Off the field, tragedy struck 19-year-old prospect Luis Guevara in the FCL.
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.
This week saw plenty of solid performances from O’s minor leaguers, but everything paled in comparison to a tragedy that rocked the Orioles’ organization when Florida Complex League prospect Luis Guevara was killed in a watercraft accident. The Venezuelan infielder, an amateur signing in January 2023 who was in his third professional season, was just 19 years old. His friends and teammates remembered him as a “very happy” kid who “always made anyone smile.”
Just a heartbreaking reminder that the world really sucks sometimes. Rest in peace, Luis.
Triple-A Norfolk Tides
- Last week: 3-3 at Memphis Redbirds (Cardinals)
- Next opponent: vs. Gwinnett Stripers (Braves)
- Season record: 30-43, tied for eighth place (16.0 GB) in International League East
Injuries continue to plague the Orioles minors. Outfielder Dylan Beavers (#6 prospect), who was having a good series with two homers and a 6-for-14 performance, collided with a teammate in Friday’s game and was removed with shoulder discomfort. Ouch. He didn’t play the last two games of the series. It’s a bummer for Beavers, who had only recently returned from a shoulder injury suffered while running into a wall in batting practice. Listen, people (and walls): just stay out of Dylan’s way.
A day earlier, Heston Kjerstad had to leave a game after fouling a ball off his knee. Knowing Kjerstad’s snakebitten history with injuries, I fully expected he’d be sidelined for weeks if not months, but he was back in the lineup just two days later. He had a double, triple, and homer this week, but those were his only hits in 19 at-bats.
The only Tides hitter to play all six games was Jud Fabian (#12, tied), who went 3-for-13 but drew six walks for a .450 OBP. Top prospect Samuel Basallo continued to mash, collecting six hits, including his 15th homer. Basallo started three games at catcher and threw out one of five basestealers, also committing a throwing error.
The Tides’ hottest hitter has been infielder Jeremiah Jackson, who collected a team-leading seven hits and bashed two dingers and four doubles. Jackson is batting a ridiculous .373/.400/.746 in 13 games in June. The O’s signed the 25-year-old, a former second round pick of the Angels, as a minor league free agent this past offseason. Did they find a diamond in the rough?
The Orioles’ top two pitching prospects at this level, Chayce McDermott (#5) and Brandon Young (#12, tied), each delivered a five-inning, one-run performance this week. Young’s was the more impressive, as he allowed only two hits and no walks in his return to Norfolk after an IL stint with shoulder discomfort. McDermott, meanwhile, gave up four hits and walked four as he continues to struggle with command. McDermott has issued an astounding 22 walks in five games since the O’s optioned him back to Norfolk in late May. I guess we won’t be seeing him back in the majors anytime soon.
Double-A Chesapeake Baysox
- Last week: 2-4 at Erie SeaWolves (Tigers)
- Next opponent: vs. Altoona Curve (Pirates)
- Season record: 31-36, fourth place (13.0 GB) in Eastern League Southwest
The Baysox, taking on a first-place Erie team that will soon be getting a new name and mascot thanks to “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” were outscored 33-11 before a blowout win in the series finale. Offense was hard to come by for Chesapeake, with no batter collecting more than five hits or OPSing better than .769 this week. Creed Willems (#20 prospect) hit the only Baysox home run.
Enrique Bradfield Jr. (#3) reached base nine times, including three doubles, but had only one stolen base. Bradfield, who last year averaged 0.7 steals per game, has dropped to 0.4 this season, with 15 swipes in 40 games. He missed a month earlier this year with a left hamstring strain and then exited a game last week with right hamstring tightness. Let’s hope he’s got full use of his legs soon, because a Bradfield who can’t run at full speed isn’t a prospect at all.
Chesapeake’s pitching staff wasn’t any better than the offense, posting an ugly 6.30 ERA and a league-worst 1.90 WHIP for the week. Still, there was some good news on the pitching front when breakout right-hander Braxton Bragg, who had suffered a forearm strain that I feared would lead to something much worse, returned from his brief IL stint no worse for the wear. Bragg pitched well again, working an abbreviated 4.1-inning start, giving up one run and striking out five. Fellow prospects Nestor German (#8, tied) and Trey Gibson (#15, tied) were less successful, combining to allow seven runs and seven walks in 8.1 innings.
Reliever Keagan Gillies made another scoreless appearance, lowering his ERA to 1.24 with a .137 opposing batting average and 0.62 WHIP in 24 games. I continue to wonder why the 27-year-old wasn’t promoted to Triple-A weeks ago.
High-A Aberdeen IronBirds
- Last week: 1-5 vs. Brooklyn Cyclones (Mets)
- Next opponent: at Hub City Spartanburgers (Rangers)
- Second half record: 1-2, tied for fourth place (1.0 GB) in South Atlantic League North
- Overall season record: 25-43
The first half of the South Atlantic League schedule ended on Thursday, midway through the IronBirds’ series against the Cyclones. Aberdeen finished that half with a 24-41 record, the worst of the league’s 12 teams. But the records reset at the halfway mark, so it’s a clean slate as the IronBirds hope for a better performance in the second half.
To do so, they’ll need to generate some more offense than they have for most of the season, including this week. A whopping nine of Aberdeen’s 13 hitters batted below .200 for the week, and the team as a whole batted .152 with a .458 OPS. That dropped the IronBirds’ season batting average to a league-worst .213. They’re also in last place in homers (25) and SLG (.306). Anderson De Los Santos led the team in hits this week with a meager four, and was the only player to homer. On the plus side, the IronBirds did draw 25 walks, including seven by Austin Overn and six by Jake Cunningham.
Last year’s first round pick Vance Honeycutt (#4 prospect) continued to look hopeless, going 1-for-23 with 12 strikeouts. Honeycutt is slashing .188/.309/.290 with two homers in 58 games. It’s grim. Hopefully the O’s development folks have some ideas they’re working on with him, because he appears to be in desperate need of a major offensive overhaul.
Aberdeen’s pitching standout of the week was righty Michael Forret (#8, tied), who threw eight innings in his two starts with only an unearned run of damage. He’s continuing to ramp up his workload after he missed all of May with a back injury. He went five scoreless, one-hit innings on Sunday and has a 1.34 ERA in nine starts this year.
Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds
- Last week: 1-5 at Hickory Crawdads (Rangers)
- Next opponent: vs. Carolina Mudcats (Brewers)
- Second half record: 0-3, tied for fifth place (3.0 GB) in Carolina League North
- Overall season record: 27-42
Just like Aberdeen, Delmarva finished the first half on Thursday. The Shorebirds were 27-39, far out of contention but not last place, so…yay? Their start to the second half hasn’t gone well, with three straight losses to the Crawdads to end the series.
Pitching continues to be a struggle for the Shorebirds, who have the worst season ERA (4.68) in the 12-team Carolina League. Their defense isn’t exactly doing them any favors, either; Delmarva allowed 11 unearned runs this week and have given up a league-worst 66 this season. The Shorebirds have committed 106 errors in 69 games! That’s an average of 1.5 per game. I know that Low-A baseball isn’t exactly top quality, but yikes.
Rght-handers Yeiber Cartaya and Jacob Cravey had similar starts. Each pitched five innings with seven strikeouts and only one hit allowed. Righty Chase Allsup had a weird series. He was charged with only one earned run in 6.2 innings, but he also gave up four unearned runs, six hits, and six walks.
At the plate, catcher Yasmil Bucce, the team’s best hitter, reached base nine times this week and homered. His numbers have tailed off a bit this month but he’s still rocking an .850 OPS for the year. Outfielder Nate George has picked right up in Delmarva where he left off in the Florida Complex League, leading the Shorebirds with seven hits and homering this week. George has a .954 OPS between the two levels.
**
Lots of players got strong consideration for last week’s player of the week poll, with each of the four candidates receiving at least 12% of the vote, but Nate George won with a 36% plurality. It’s his first win, join fellow one-timers Brandon Young, Vance Honeycutt, Alex Pham, Adam Retzbach, Samuel Basallo, Yasmil Bucce, Trey Gibson, and Dylan Beavers. The only two-time winner is Braxton Bragg.
We’re back to a one-on-one poll this week. Who’s your choice?