The Orioles’ High-A affiliate faces an uncertain future due to a financial dispute. Meanwhile, the Birds’ best prospect returned to the Norfolk lineup.
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: 1-5 vs. Memphis Redbirds (Cardinals)
- Next opponent: at Charlotte Knights (White Sox)
- Overall record and standing: 9-17, ninth place (11.5 GB) in International League East.
First off, congratulations to a pair of 2019 draft picks, catcher Maverick Handley and right-hander Kade Strowd, for their big league promotions yesterday. The two 27-year-olds aren’t really prospects but have dutifully worked their way through the O’s system to make it to The Show. Handley is batting .346/.433/.558 in 15 games this year and probably should have replaced Gary Sánchez as the backup catcher even before Sánchez got hurt.
Strowd, a 12th-round pick, becomes the first Mike Elias-drafted pitcher to make it to the majors with the Orioles. He might not actually make an appearance, though, as he’s likely to be sent back down when the O’s activate Kyle Gibson today. Strowd wasn’t exactly on a roll at Norfolk, where he had an 8.10 ERA and had allowed runs in five straight games. He does have 18 strikeouts in 10 innings, at least. Also headed up the bigs is infielder Emmanuel Rivera, who played 27 games for the Orioles last year. Rivera is batting .308 with a .708 OPS for the Tides and is coming off a great week in which he went 9-for-17 with six RBIs.
It was a rough series for the Tides, who were on the brink of getting swept in six games before winning Sunday’s finale. On the plus side, the Orioles’ #1 prospect, Samuel Basallo, is back on the active roster after missing three weeks with a hamstring strain. Basallo went 1-for-6 in three games this week, though he still hasn’t been behind the plate this year due to right elbow inflammation that he suffered in spring training.
Meanwhile, is it time for Coby Mayo (#2) to get another big league audition? His offensive stats haven’t been mind-blowing, but after a strong week in which he batted .316 with three extra-base hits, his season slash line is .256/.361/.500 with four homers in 24 games, and he tore up Triple-A last year. And with Ryan Mountcastle sitting on a wretched .279 slugging percentage and one homer in 27 games, the O’s could use a slugger who can actually, you know, slug. Four of Mayo’s five starts this week came at first base.
As for the pitching staff, there are no immediate solutions at Norfolk to the Orioles’ rotation problems. One of the Tides’ starters this series, Raúl Alcantara, gave up eight runs without recording an out. Even if you don’t include Alcantara’s disaster, Norfolk’s starting pitchers combined for a 7.71 ERA for the week. The pitching depth, it is thin.
Other notable prospects:
- OF Dylan Beavers (#6): Nice week for Beavers, who hit .368 with a 1.059 OPS thanks to seven hits and four walks, including his third home run. Beavers has reached base in all 21 games in April.
- OF Jud Fabian (#12, tied): Fabian had just two hits in 23 at-bats this week, dropping his season batting average under the Mendoza line to .198, albeit with a respectable .752 OPS.
Double-A Chesapeake Baysox
- Last week: 2-4 vs. Altoona Curve (Pirates)
- Next opponent: at Hartford Yard Goats (Rockies)
- Overall record and standing: 11-10, tied for third place (3.0 GB) in Eastern League Southwest
Chesapeake played a lot of close games this week, as each of the six was decided by three or fewer runs. The Baysox were hindered by their lack of offense, averaging less than three runs per game in the series and for the season. Their two best hitters this week were catchers Creed Willems (#20) and Silas Ardoin, who each had two doubles, a homer, two RBIs, and two runs. Willems reached base 11 times and Ardoin 14. It was a rough series for outfielder Tavian Josenberger, who went 1-for-19 with 10 strikeouts, though he did have a walkoff sac fly on Saturday.
There was better news on the mound, where Alex Pham made two appearances — one start, one bulk-relief outing — and pitched 10 strong innings with a whopping 17 strikeouts and only two walks. He gave up just two earned runs, lowering his season ERA to 3.42. The 25-year-old righty, a 19th-round pick four years ago, has been pitching in Double-A since mid-2023. I think it’s about time for a Triple-A promotion.
Reliever Keagan Gillies continued his excellent start to 2025 with four scoreless innings and seven strikeouts. The 27-year-old has thrown 9.2 innings with 13 strikeouts and no walks. And Trevor Rogers and Chayce McDermott, two possibilities to fill spots in the Orioles’ rotation at some point, both began rehab assignments this week. Rogers, coming back from right knee subluxation, gave up two runs in three innings, while McDermott (#5 prospect) gave up a run and walked three as he returns from a right lat strain.
High-A Aberdeen IronBirds
- Last week: 2-4 at Wilmington Blue Rocks (Nationals)
- Next opponent: vs. Bowling Green Hot Rods (Rays)
- Overall record and standing: 9-12, fourth place (6.0 GB) in South Atlantic League North
The biggest story about the IronBirds this week wasn’t anything that happened on the field, but the behind-the-scenes drama that could well lead to the team leaving Aberdeen after this season. As detailed by The Baltimore Banner’s Justin Fenton, the team’s owners have been engaged in an ongoing dispute with city officials about revenue sharing and stadium maintenance. The conflict has led mayor Patrick McGrady to say that “the writing is on the wall that the future of major league-affiliated minor league baseball in Aberdeen is short.”
Aberdeen has been an O’s affiliate for nearly 25 years, first as a short-season club and then replacing Frederick as the High-A affiliate in 2021. There was a lot of excitement in 2002 when Cal Ripken Jr., fresh into retirement, bought the former Utica Blue Sox and brought them to his hometown (Cal has since sold his stake in the club). We’ll see how this plays out, but if this is the end for the IronBirds, it’s a bummer.
As for the team’s performance this week, meh. No hitters particularly excelled, though catcher Ryan Stafford, had six hits and six RBIs in five games. Shortstop Griff O’Ferrall (#7 prospect) stood out for all the wrong reasons by going 0-for-22. Ouch. O’Ferrall entered the series with a .776 OPS; it’s now down to .557. Outfield prospects Vance Honeycutt (#4) and Austin Overn each went 4-for-18, with Overn hitting Aberdeen’s only homer of the series.
Meanwhile, the IronBirds’ best pitcher, Michael Forret (#8, tied) had a strong five-inning start, giving up one run and striking out seven. He didn’t walk anyone, which is always nice. Trey Gibson (#15, tied) made two starts this week and was ripped for eight runs in 8.2 frames.
Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds
- Last week: 1-5 vs. Augusta GreenJackets (Braves)
- Next opponent: at Fayetteville Woodpeckers (Astros)
- Overall record and standing: 5-16, sixth place (10.0 GB) in Carolina League North
Offense continues to be a struggle for the Shorebirds. They have no power to speak of; they went homerless this week and have only three dingers in 21 games this year, with a league-worst .273 SLG. They’re not particularly fast, ranking third-to-last with 26 steals. There are no highly ranked prospects in this lineup. By OPS, their best hitter has been catcher Yasmil Bucce at .825. Braylin Tavera has two of their three homers.
The club’s lone top-20 prospect, pitcher Keeler Morfe, is on the injured list after suffering a finger sprain. He had a 22.50 ERA and 12 walks in two innings — yes, you read that right, 12 walks in two innings — before going on the shelf. Among the pitchers this week, Cuban right-hander Eccel Correa threw five scoreless innings of long relief, while Evan Yates, a 20th-round pick last year, allowed one run in five innings and struck out six.
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Last week, Camden Chatters voted right-hander Braxton Bragg as the player of the week thanks to his dominant seven shutout innings for the IronBirds. Bragg has since been promoted to Double-A Chesapeake, where he worked 4.1 scoreless innings in his debut. He joins Brandon Young and Vance Honeycutt as our weekly winners this season. This week, we’ve got a head-to-head showdown between Dylan Beavers and Alex Pham. Who’s your pick?