The minor league seasons are starting to wind down. High-A and Low-A have just one week remaining; Double-A has two. None of the Orioles’ affiliates are going to be playing in the postseason or even finish the year with a winning record. Even with the understanding that minor league win-loss records aren’t the most important aspect of developing talent, that still stinks.
Still, there are some individual prospects for O’s to get excited about, including this notable promotion news: Enrique Bradfield
Jr., the Orioles’ top prospect still in the minors, has been promoted to Norfolk for the season’s final month, per MASN’s Roch Kubatko. Bradfield has battled hamstring injuries all season but has been healthy and productive since returning to the lineup Aug. 12, slashing .293/.388/.414 with 12 stolen bases in 14 games for Double-A Chesapeake in that span. He’ll get a taste of Triple-A this year and will start next season at that level, and if it goes well he could be in line to make his MLB debut sometime next season.
As we do every Tuesday on Camden Chat, let’s check out some other minor league developments from last week.
Triple-A Norfolk Tides
- Last week: 1-5 at Gwinnett Stripers (Braves)
- Next opponent: vs. Nashville Sounds (Brewers)
- Second half record: 26-29, sixth place (12.0 GB) in International League East
- Overall season record: 56-72
The Tides had been red-hot in August — starting the month 16-5 — but the Stripers put an end to that by winning five of the six games, with Norfolk staving off a sweep in the finale. Still, a 17-10 record is nothing to sneeze at, and was Norfolk’s best month of the year.
This week the Tides’ biggest problem was a lack of offense, which is understandable, considering their lineup no longer has Samuel Basallo or Dylan Beavers and instead is filled with journeymen and organizational players. The most runs they scored in a game this week was six, and in all others they scored four or fewer. The addition of Bradfield hopefully will spark the lineup, but in the meantime their best hitter this week was first baseman TT Bowens, who bopped both of Norfolk’s home runs. Bowens and a rehabbing Jorge Mateo were the only Tides with as many as five hits. Outfield prospect Jud Fabian went 2-for-19 with 10 strikeouts.
It was also a rough week for Tides starting pitchers, who combined for a 9.64 ERA. The best outing was a quality start by a rehabbing Tyler Wells in his final tune-up before he returns to the majors tonight. But remember Trey Gibson’s magnificent Triple-A debut a couple weeks ago? It, uh, has not gone well for him since then. He made two starts this week and lasted only three innings each time, getting torched for seven runs and 10 hits on Tuesday and another four runs and seven hits Sunday. Gibson has a 13.03 ERA in his last three outings. Right-hander Levi Wells also made his Triple-A debut this week and couldn’t find the strike zone, issuing five walks and a HBP in 1.2 innings. There’s going to be an adjustment period for both these guys.
Right-handed prospect Chayce McDermott, now a reliever, had two scoreless outings this week, completing an excellent August in which he allowed just one earned run in 10.1 innings and struck out 13. I say call him up to the Orioles’ bullpen and see what he can do. McDermott certainly has more upside than some of the waiver-wire fodder currently filling out the Birds’ relief crew.
Double-A Chesapeake Baysox
- Last week: 4-2 at Reading Fightin Phils (Phillies)
- Next opponent: vs. Harrisburg Senators (Nationals)
- Second half record: 23-34, sixth place (10.0 GB) in in Eastern League Southwest
- Overall season record: 54-70
Two weeks remain in Chesapeake’s season and they’ll now play without Bradfield, who went 5-for-21 with a pair of doubles in his final series for the Baysox. Heading up to Norfolk alongside Bradfield is outfielder Reed Trimble, who went out of Chesapeake with a bang, crushing three home runs and driving in nine in five games this week. Catching prospect Creed Willems missed most of the week but returned for the finale.
Two of the Orioles’ high 2024 draft picks, second-rounder Ethan Anderson and third-rounder Austin Overn, are fairly new to Double-A. Overn batted an impressive .304/.333/.522 with a homer and two doubles this week, while Anderson was just 3-for-20 with no extra-base hits. They’ll soon be joined by another 2024 draftee, Griff O’Ferrall, who has been promoted from High-A Aberdeen, along with outfielder Thomas Sosa.
Baysox pitchers had an impressive series, posting a cumulative 2.77 ERA and a .183 opponents’ BA that was the best in the Eastern League for the week. Nearly every pitcher put up a decent performance, including starters Luis De León, Zach Fruit, Nestor German, Blake Money, and Juaron Watts-Brown, who combined for a 2.20 ERA and 37 strikeouts to just six walks. Watts-Brown, acquired in the Seranthony Domínguez trade, had his best start since joining the organization, one-hitting the Fightin Phils over six innings, fanning seven. German also threw a quality start, striking out seven and walking none. De León and Money each fanned eight.
The only starter not to join in on the fun was breakout prospect Michael Forret, who gave up three runs in 3.2 innings before leaving the game with left knee discomfort. If that was the end of Forret’s season, it was a great one, with a 1.58 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, and 11.1 K/9 in 19 games across two levels for the 2023 14th-round pick.
High-A Aberdeen IronBirds
- Last week: 3-3 vs. Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies)
- Next opponent: at Wilmington Blue Rocks (Nationals)
- Second half record: 29-30, fourth place (11.5 GB) in South Atlantic League North
- Overall season record: 53-71
Yesterday, Aberdeen hosted affiliated Orioles baseball for the last time. The IronBirds will play one final series on the road to wrap up the 2025 season, and next year the O’s High-A affiliate will move back to its former home in Frederick. Aberdeen is expected to become the new home city of the unaffiliated MLB Draft League team that’s currently playing in Frederick.
Shortstop Edwin Amparo filled up the stat sheet in his second week with the IronBirds: five hits, five runs, two doubles, a triple, a home run, four walks, and six stolen bases. He did a little bit of everything. Nate George, who’d been off to a slow start at Aberdeen, took a step in the right direction with a 7-for-18 week and his first High-A homer.
Alas, I must also mention Vance Honeycutt’s week: he went 1-for-16 with seven more strikeouts, bringing his season total to 168. At least he also walked five times? I dunno, I’m grasping at straws here. Griff O’Ferrall also had a lousy week, going 2-for-20 to lower his OPS to .617, but was moved up to Double-A anyway.
Only one IronBirds pitcher worked even five innings this week: Michael Caldon, who gave up two runs and struck out seven. A bunch of recent trade acquisitions had mixed performances. Boston Bateman, the prize lefty from the Ryan O’Hearn/Ramón Laureano trade, walked five batters in a wild three-inning start. But Tanner Smith, the least heralded of the six prospects from that deal, struck out all six batters he faced this week. Welington Aracena (Gregory Soto trade) struck out six in four shutout innings of one-hit ball, though he walked four. Chandler Marsh (Cedric Mullins trade) worked two hitless, scoreless frames.
Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds
- Last week: 5-1 at Carolina Mudcats (Brewers)
- Next opponent: vs. Lynchburg Hillcats (Guardians)
- Second half record: 22-37, sixth place (10.0 GB) in Carolina League North
- Overall season record: 49-76
An excellent week of pitching led the Shorebirds to their most successful series of the year. They held the Mudcats to three or fewer runs in all five of their wins. No starting pitcher gave up more than two runs, though none worked six innings. Right-hander Carson Dorsey had the best outing of the bunch with 5.2 innings of one-run ball. He struck out six and didn’t walk anyone. Delmarva’s relief work was solid, too, especially Joe Glassey, who pulled a Tanner Smith and struck out all six batters he faced.
The Orioles’ top 2025 draft picks had different levels of success this week. First-round pick Ike Irish slumped, going just 3-for-19, while Wehiwa Aloy launched his second homer as part of a six-hit series. Bad news for Caden Bodine, the Birds’ #30 overall pick, who went on the IL with a bruised hand that will cost him the final week of the season. He finished his brief professional debut with a .326/.408/.349 line in 11 games.
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You guys, last week we had the closest player of the week vote in our five years running this feature. Enrique Bradfield Jr. won the polling by a single vote, 91 to 90, over Wehiwa Aloy. (Nestor German finished a distant third with 37.) Never think that your vote doesn’t matter! With that, Bradfield finally won his first player of the week honors this season. Better late than never. He joins fellow one-time winners Brandon Young, Vance Honeycutt, Alex Pham, Adam Retzbach, and Yasmil Bucce. Samuel Basallo and Dylan Beavers each won three times, and Braxton Bragg, Nate George, and Trey Gibson are two-time winners.
There weren’t a ton of candidates this week — plenty of players had solid enough performances, but few were extraordinary — so it’ll be just a two-man poll. Choose your favorite, and remember, every vote counts.
