Elsewhere, Trey Gibson rolled for Chesapeake, and Nate George kept on rocking for Delmarva.
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.
Here’s how things went for the affiliates over the last week:
Triple-A Norfolk Tides
- Last week: 1-3 vs. Durham (Rays); two games postponed until September
- Next opponent: at Jacksonville (Marlins)
- Second half record: 4-6, eighth place (four games back) in International League East
Typically, I begin the Norfolk section with the Samuel Basallo report, but for this past week it must be the Dylan Beavers report instead. In just four games, the outfield prospect added eight hits to his season tally, including two homers and a double, and he stole a base too. The 23-year-old Beavers is now batting .319/.407/.504 across 64 games this season, with ten homers, plus 19 steals. If a major league outfielder is traded between now and the end of the month, that should provide the opportunity to get Beavers up to Baltimore.
Now for Basallo. It wasn’t good. He had one hit in 12 at-bats and drew no walks. That’s still better than Heston Kjerstad, who continued a downward spiral with 1-13 hitting across three games played. Hopefully Basallo’s not starting a prolonged slump here.
Of the starting pitchers for this series, Cameron Weston posted the best ERA, allowing just two runs in a six inning start. However, he was probably lucky not to end up worse than that, because he walked five guys and gave up five hits. Fellow starting pitching prospect Chayce McDermott only walked two guys in five innings – great progress for him – though he still gave up four runs in five innings anyway.
Others
- IF Jeremiah Jackson – He’s still on a heater, going 8-18 for the week, just like Beavers. Main difference is Jackson didn’t add any homers. OPSing .848 through 71 games.
- RHP Keagan Gillies – 27-year-old reliever threw a scoreless inning in his Norfolk debut, with two walks allowed. He’ll be representing the Orioles in the All-Star Futures Game.
Double-A Chesapeake Baysox
- Last week: 2-4 at Richmond (Giants)
- Next opponent: vs. Reading (Phillies)
- Second half record: 3-9, sixth/last place (six games back) in Eastern League Southwest
The other Orioles prospect who’s headed to the All-Star Futures Game is Enrique Bradfield, the speedy outfielder who’s walked more than he’s struck out this season. He only played two games this week. I don’t know what that’s about. It was still enough time to grab three hits, walk twice, and steal a base. Bradfield’s total for Chesapeake in 35 games: .255/.393/.364, with 14 stolen bases.
After a June slump, Creed Willems started off the month of July with some better batting, rolling to 8-17 hitting with a pair of doubles over five games. He added three walks as well, which makes a 1.179 OPS for the week. Pretty good!
Pitching prospect Trey Gibson turned in an excellent outing with the Baysox over this past series, striking out six guys over seven shutout innings where he allowed just one hit. That’s dominance. He’s now sporting a 2.05 ERA and sub-1 WHIP through five starts at this level. Things went much less well for Nestor German, who needed two starts to reach seven innings and gave up seven runs (six earned) in the process.
Others
- RHP Braxton Bragg – Placed on the injured list with “recurrent right forearm discomfort;” he’d already been on the IL in June with a forearm strain. I worry this is all windup for needing Tommy John surgery.
Chesapeake season-to-date stats.
High-A Aberdeen IronBirds
- Last week: 2-4 at Greensboro (Pirates)
- Next opponent: vs. Jersey Shore (Phillies)
- Second half record: 6-9, fifth place (five games back) in South Atlantic League North
In accordance with my tradition, the Aberdeen section begins with: How many times did Vance Honeycutt strike out this week? Most weeks, the answer is not fun. This week, there’s no exception to that rule. Honeycutt struck out ten times in 18 at-bats, so it’s not even much fun that he hit a homer – just his third of the season.
Infielder Griff O’Ferrall, the next guy drafted by the Orioles after Honeycutt, did better over six games, collecting six hits, including a double and a triple, plus three walks and two stolen bases. I’ll take that. My guy Aron Estrada also added six hits, one of which was his fourth homer of the season.
This week marked the return to the mound for Zach Fruit, who’s been on Chesapeake’s injured list since mid-April. That’s still true but now he’s on a rehab assignment one level lower. Fruit tossed four scoreless innings with one hit, one walk, and one hit batter; he struck out five guys. Michael Forret followed Fruit in relief, giving up two runs (one earned) on two hits and two walks over a two-inning outing.
Others
- OF Thomas Sosa – 20-year-old was promoted here two weeks ago; 5-17 hitting including a homer in his second week at the level
- LHP Luis De León – Rough outing for the 22-year-old, four runs allowed in 4.1 innings
- RHP Carter Baumler – I noticed he’d been doing well, which may have cursed him; four runs surrendered in 3.2 innings over two outings this week
Aberdeen season-to-date stats.
Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds
- Last week: 2-4 vs. Fredericksburg Nationals
- Next opponent: at Fayetteville (Astros)
- Second half record: 4-11, sixth/last place (6.5 games back) in Carolina League North
Last week, I declared that Delmarva is the Nate George show until further notice. Last year’s 16th round pick continued his torrid arrival at the Low-A level, notching eight hits, including three doubles, across five games. George also stole four bases. He’s got a .989 OPS and 13 stolen bases just since arriving. Pretty good!
George didn’t even have the best OPS by a Shorebirds player this week, with Joshua Liranzo dropping two doubles and a homer across 17 at-bats. He’s another recent arrival to Low-A, though unlike George he wasn’t wrecking things immediately. Still rolling with Delmarva is Yasmil Bucce, who’s been doing good things all season long and added two more homers over the course of this past week.
One might fairly wonder how the Shorebirds went only 2-4 for the week with all of that good stuff happening and the answer is a lot of pitchers had a bad time. No need to dwell on it. Not all of the news was bad, with 22-year-old Yeiber Cartaya tossing six shutout innings where he struck out seven batters.
Others
- C Colin Tuft – Last year’s eighth round pick, a catcher, picked up five hits in five games, including a homer, and he drew four walks too
Delmarva season-to-date stats.
Florida Complex League Orioles
The FCL Orioles beat their Twins counterparts yesterday to improve to 25-18 on their season. This team is in second place in its division, three games back of those same Twins. Hard-throwing young righty Keeler Morfe, who’s been on Delmarva’s IL since April, started a rehab assignment here yesterday, allowing two runs (one earned) in two innings.
Continuing strong performance here for the FCL squad is 19-year-old Cuban outfielder Jordan Sanchez, who is batting .295/.433/.536 through 39 games at this level.
**
In a four-way poll in last week’s article, Delmarva outfielder Nate George became our second repeat winner of the year by taking a strong 62% majority of the vote. The other two-time winner is Braxton Bragg. Single-week winners: Brandon Young, Vance Honeycutt, Alex Pham, Adam Retzbach, Samuel Basallo, Yasmil Bucce, Trey Gibson, and Dylan Beavers.
Will there be another repeat winner this week? Three of the four players on the poll below have won previously, so the chances are likely that there will be. The choice is ultimately up to you.