SARASOTA—Before Saturday’s Orioles-Pirates game in Bradenton, manager Brandon Hyde was asked what he thought of the team’s top prospects.
Hyde has seen plenty of catcher/first baseman Samuel Basallo, the team’s second-ranked prospect who’s ranked 13th, according to MLB.com. He’s also watched outfielders Dylan Beavers, Enrique Bradfield Jr. and Jud Fabian.
On Tuesday, he saw left-handed pitcher Luis De Léon for the first time when he pitched against the New York Yankees in Tampa.
“There have been some highlights in camp for me,” Hyde said. “Basallo’s being one. A few of the pitchers that aren’t in camp with us, I’ve been extremely impressed with, and it’s so fun to watch these guys throwing upper 90s, 100. Those are huge arms, and that’s been fun to watch as well as the guys that were in camp with us, Bradfield, Beavers and Fabian. Those guys have a lot of talent.”
On Saturday night, 6,680 fans came to Ed Smith Stadium to watch the Orioles’ prospects beat the Yankees ‘prospects, 5-4, on Leandro Arias’ game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth.
What was good?
Arias, the Orioles’ 20th-ranked prospect, hit a two-out single that scored Austin Overn from third in the bottom of the ninth. Overn’s triple scored DJ Layton with the tying run.
“Very exciting, especially in that moment,” Arias said through a translator. “I felt like there was great energy all game, and I was very happy I was able to come through there.”
Vance Honeycutt, the Orioles’ top draft choice last season, hit an inside-the-park home run with two outs in the fourth off Carlos Lagrange, the Yankees’ 19th-ranked prospect. He was waved in from third by Single-A Delmarva manager Collin Woody
“I kind of got help with some wind, I guess, and then once I saw it drop, just keep running,” Honeycutt said. “And Woody gave me the go-ahead, so just try to keep running as fast as I could.”
After allowing a leadoff single to Enrique Bradfield Jr., who advanced to third on an errant pickoff throw and scored on a wild pitch, Lagrange retired 11 straight until Honeycutt’s home run.
Bradfield scored in the sixth when he singled, stole second, advanced to third on an infield out and scored on Dylan Beavers’ single.
It was a trying week for Bradfield, whose close friend, 25-year-old Isaiah Hood, whom he played baseball with growing up, was killed in a motorcycle accident.
“It’s been a challenging week … I had a friend who passed away on Wednesday so for me to come out here, it meant a lot to me personally,” Bradfield said. “To be able to give my Mom a hug and see how emotional she is, see my sister come out here. I played for my friend. It was tougher than I expected but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do so I hope he’s resting up there. It’s been a tough week for everybody that I’ve been around, my family, my friends, his family. Playing with a heavy heart.”
Patrick Reilly, the team’s 10th-ranked prospect, whom the Orioles obtained from Pittsburgh for utility player Billy Cook, pitched a 1-2-3 third and a scoreless fourth, walking two.
Basallo threw out Engelth Urena trying to steal third to end the second inning.
“He’s been super impressive, 900 total feet of homers is cool,” Villa said. “I think what’s been even more impressive is how he’s handling the limelight, the success and with that, comes handling your failures. He’s done a nice job of remaining even keel when he makes an out or has a bad at-bat or has had some tough pinch-hitting opportunities during spring training, which is always great for his development. Really pleased with the emotional maturity.”
Basallo has been impressive with the Orioles and will soon begin preparing for his season at Triple-A Norfolk.
“It was a really good highlight,” Basallo said through a translator. “And obviously, it’s a great way to finish off the spring. I’m really happy to be able to be here sharing the field with these guys, and I think it was a great thing to be able to get the win at the end of the day.
De Léon quickly retired the Yankees in the fifth.
“De Léon continues to grow in all facets of the game,” Villa said. “The velocity continues to tick up, the command. It’s a really slow heartbeat, which is great, a really calm presence, so it’s been really cool to see De Léon gets some action in a big league game and show really well.”
Nestor German, ranked 11th on the prospect list, pitched a scoreless sixth, aided by a nice running catch by Jud Fabian on T.R. Rumfield’s drive to right.
What wasn’t good?
Keeler Morfe, the Orioles’ starting pitcher lasted only seven batters in the first. He walked two, hit Spencer Jones, the Yankees’ third-highest prospect and allowed two hits, throwing 36 pitches.
“I was a little nervous, but it was a proud moment for me and my family,” Morfe said through a translator. “It was great to be able to come out here and be able to compete. Just going to keep working hard and hopefully the opportunity comes around next year to pitch in the Spring Breakout game, I’ll have some better results.”
The 18-year-old is 5-foot-8, and before the game, the Orioles’ player development director, Anthony Villa, said: “We’re excited for tonight. It’s going to be pressure-packed, so we’ll see how he does.”
“He’s so young and still so far away. The potential for anything is still out there. What specifically he needs to do. I’m not quite the expert in that area, but I think he has a tremendous future ahead of him with a lot of upside.”
Leftfielder Thomas Sosa, the Orioles’ 22nd-ranked prospect, misjudged Jones’ fly ball for a double, leading to the tying run.
Braxton Bragg allowed a run to score on a wild pitch in the eighth.
Best quote
“I’m going to be upset if a ball drops in the outfield tonight. We’ve got three centerfielders out there that can go get it with the best of them. We’ve been joking with them all week: ‘If the ball drops, then you’re going to hear it. We’re going to be doing football drills or something in practice.’ It’s a pretty incredible group.” –Villa on the Orioles’ outfield speed
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