This offseason, the Orioles had Baseball America’s top-ranked farm system for the primary time for the reason that publication started rating them in 1984. In whole, eight Baltimore prospects have been acknowledged among the many 100 finest in baseball.
On Monday, all these children who nonetheless have prospect eligibility moved up in Baseball America’s up to date rankings, and a slugger who’s scorching scorching on the plate was added to the checklist.
The group’s prime prospects — together with pitcher Grayson Rodriguez, shortstop Jackson Holliday and outfielder Colton Cowser — all bought modest bumps within the rankings. Double-A Bowie outfielder Heston Kjerstad, whose eight residence runs are tied for many amongst all Orioles minor leaguers this season, is ranked No. 98.
One main distinction within the present checklist in contrast with the one from January is that the Orioles not have the No. 1 prospect in baseball. After catcher Adley Rutschman topped the checklist in 2022, infielder Gunnar Henderson earned No. 1 prospect standing earlier this 12 months. But the 21-year-old is a daily within the main leagues and has graduated from prospect standing.
Rodriguez, who can also be within the majors however hasn’t pitched sufficient to graduate but, is now the group’s prime prospect and highest-ranked pitcher on the checklist, shifting up one spot to No. 5. Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio is the game’s new prime prospect, whereas St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker, Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz and New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe spherical out the highest 4.
The most vital leap for a Baltimore prospect was by the youngest Oriole to seem on the checklist. Holliday, the 19-year-old shortstop who was chosen first general within the 2022 MLB draft, leaped a number of prospects on the checklist, leaping eight spots to No. 7. Despite being one of many youngest gamers in High-A, Holliday has an .894 OPS in his first two weeks with Aberdeen after dominating at Low-A Delmarva.
Cowser, who’s slashing .304/.448/.509 in Triple-A, moved from No. 41 to No. 34. Left-handed pitcher DL Hall jumped eight spots to No. 67 as he continues creating with Norfolk, the place he has posted a 3.38 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings this 12 months. The stacked Triple-A infield of Jordan Westburg, Connor Norby and Joey Ortiz all bought bumps, now rating Nos. 68, 81 and 88, respectively.
Kjerstad, who has a whopping 1.044 OPS in Double-A, was principally left off prospect lists this offseason due to how a lot time the 2020 No. 2 general choose missed with coronary heart and hamstring illnesses. Now, he rounds out the Orioles’ prospect ranks and retains Baltimore on prime with eight gamers inside the highest 100, greater than every other group.
That deep farm system is why every week The Baltimore Sun will break down 5 of the highest performers within the Orioles’ prospect ranks and hand out some superlatives for many who didn’t make that reduce.
1. High-A Aberdeen first baseman Maxwell Costes
Maxwell Costes celebrated his promotion final week with a house run celebration. The Baltimore native was moved from Low-A Delmarva to High-A Aberdeen final week, and it didn’t take him lengthy to indicate he was prepared for the leap. Costes hit three residence runs in 4 video games for the IronBirds, blasting two in his second sport after which launching a grand slam in his third. The former University of Maryland and Gilman slugger tallied 9 RBIs final week, the second most of any participant within the Orioles’ minor league system. Costes was signed by the Orioles as an undrafted free agent final summer season after a distinguished school profession as the most effective hitters in Terps historical past. The 23-year-old hit .368 in six video games with Delmarva to earn his promotion to Aberdeen, the place he ended his first week 4-for-13 with three residence runs, 9 RBIs, two walks and a stolen base for a 1.500 OPS.
2. Double-A Bowie outfielder-second baseman Billy Cook
The solely participant on the farm to drive in additional runs final week than Costes was Cook. The 24-year-old additionally hit three residence runs — his first three of the season — to finish the week with a whopping 1.344 OPS, even beating out Kjerstad, who tallied 5 extra-base hits for a 1.158 OPS. Cook, a Tenth-round draft choose in 2021, was hitting .098 coming into Wednesday’s sport and had only one hit in his previous 35 at-bats. But the two-run residence run Wednesday propelled the outfielder-second baseman to a five-game hitting streak. Cook went 2-for-4 with a double Thursday, 1-for-4 with two RBIs Friday and compiled 5 hits, together with two homers, with six RBIs over the weekend.
3. Triple-A Norfolk infielder Jordan Westburg
Would it even be a minor league report with out together with Westburg? The 24-year-old continued his robust begin to the season to assist lead Norfolk to a 5-1 week and enhance the Tides’s report to 24-8. Westburg went 9-for-25 (.360 common) with three residence runs, six RBIs and three walks for a 1.189 OPS. He has a .988 OPS in 26 video games and ranks prime 10 within the International League in a number of offensive classes. His eight residence runs are tied with Kjerstad and Norfolk infielder Josh Lester for many amongst Baltimore minor leaguers.
4. High-A Aberdeen right-hander Daniel Federman
Federman had the most effective begins of any Orioles farmhand final week, and it was maybe one of the best outing of his skilled profession. The 6-foot-1 right-hander struck out 10 in simply 4 shutout innings Thursday, permitting two hits and two walks. It was Federman’s first time racking up double-digit strikeouts in a sport in his three-year skilled profession, as he sat down 62.5% of the batters he confronted. Federman, an undrafted free agent in 2021, has a 3.66 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 19 2/3 innings this season. In March, he competed within the World Baseball Classic for Team Israel alongside Orioles beginning pitcher Dean Kremer.
5. Triple-A Norfolk left-hander Drew Rom
The solely Orioles minor leaguer to strike out extra batters than Federman in a begin final week was Rom. The 23-year-old lefty struck out a career-high 11 of the 22 batters he confronted Wednesday, twirling six shutout innings whereas scattering two hits and three walks. Most of the opposite pitchers in Norfolk’s rotation have main league expertise, however Rom has been the Tides’ finest starter this 12 months. The 2018 fourth-round choose has a 4-1 report and a 2.87 ERA — the sixth-best determine in Triple-A — with 32 strikeouts in 31 1/3 innings.
The prime prospect not featured to date
Holliday’s second week in High-A went simply as his first week did. The shortstop went 7-for-20 with a double, two RBIs, 5 walks and three stolen bases for a .880 OPS. The group’s prime prospect nonetheless within the minors additionally prolonged his on-base streak to start the season to 23 accomplished video games. In these 23 contests between Delmarva and Aberdeen, Holliday is slashing .352/.487/.580 with a 1.066 OPS and extra walks (23) than strikeouts (22).
International acquisition of the week:
César Prieto struggled in his 90 video games in Double-A Bowie final season with a sub-.300 on-base proportion and a .643 OPS. In 25 video games this 12 months, Prieto has demonstrated the bat-to-ball expertise that earned the Cuban a signing bonus of $650,000 when he signed with the Orioles as a world free agent in January 2022. The infielder continued that final week, going 9-for-23 with two doubles and a house run. Prieto, who turns 24 this week, is hitting .364 with a .896 OPS this season.
Time to offer a shout-out to …
Aberdeen pitcher Ryan Long. The 6-foot-6 right-hander has been the most effective pitchers within the Orioles’ system this season with a 2.45 ERA and 0.82 WHIP in 18 1/3 innings with 23 strikeouts. Last week, Long continued his success with 4 innings of lengthy reduction Friday, placing out six and permitting three hits. Like Federman, Long additionally participated within the World Baseball Classic this spring, pitching for Team Great Britain.
Rays at Orioles
Tuesday, 6:35 p.m.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com