Every Tuesday on Camden Chat, we check in on the latest goings-on in the Orioles’ minor league system. And as of yesterday, that system looks dramatically different.
The Orioles became sellers at the MLB trade deadline for the second straight season, swinging a series of deals yesterday that ranged from the expected (Taylor Ward) to the shocking (Adley Rutschman). After some pre-deadline posturing that the O’s might both buy and sell, they firmly committed to just one direction. For a team that was
at least marginally still in the postseason race, it’s a bummer to see key players sent packing, some directly to the Birds’ wild card competitors.
Orioles fans have no shortage of opinions about the club’s trade-deadline frenzy. Some may call it frustrating. Some may call it heartbreaking. Some may call it necessary, or a prudent bit of business. One thing it does accomplish is to infuse a somewhat lackluster O’s farm system with some highly regarded talent. Whether that’s worth the price of subtracting fan-favorite veterans like Rutschman from the major league team is a debate that will continue to rage.
Including the Dean Kremer trade last Friday, the Orioles added eight minor leaguers (plus MLB catcher Carlos Narváez) in their veteran sell-offs. Five of them are now ranked among the Birds’ top 30 prospects on MLB Pipeline, including their new #1 prospect, right-hander Anthony Eyanson, acquired from Boston in the Adley trade. The other prospects from the Rutschman deal, righty Kyson Witherspoon and outfielder Enddy Azocar, slot in at #7 and #8, respectively. Old friend Michael Forret, the righty reacquired from the Rays for Tyler Wells after being part of the Shane Baz trade over the winter, is #6. And 18-year-old outfielder Jhomnardo Reyes, the return from the Twins for Kremer, clocks in at #23.
The Ward trade with Seattle brought three right-handers — Alex Hoppe, Brock Moore, and Harrison Kreiling — who don’t crack the Orioles’ top 30. Hoppe, who has MLB experience, could join the Orioles’ bullpen right away.
Despite speculation that the Orioles might package some of their soon-to-be Rule 5-eligible minor leaguers to acquire major league help, the O’s ultimately didn’t trade away a single prospect aside from unranked righty Joe Glassey, a High-A relief pitcher. He went to the Nationals for Christian Franklin, a 26-year-old outfielder who will either join Triple-A Norfolk or report directly to the Orioles.
We’re going to be seeing some new names in these minor league box scores as the slew of new O’s prospects report to their affiliates this week. In the meantime, let’s check on how the holdovers have been doing.
Triple-A Norfolk Tides
- Last week: 1-5 vs. Worcester Red Sox
- Coming week: at Buffalo Bisons (Blue Jays)
- Second-half record: 9-22, last place (12.5 GB) in International League East
- Overall season record: 37-69
Things aren’t getting much better for the sad-sack Tides, who lost five straight after winning the series opener. They’ve got the worst record in the International League in the second half after doing the same in the first half, and their roster has very few players capable of providing immediate major league help.
The guys that you might’ve hoped would supplement the O’s roster by now have been underwhelming. Enrique Bradfield Jr. has just a .651 OPS for Norfolk after a 4-for-24 week. Catcher Creed Willems has a .771 OPS, which probably won’t be enough to get him called up considering his questionable defense behind the plate. The previously hot Heston Kjerstad collapsed to a 1-for-21 performance.
The lineup has recently gotten some reinforcements, at least, with the return of outfielder Reed Trimble and infielder Payton Eeles from injury. Trimble, returning from right hamstring discomfort, hit two homers this week but otherwise reached base just twice. Injuries have limited him to seven games at Triple-A this year. Eeles, who had been red hot for Norfolk before being sidelined at the end of May, returned with a 3-for-13 week.
The Tides have some newly promoted pitchers from Double-A on staff, lefty Luis De León and righty Juaron Watts-Brown, but for some reason not Joseph Dzierwa, whom the O’s declined to move up. De León pitched reasonably well in his Triple-A debut, allowing just one earned run in a 5.1-inning start, but Watts-Brown struggled badly with control, walking nine batters in 8.1 innings in two long relief outings.
Among the more experienced Triple-A pitchers, Trey Gibson gave up two runs in 4.2 innings and Nestor German allowed three runs (two earned) in five. They’ll soon be joined in the rotation by Michael Forret, who was teammates with both of them last year in High-A and Double-A.
Double-A Chesapeake Baysox
- Last week: 3-3 at Altoona Curve (Pirates)
- Coming week: vs. Harrisburg Senators (Nationals)
- Second-half record: 18-14, second place (4.5) in Eastern League Southwest
- Overall season record: 47-53
The Baysox brought the lumber in this series, scoring nine or more runs in four of their games (including one loss). They led the Eastern League with 44 runs this week. One key contributor was the newly promoted Victor Figueroa, part of last year’s Ryan O’Hearn/Ramón Laureano trade with San Diego, who continued to rake in his first week at Double-A. The 22-year-old first baseman went 8-for-24 with eight RBIs and a home run, his organization-leading 24th of the season. Figueroa’s prospect status is limited by his free-swinging ways — with a nearly 35% strikeout rate this year — but if he can continue his success in Double-A, he’s worth keeping an eye on.
Two other Baysox had eight or more hits: Aron Estrada, who boosted his season OPS to .803, and Griff O’Ferrall, who is still only at .620. Estrada, like Figueroa, had a homer and eight RBIs. And how about Brandon Butterworth? Another guy from that Padres trade, he just keeps hitting, reaching base 11 times this week. Since coming back from injury July 7, Butterworth is slashing a ridiculous .304/.400/.638 with five homers and 18 games. Also making his introduction to Double-A this week was top shortstop prospect Wehiwa Aloy. He had a 3-for-5 showing on Saturday but otherwise went 2-for-18.
Things are getting interesting in Chesapeake’s rotation, where lefty Caden Hunter authored one of the most dominant outings you’ll ever see — and in his Double-A debut, no less. He pitched seven phenomenal innings of scoreless, one-hit ball, racking up 10 strikeouts. Wowza! The 22-year-old has already laid waste to both Low-A and High-A in his first professional season, and he’s arrived at the next level with a bang.
Hunter was good enough even to overshadow the Orioles’ breakout pitching prospect, fellow lefty Joseph Dzierwa, who was plenty effective himself. Dzierwa tossed five innings with just an unearned run of damage, limiting Altoona to two hits. A Baysox rotation of Dzierwa, Hunter, and the newly acquired Anthony Eyanson could be a sight to behold. Not to be forgotten is Patrick Reilly, back from last year’s Tommy John surgery, who’s still shaking off the rust. He struck out eight batters in four innings but was torched for six runs and eight hits.
High-A Frederick Keys
- Last week: 1-4 vs. Wilmington Blue Rocks (Nationals)
- Coming week: at Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies)
- Second-half record: 18-16, third place (2.5 GB) in South Atlantic League North
- Overall season record: 59-39
This is a less intimidating offense for the Keys of late, with Figueroa and Aloy now up at Double-A and an injured Ike Irish out for the season. They’ll soon get a boost from the arrival of Enddy Azocar, who had an .885 OPS for the Red Sox High-A affiliate Greenville before yesterday’s trade. In the meantime, no Keys batter had more than four hits this week, but six guys hit home runs.
Two starting pitchers, Christian Rodriguez and Stephen Still, made their High-A debuts this week. The lefty Still struck out 11 batters in 5.1 strong innings, while the righty Rodriguez struggled a bit, allowing eight baserunners and four runs in five frames. And two new acquisitions, Kyson Witherspoon and Brock Moore, are likely to join Frederick’s pitching staff as well. Witherspoon, Boston’s first-round pick last season, is an intriguing arm with a five-pitch mix who needs to hone his command.
Before Witherspoon shows up, the Orioles’ highest ranked pitcher at this level is righty JT Quinn, who worked 5.2 innings with six strikeouts and no walks this week. Quinn is averaging 3.7 strikeouts for every walk, which is nice. Right-hander Yeiber Cartaya, who started the season with a 1.42 ERA in 10 games, has fallen on hard times with a 6.51 mark in eight appearances since.
Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds
- Last week: 1-5 vs. Hickory Crawdads (Rangers)
- Coming week: at Fredericksburg Nationals
- Second-half record: 13-23, fifth place (7.5 GB) in Carolina League North
- Overall season record: 36-66
If you’re wondering why the Shorebirds lost five out of six games, just know this: they gave up 59 runs this week. Yes, 59. In six games. They coughed up double digits in four of their losses, and punctuated their terrible series by surrendering nine runs in the top of the ninth in Sunday’s finale. Woof. But don’t blame it all on the pitching staff; a whopping 14 of those runs were unearned, because Delmarva’s defense is also terrible.
For the most part, the lousy performances came from non-prospects, but unfortunately the worst was suffered by Esteban Mejia, who entered the season as Delmarva’s best pitching prospect. The right-hander’s outing this week was nothing short of nightmarish. He faced six batters. All six reached base (five hits and a walk). All six scored. Mejia has an incomprehensible 9.35 ERA and 12.3 BB/9 in 16 starts this year. It’s only getting worse.
The Shorebirds offense was nothing to write home about, either, beyond Jaiden Lo Re’s team-leading six hits and six RBIs. We could see Jhomnardo Reyes join this squad. He spent most of the season with the FCL Twins but moved up to Low-A before the trade.
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Last week’s player of the week poll resulted in yet another first-time winner, Heston Kjerstad, who won an overwhelming 72% of the vote. In 12 weeks of polls, we’ve had 11 different winners, with Ike Irish the only one to do so twice. Kjerstad is joined by one-time winners Aron Estrada, Victor Figueroa, Payton Eeles, Braylin Tavera, Caden Hunter, Wehiwa Aloy, Jaiden Lo Re, Joseph Dzierwa, and Luis De León.
It’s a head-to-head poll between two Baysox this time. Could we have another first-timer this week, or our second repeat champ?
