Less fun: There was bad news for multiple Orioles on rehab assignments.
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.
Note that as of this past week, all of the full-season minor leagues are into the second half of the season. Records are reset, with first half winners locked in to postseason bids. Teams will now fight for the second half title in their respective leagues. A-ball teams have been in the second half for a week and a half now. Double-A and Triple-A joined them last week.
There was a lot going on across the farm, with three different Orioles on rehab assignments across two different levels. The news was not good on two of these players getting back in action soon.
Here’s how things went for the affiliates since last we spoke:
Triple-A Norfolk Tides
- Last week: 3-3 vs. Gwinnett (Braves)
- Next opponent: 3 home/3 away with Durham (Rays)
- Second half record: 3-3, seventh place (2 games back) in International League East
Samuel Basallo report: The guy only had two hits in 12 at-bats but STILL managed a .917 OPS for the week because he walked eight times and hit a homer. He won’t turn 21 until next month and this is his batting line this season: .264/.390/.569. He’s hit 16 home runs in 54 games, which is a 48 homer per 162 game pace. That’s the good stuff.
After a short absence from colliding with a teammate and hurting his shoulder, Dylan Beavers made it back in action over this week, playing in four games. Beavers had four hits, including a homer, drew three walks, and stole a base. He’s up to an .880 OPS for the season and is increasingly looking like a guy who should maybe get a shot if trade deadline activity opens up an outfield spot on the roster.
As has often been the case, the Tides were held back by their pitching. A couple of familiar names were part of that. Cade Povich started a rehab assignment and gave up five runs (three earned) over 4.1 innings. His assignment will apparently be paused due to continuing hip soreness, according to The Baltimore Banner’s Andy Kostka. A hip injury is what had Povich on the IL in the first place.
Chayce McDermott managed to walk five batters in only four innings, allowing three runs. Prospect Cameron Weston made a pair of starts, with some good things going on (12 strikeouts in 10.1 innings) and some not so good (six runs, five earned, four walks plus two hit batsmen).
Others to note, for good or ill
- IF Jorge Mateo – 6-13 with a homer and two stolen bases as he played on a rehab assignment. However, Mateo left Sunday’s game due to a sore hamstring.
- IF Jeremiah Jackson – Strong hitting for a second straight week – nine hits in six games, with two homers
- OF Heston Kjerstad – Continued to scuffle since his demotion, 3-20 with no XBH and eight strikeouts
Double-A Chesapeake Baysox
- Last week: 1-5 vs. Altoona (Pirates)
- Next opponent: 3 away/3 home with Richmond (Giants)
- Second half record: 1-5, last place (4 games back) in Eastern League Southwest
This was a grim week for Baysox hitters, among whom was big league rehabber Tyler O’Neill, who by virtue of hitting a homer in his 3-15 batting was one of the better Chesapeake batters for the week. He struck out seven times. No need to rush that rehab. One guy who was an exception to the struggle was Silas Ardoin, who packed five hits, including two doubles and a triple, into just three games.
Deep in the pack of strugglers was Creed Willems, who’s hit a brutal slump in the month of June and took an 0-17 over the five games he played this week. Hopefully he can return closer to his April and May form as the calendar turns to July.
Turning to the pitching, one guy of interest earlier in the year was Braxton Bragg. His season was interrupted shortly by a forearm strain; this was Bragg’s second start back from the IL. Over 3.2 innings, Bragg allowed three runs on seven hits. There will be better ones, presumably. Good strikeout/walk numbers at 5-0. Blake Money, brother of Cash (really), got that even better with an 8-0 over a five inning start where he allowed just one run. Money’s first AA outing was rough, so if he settles in from there, that will be a plus.
Others
- RHP Levi Wells – 2023 fourth rounder tossed five scoreless innings with only one hit and one walk allowed; 2.91 ERA and 1.21 WHIP in 12 games at this level
- RHP Nestor German – Two runs allowed in 5.2 innings; like Money and Bragg, no walks allowed. 3.84 ERA and 1.21 WHIP in 13 games
Chesapeake season-to-date stats.
High-A Aberdeen IronBirds
- Last week: 3-3 at Hub City (Rangers)
- Next opponent: 3 away/3 home with Greensboro (Pirates)
- Second half record: 4-5, tied-third place (3 games back) in South Atlantic League North
As is my custom, the Aberdeen section begins with this question: How many times did Vance Honeycutt strike out this week? The answer is depressing most weeks and this is no exception: Honeycutt struck out 11 times in 18 at-bats, recording just one hit.
Whatever is going on here with last year’s first rounder is not working out yet. Nor, particularly, for the two guys drafted after Honeycutt. Griff O’Ferrall was 4-16 with no extra-base hits, though at least he stole three bases. Ethan Anderson was 0-8 across three games.
Better news for anyone who’s joined me on the … hype train isn’t really the right word for my mild but continuous interest in Aron Estrada, I don’t know, maybe it’s more of an automated airport walkway? Anyway: Estrada cracked two dingers in five games this week, and he walked six times, and he stole two bases, so this 20-year-old infielder is now batting .279/.360/.415 for the season. He’s stolen 26 bases in 63 games! If the power continues, the walkway will be speeding up. Keep a steady hand on the railing.
Let’s admire some Michael Forret pitching numbers. He missed all of May with a back injury and the team has been moving him towards real workloads through June. Forret threw a short four innings over this past week and allowed just one run, with seven strikeouts to zero walks. Given how many pitching prospects the Orioles have had who walk too many dudes, I’m pumped from all the zeroes this week.
Others
- RHP Carter Baumler – Things are maybe at last coming together for the hard-luck righty in Aberdeen’s bullpen this year; over two games he pitched 3.2 scoreless innings, now sporting a 1.93 ERA in 12 games. Get him to AA and see if he’s worth a 40-man spot this offseason.
- OF Austin Overn – 5-19 hitting over the past week, all of which went for singles, but he did steal five bases and now has a .710 OPS and 32 steals for the season.
Aberdeen season-to-date stats.
Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds
- Last week: 2-4 vs. Carolina (Brewers)
- Next opponent: 3 home/3 away with Fredericksburg Nationals
- Second half record: 2-7, last place (5 games back) in Carolina League North
Until further notice, the Shorebirds are the Nate George show. The 19-year-old outfielder who the Orioles grabbed in the 14th round last year has continued to smoke the full-season competition over the past week, batting 8-19 with two doubles and three triples. It’s a .999 OPS in 15 games since being promoted here. Keep this up for much longer and that will be really interesting.
Another player who was promoted along with George, infielder Joshua Liranzo, turned in a strong week with 8-21 hitting, though only one of his hits went for extra bases. Liranzo doesn’t turn 19 until the middle of next month, so if he can find his footing in any way in full season ball this year, he’ll be a guy worth watching heading into next year.
Others
- C/1B Yasmil Bucce – The intriguing guy for Delmarva before George’s arrival is still doing fine; he batted 5-16 this past week with a pair of doubles, OPSing .847 for the year. Older than these other guys, turning 21 next month.
Delmarva season-to-date stats.
Florida Complex League Orioles
This team beat the Rays yesterday by a 3-2 margin to improve to 22-17 on the season. They’re in second place in their division, trailing FCL Twins by four games.
One big standout among the players who are still at the FCL level is outfielder Jordan Sanchez, a 19-year-old from Cuba signed by the O’s for a $450,000 bonus late in the 2023 signing period. Sanchez added another two hits yesterday, has tallied nine hits and three walks over his last five games, and is batting .295/.433/.526 across 34 games at this rookie level.
There is also a freshly-minted Baseball America top 100 prospect on this roster. Right-handed pitcher Esteban Mejia just checked in at #100 on BA’s updated list. Mejia, 18, struck out seven batters in a 4.2 inning start this past week. He’s got a 41/18 strikeout/walk ratio through 32.1 innings of FCL action.
FCL Orioles season-to-date stats.
**
In a two-way poll for the minor league player of the week last week, Norfolk’s journeyman Jeremiah Jackson took down the win with a 63-37 margin after a week where he had six extra-base hits and a 1.201 OPS.
Jackson joins a list of weekly winners that includes: Nate George, Brandon Young, Vance Honeycutt, Alex Pham, Adam Retzbach, Samuel Basallo, Yasmil Bucce, Trey Gibson, and Dylan Beavers. We have had just one repeat winner so far, Braxton Bragg.
Will there be another repeat winner this week? Multiple past winners did well enough to warrant inclusion on this poll, so the choice is in your hands.