich is with the Orioles is Chayce McDermott. He was not part of the suck, allowing just one run on three hits in a six inning outing; the lone run scored by a solo homer. McDermott struck out eight and issued three walks. That walk problem has been improving overall since April. Despite this McDermott outing, Norfolk lost that game, 10-7. The bullpen, it’s bad.
Jackson Holliday-specific update: The preseason #1 prospect added a seventh homer to his season tally over 48 games, part of a week at the plate where he went 6-25 and drew five walks. That’s an .807 OPS for the week, respectable but not overwhelming as he continues to adjust to finding success with the new mechanics he seems to have been sent back to the minors to develop.
Recent arrival Blake Hunt, a 25-year-old catcher who joined the organization as the Orioles dealt the DFA’d Mike Baumann to Seattle, was the week’s top hitting performer for Norfolk, slugging two home runs in five games played for a 1.131 OPS across the week. Hunt has three homers in nine games since arriving. Not far behind him is possible future utility guy Billy Cook, who also homered twice. Cook is OPSing .802 in 41 games.
Others of note
- OF Heston Kjerstad – 5-25 with a double and a triple, though he struck out eight times in six games.
- IF Coby Mayo – Remains on the injured list with a fractured rib; last game played May 16.
Double-A Bowie Baysox
- Past week: 4-2 vs. Binghamton (Mets)
- Coming week: at Harrisburg (32-25, Nationals)
- Season record: 29-27, fourth place (3.5 games back) of six teams in Eastern League Southwest
The Samuel Basallo watch will always come first (unless I forget or Paul just doesn’t feel like doing it) and for this past week it is a glorious one. Across these six games, Basallo picked up eight hits, including three doubles and two homers, and he only struck out four times. That’s a 1.139 OPS for the week, raising his season total to .825.
Still just 19 years old, Basallo is doing all of this while he’s nearly five years younger than the average pitcher in the Eastern League. You’re too late to get on this bandwagon if you didn’t jump on early last year, but maybe you can skateboard off the back like Marty McFly in Back to the Future.
Also with good things going for him this week was outfielder Jud Fabian, who had six hits across 18 at-bats, including a home run. Fabian stole a pair of bases as well, though he struck out seven times even in the midst of this success. It’s a 28.9% strikeout rate for the season for Fabian.
For the pitchers, this was a two-start week for 40-man roster pitcher Seth Johnson. He threw 7.2 innings across these two games, which has been the norm for him this season as he’s still only 49.1 innings removed from Tommy John surgery. Johnson kept the Rumble Ponies from scoring any runs and he only allowed three hits. Good: He struck out 12 batters. Bad: He walked six. In 11 games, Johnson has a 5.3 BB/9.
Others of note
- OF Dylan Beavers – Three hits in 19 at-bats this week, and he got thrown out for his one steal attempt. Over 48 games, he’s OPSing .821, with eight homers.
- IF Max Wagner – The second round pick from two years ago has played just 17 games at this level after missing early pats of the season with an injury. 2-15 hitting this week is unfortunately in line with his prior performance.
- RHP Kyle Brnovich – The “other Kyle” from the Dylan Bundy trade had some nice-looking season numbers until his start this week, when he recorded just one out and allowed five runs, walking three batters and allowing three hits. Ouch.
High-A Aberdeen IronBirds
- Past week: 3-3 at Brooklyn (Mets)
- Coming week: vs. Hickory (25-32, Rangers)
- Season record: 29-28, fifth place (three games back) of six teams in South Atlantic League North
The IronBirds segment starts with some good news, as outfield prospect Matthew Etzel, who seemed completely unremarkable when the Orioles drafted him in the 10th round a year ago, is reportedly being promoted to Double-A Bowie. The man has earned the bump, including with his play this week, when he picked up seven hits in 21 at-bats, including a pair of triples, and added four steals to increase his season total to 31.
Even hotter than Etzel at the plate was infielder Mac Horvath, who notched nine hits in five games, including a pair of dingers, and he stole six bases without being caught. Horvath struggled at the plate over the first couple of months but that’s a nice start for June. It’ll take some more weeks like this before he’s joining Etzel in Bowie.
Not as good was the first rounder, Enrique Bradfield Jr., who had just five hits in 24 at-bats, no extra-base hits, and no walks. Aberdeen has tended to be a tough hitting environment so you don’t want to give up on someone just for struggling there, but he’s definitely got some struggle going on with a .680 OPS to date. He’s yet to homer in 173 plate appearances.
Others of note
- RHP Jackson Baumeister – Five innings with just one earned run allowed in his start this week. Six strikeouts to three walks, giving him a season ratio of 1.83. It’s not a good number and it’s only because the BB/9 is 6.1.
- C Creed Willems – 6-19 across five games played this week, with two extra-base hits. Willems is OPSing .773 for the season.
- LHP Luis De León – A tough one this week for the 21-year-old lefty, giving up five runs in three innings. 5.79 ERA in four games since being promoted to this level.
IronBirds season-to-date stats.
Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds
- Past week: 4-2 vs. Lynchburg (Guardians)
- Coming week: vs. Kannapolis (36-20, White Sox)
- Season record: 19-37, last place (16.5 games back) of six teams in Carolina League North
The dude of late for Delmarva has been 20-year-old catcher Aneudis Mordán, who was once again heavily involved in good things as the team got what is for them a rare winning week. Mordán’s five games saw him hit two homers, drive in seven runs, and steal a base – a 1.122 OPS for the week overall. He’s up to ten home runs for the season.
Two other players who appeared in six games topped the 1.000 OPS mark: Aron Estrada and Anderson De Los Santos. Great work all around! He didn’t quite reach that 1.000 club, but things also went well this week for another infielder, Leandro Arias, who had three extra-base hits out of 4-17 hitting, with three walks on top of that. If a couple of these guys are heating up, that will be a fun development.
Others of note
- OF Thomas Sosa – Played in just the first game of this series and had the rest of the week off. Assuming some minor injury, but he’s not on the IL and I’ve seen nothing reported.
- OF Braylin Tavera – He’s confirmed hurt, having been on the injured list with a shoulder sprain. Last game played: May 10.
Shorebirds season-to-date stats.
Florida Complex League Orioles
This squad is 12-14. They were supposed to be in action yesterday but had a rainout. Standout performers through the first month or so of games: 19-year-old Elis Cuevas, a switch-hitter who’s been playing mostly right field, is batting .344/.468/.574 so far, with 12 stolen bases in 16 attempts. Another switch-hitter, 19-year-old Edwin Amparo, has played second base, third base, and shortstop while batting .227/.366/.379. He’s 15/18 on stolen base attempts.
Amparo received a bonus of $647,500 from the Orioles two years ago. Cuevas was a $147,500 signing in that same class.
FCL Orioles season-to-date stats.
**
In a two-way poll for minor league player of the week last time between Holliday and Brnovich, the winner ended up being Brnovich with 59% of the vote. He’s not going to make it two in a row this week. Brnovich joins the list of winners, with Kjerstad as the only two-timer, and others going to Etzel, Povich, McDermott, Fabian, and Beavers.
No chance for a repeat winner this week, so take your pick among these possible first-time winners: