This time a year ago, there was essentially no joy to be found in following the Orioles unless you were looking down to the farm. The 2026 Orioles have avoided reaching that point before the calendar turned to June and hopefully they will continue to do so. One reason I hope this is because I want them to win. The other is that there’s not a ton of joy going on in this farm system performance right now.
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.
Here’s how things went this week:
Triple-A Norfolk Tides
- Last week’s record: 2-3 vs. Durham (Rays)
- This week’s opponent: at Gwinnett (Braves)
- Season record: 22-35, last place (13 GB) in International League East
Depending on who is playing and who is resting on a given night, the Norfolk lineup can look awfully barren. Tommy Pham is on this team now, for crying out loud. He went 5-24 this week. I hope there’s no need to see him with the Orioles.
Not everything is sad. Catcher-ish prospect Creed Willems played in four of the five Tides games, homering twice and driving in nine runs across the rain-interrupted series. He’s got 47 games for Norfolk and is batting .272/.358/.488. I don’t know what would have to happen for him to end up on the major league roster this season, but that’s mighty interesting hitting. Willems has 11 homers. Only two MLB Orioles are in double digits, and the team leader, Gunnar Henderson, isn’t even hitting well in spite of the homers.
Heston Kjerstad is no longer a rehabbing big leaguer but instead something of an erstwhile one. Maybe more of a Once and Future Oriole, one of the lesser known T.H. White works. He went 6-17 across four games played, with three doubles. Let’s see some more and go from there.
The season began with a trio of pitching prospects worth following here. Trey Gibson spent time in Baltimore this week and didn’t pitch for Norfolk. Levi Wells is now on the injured list after needing core muscle surgery. That leaves Nestor German. He blanked the Bulls across six innings, allowing just a hit and two walks. As I just wrote for Kjerstad, let’s see some more and go from there.
Others of interest
- IF Payton Eeles – The 5’5” king had two hits in 9 AB, he’s still OPSing .883 in 28 games with the Tides
- LHP Andrew Magno – Two shutout innings this week, 0.81 ERA in 22.1 IP. I look at the sad parts of the Orioles bullpen and I wonder…
- RHP Yaqui Rivera – Kind of an overlooked guy because he’s only a reliever, but this 22-year-old tossed 3 scoreless innings for Norfolk this week and has done well between Chesapeake and Norfolk this year. Trading Tanner Scott and Cole Sulser to the Marlins may yet pay off for the Orioles.
Double-A Chesapeake Baysox
- Last week’s record: 3-2 at Erie (Tigers)
- This week’s opponent: vs. Akron (Guardians)
- Season record: 20-30, last place (14 GB) in Eastern League Southwest
All my returning readers, who are we looking at first here? That’s right, it’s my guy Aron Estrada! In this week’s instance, Estrada is a fun first guy to look at, because he smashed two dingers and hit three doubles as part of an 8-26 week at the plate. That’s a good series. It’s got his season OPS up to .751. I’d like to see a good June from him to get actually excited instead of just “for the bit” excited.
The Chesapeake lineup is now the home of two-thirds of the cursed top of the 2024 draft class. Ethan Anderson did not do very well this week, batting just 4-21. His OPS remains over .800, so hopefully it’s just one tough week. No-power prospect Griff O’Ferrall went 5-20, but he also drew four walks for a nice OBP for the week. O’Ferrall’s batting line of .179/.317/.305 is not good. If he found a way to bat like .250… but he probably won’t.
As you may recall, Chesapeake is now the home of early-season exciting pitching prospect Joseph Dzierwa. Now one level higher, Dzierwa is still racking up the strikeouts, grabbing nine in a 4.2 inning outing. I’d like to see these guys at least finishing five, but man, there’s something interesting going on there. He gave up two runs while allowing four hits and a walk.
Others of interest
- RHP Juaron Watts-Brown – My honorary hyphenated cousin was socked for nine runs in 7.1 innings across two starts this week. Between being injured and how he’s pitched since returning (8.41 ERA and 6.6 BB/9), 2026 could be going better.
- LHP Luis De León – He’s had some rough outings this year so while two runs (one earned) in 4.1 innings isn’t great, I’ll take it. Six strikeouts, four hits, two walks. He’s got to cut the 5.6 BB/9 over time.
- LHP Sebastian Gongora – I always have a soft spot for grinder non-prospects to maybe turn into something, and the 24-year-old Gongora (2 ER in 6.2 IP, 3.56 ERA in 10 starts) is moving in that direction.
High-A Frederick Keys
- Last week’s record: 3-3 at Jersey Shore (Phillies)
- This week’s opponent: vs. Hudson Valley (Yankees)
- Season record: 31-17, second place (0.5 GB) in South Atlantic League North
Let’s go down the checklist. Can I say something about Vance Honeycutt other than that he struck out a bunch of times? No, he struck out seven times in 14 AB. Can I say something fun about Wehiwa Aloy? No, he went 2-19. Okay, then what about Ike Irish? 3-17 with no extra-base hits. Yeah, but what about Nate George? No, remember, he’s on the injured list with an undisclosed illness. (sweating) Early-season sensation Victor Figueroa? 2-17 with nine strikeouts. Fine, then Braylin Tavera? 4-18. Hey, at least he stole three bases, giving him 16 on the season.
That was a depressing paragraph. On the plus side, I can say some nicer things about pitchers here, starting with the big man, Boston Bateman, from last July’s Padres trade. He’s been on a solid run since battling some command problems in early outings, and this past week notched a five inning start with two runs (one earned), striking out seven while walking two and giving up two hits. Just in his age 20 season, this lefty with an 11.1 K/9 through nine games is worth remembering.
Others of interest
- LHP Caden Hunter – Sixth round pick in last year’s draft started at Delmarva and just got promoted here. 4.1 scoreless innings with nine strikeouts in his first start at the level.
- RHP Kiefer Lord – Continuing to have a rough go of it now that he’s finally healthy and pitching, three runs allowed on six hits and three walks in three innings here.
Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds
- Last week’s record: 1-5 vs. Fredericksburg (Nationals)
- This week’s opponent: at Augusta (Braves)
- Season record: 17-34, last place (20 GB) in Carolina League North
The records of the minor league affiliates don’t really matter, but I don’t enjoy how many times I type “last place” each time I do one of these weekly recaps. 75% of the full-season farm teams are in the cellar of their leagues.
Norfolk’s Enrique Bradfield Jr. was rehabbing with the Shorebirds this week. He would have fit right in with that bit about Frederick’s hitters: He went 1-13, though he did manage to walk six times and steal three bases.
The one player who is both of an age where it’s interesting if he performs well at this level and actually performing well is shortstop DJ Layton, whose five games saw him go 5-16 with a homer, triple, double, five walks, and three stolen bases. It’s an .826 OPS so far this season, which is excellent for an age 19 player at this level.
There was some preseason hype about Esteban Mejia, a hard-throwing 19-year-old. Mejia is, currently, the #6 prospect on MLB Pipeline’s rankings. I’m going to guess he will dive in midseason updates; this past week saw him walk five guys in less than an inning of work and he’s somehow managed to walk more guys than he’s struck out (39-37) over ten starts.
Shorebirds season-to-date stats.
**
Your choice last week in the minor league player of the week poll was Eeles, who narrowly edged out Dzierwa. The week before that, we had a tie. Margins are slim. Make your vote count! Our winners so far this season are Eeles, Tavera, Hunter, Irish, and Aloy. There has yet to be a repeat winner. This week will not change that, because none of the previous winners are on the poll.
Vote here:
