The promotions have begun. If you were waiting to go see this year’s possible breakout pitching prospect Joseph Dzierwa in Frederick, tough luck, because he’s headed to Double-A. You’ll have to find him now in Bowie, where the team that once called itself Bowie and now calls itself Chesapeake plays its home games. We can hope this is the start of a summer full of prospects playing so well that they practically have to be promoted. Dzierwa may just be the first to go from Frederick to Chesapeake within
this season.
These weekly updates focus on the team’s top prospects, particularly those on Camden Chat’s composite top 20 Orioles prospect list from before the season. They also include other guys who interest me who might develop into prospects over time. I do not tend to spend much time on non-prospect journeymen, though one never knows who might turn into the next Jeremiah Jackson. Or even, over the long haul, whether someone turning into Jackson is worth all that much to the franchise.
Here’s how things went this week:
Triple-A Norfolk Tides
- Last week: 3-3 at Charlotte (White Sox)
- Coming week: at Jacksonville (Marlins)
- Season record: 18-27, last place (9 GB) in International League East
Norfolk has been simultaneously playing host to the rehab assignments of Jackson Holliday and Heston Kjerstad. The infielder may finally be settling back in to a good groove on this latest assignment; though he had 4-17 hitting, that included a triple and a homer, plus three walks, so it was a good OPS. Kjerstad, on the other hand, had 6-22 batting, with only one double, and no walks, so at .591 his OPS looks much worse.
Tougher to find real prospects in this lineup, particularly with Enrique Bradfield not having played since April 21. One other outfielder made his way back from the IL over this week. That’s Reed Trimble, who is on the 40-man roster right now. Trimble was back for two games and that was enough time for him to hit two home runs. Offseason acquisition Payton Eeles batted 15 times across five games, picking up five hits and five walks. Eeles is now sitting at a .327/.465/.364 line for the season. Gotta like the OBP, even if you also gotta be skeptical he’ll do anything like that at the next level when hitting for so little power.
More interesting are Norfolk’s pitching prospects, or at least they would be if they were pitching well. The trio of Nestor German, Trey Gibson, and Levi Wells each pitched four innings this week. Of these, only Gibson’s approximated something like acceptable, as he gave up one run on three hits and four walks. The others were much worse.
Others of interest
- C/1B Creed Willems – Not a great week for Creed, 5-19 with no walks, but he’s still OPSing .842 in 37 games.
Double-A Chesapeake Baysox
- Last week: 1-5 at Akron (Guardians)
- Coming week: vs. Somerset (Yankees)
- Season record: 15-23, fifth place (13 GB) in Eastern League Southwest
Not a good week for the Baysox as a team, but it was a good week for my guy Aron Estrada, so I’m going to tell you about him first. Eight hits in 19 AB, plus a couple of walks and a couple of stolen bases. These were his first two steals of the year. He’s got a .672 OPS after that hitting, so, I’d like to see more hot weeks. Mostly light-hitting infielder Griff O’Ferrall got in on the party as well, batting 6-19 with a pair of doubles, five walks, and three stolen bases. Don’t look at his season batting average. Dang it, I told you not to look.
It was mostly the offense that dragged the Baysox down this week, as they lost four games where they scored 3, 3, 2, and 1 runs apiece. Among pitching prospects worth following, things were mixed, with some decent things if you look only at the earned runs column. My honorary hyphenated cousin Juaron Watts-Brown tossed four scoreless, though he did walk four batters. Lefty pitching prospect Luis De León also had a zero in the ER column, though there were three unearned over a 3.1 inning start. This team has a 5.43 ERA. It’s not great.
Others of interest
- OF Thomas Sosa – 5-21 hitting for the week included a double and a homer. Now a .666 OPS for the season, which is nothing to be superstitious about except that it’s way below a number where he’d be more exciting.
- C/1B Ethan Anderson – Not one of his better weeks so far this season, batting 4-21, also with a double and a homer. Season OPS remains at .816 after 31 games.
Chesapeake season-to-date stats.
High-A Frederick Keys
- Last week: 6-0 at Hudson Valley (Yankees)
- Coming week: vs. Greenville (Red Sox)
- Season record: 25-13, first place (0.5 games ahead) in South Atlantic League North
There is one affiliate in the Orioles system that has been playing good baseball, and one affiliate only. It is this one. The Keys are winners of seven games in a row and 12 of their last 13. That’s good stuff. They will have to do it going forward without Joseph Dzierwa, since he got the promotion – certainly a deserved one. Dzierwa allowed two runs over five innings in his start this week, picking up six strikeouts. That almost feels disappointing compared to some of his earlier games. Over eight games with the Keys, he had a 2.21 ERA and 0.811 WHIP.
Hopefully they don’t have to do it without Ike Irish; this wasn’t a good week for last year’s first round pick anyway, but also he was removed from the last game of the week after being hit by a pitch on the hand. That is the kind of luck the Orioles are having in 2026. Geez.
Fellow high 2026 draft pick Wehiwa Aloy did not add to his double-digit home run total this week. He still had an excellent week at the plate overall, with nine hits, including a pair of doubles, across 21 at-bats. Leading the way for Frederick on the week, though, was Braylin Tavera. Still just 21 years old, this outfield prospect hit three homers and stole four bases this week, raising his season OPS to .792. Heading in the right direction there.
Dzierwa wasn’t the only Keys pitcher worth following over this past week. Twine Palmer, the pitcher from last July’s Ramón Urías deal, threw another scoreless game, allowing two hits and two walks over four innings. Boston Bateman from the Padres trade also had a zero in the earned run column, though he managed to walk five batters and gave up one unearned run over 4.2 innings.
Others of interest
- OF Vance Honeycutt – This week’s “How many times did Vance Honeycutt strike out?” answer is 11. Eleven times in 21 at-bats! I wanted that spring training stuff to mean something good for the future. It’s just not looking that way.
- 1B/DH Victor Figueroa – 6-22 hitting with nine runs driven in for the week. This big dude from the Padres trade last July is slugging .600 through 32 games. He’s 22, which is old to be a prospect at this level, but I’m keeping an eye on him anyway.
- RHP Yeiber Cartaya – This 6’5” Venezuelan righty is 23, old to be a pitching prospect at this level, but he’s got an 11.3 K/9 and sub-1 WHIP and it’s possible there’s some late blooming going on here.
Frederick season-to-date stats.
Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds
- Last week: 1-5 vs. Fayetteville (Astros)
- Coming week: at Wilson (Brewers)
- Season record: 14-25, last place (13 GB) in Carolina League North
It’s the 18- and 19-year-olds on this roster who are probably the ones worth watching; hopefully enough of them can actually do good things. For the youngest guy, outfielder Stiven Martinez (turns 19 in August), this was a good week, as he hit two home runs to give him three on the season. After 25 games in his first taste of a full-season affiliate, he’s hitting .242/.308/.411. A tougher week for another young guy, DJ Layton, who struck out 10 times in 20 AB.
The pitching prospect on this roster who came into the season with the most hype was Esteban Mejia. Like Keeler Morfe before him, I’m just not seeing it in the actual results so far. Mejia walked three guys in a 3.2 inning start where he gave up four earned runs, and has now walked 25 batters in 22.1 innings. No, really, that’s more walks than innings pitched. That takes some work.
Others of interest
- LHP Caden Hunter – A sixth round pick from USC last year, Hunter is old for this level, so it’s only worth so much, but still: Two starts this week, just one hit and three walks allowed over 8.2 innings. 0.95 ERA and 0.842 WHIP for the season.
Delmarva season-to-date stats.
Player of the week
With the option to create polls in The Feed, we are able to once again proclaim a fan-voted minor league player of the week.
Last week, you voted Aloy to be the player of the week. No surprise! He hit five homers. Irish was the choice in the first poll the week before that. Maybe a player from somewhere other than Frederick will win this week? The choice is yours. Vote below:
Tuesday’s Scheduled Games
- Norfolk: at Jacksonville, 7:05. Starter: TBD
- Chesapeake: vs. Somerset, 6:35. Starter: TBD
- Frederick: vs. Greenville, 6:00. Starter: JT Quinn
- Delmarva: at Wilson, 7:05. Starter: Esteban Mejia
