Sunday, the Orioles will add one other prime prospect to their farm system by the primary total decide within the MLB draft. Their current first-rounders nonetheless taking part in for his or her minor league associates all had nice weeks within the lead-up to a different one becoming a member of them.
Who precisely their first decide might be stays considerably of a thriller, with government vice chairman and basic supervisor Mike Elias saying this weekend the membership’s record of choices stays at 5 and can probably keep there till they should make the decide about 7 p.m. Sunday.
Not wanting to provide any benefits to the groups selecting behind Baltimore or the representatives who will negotiate the signing bonuses for these gamers, Elias has been understandably quiet about who the Orioles are contemplating. But it’s believed Baltimore’s quintet aligns with the 5 gamers considered as the very best obtainable on this draft class: Georgia highschool outfielder Druw Jones, Oklahoma highschool shortstop Jackson Holliday, Florida highschool outfielder Elijah Green, Georgia highschool second baseman Termarr Johnson and Cal Poly shortstop Brooks Lee.
It marks the ninth top-five choice Elias has been concerned with since 2012, courting to his time with the Houston Astros.
“We’ve done well, but we haven’t always hit the picks perfectly,” Elias mentioned Saturday. “But one thing that we have done is not give much of an indication of what we’re going to do. The way the system is set up, that’s beneficial.”
Some of the Orioles’ current prime picks starred this week, two of whom had been Elias’ choices. Each 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 lower.
1. Triple-A Norfolk left-hander DL Hall
Baltimore’s first-round decide in 2017, Hall has had an up-and-down tenure at Triple-A, together with a bout with pitch-tipping that led to a tough pair of begins to shut June. But he has emphatically moved previous that. On Wednesday, Hall struck out a career-high 14 in six innings, permitting a run on three hits and two walks. He induced 31 swinging strikes amongst his 98 pitches; for comparability, John Means’ 113-pitch, 12-strikeout no-hitter final season featured 26 swings and misses. Removing the 2 begins in opposition to Lehigh Valley the place he had tipping points, Hall has struck out greater than 44% of the batters he’s confronted in his different 10 begins for Norfolk.
2. Low-A Delmarva outfielder Heston Kjerstad
The narrative across the Orioles’ underslot drafting technique — taking a participant barely decrease within the rankings within the first spherical, signing them to a bonus beneath the slot worth and spreading these financial savings to proficient later-round picks — may actually change if Kjerstad retains producing as he has. The No. 2 decide within the 2020 draft has performed nothing however rake since getting back from the guts situation myocarditis and a left hamstring pressure, illnesses that saved him off the sphere for 2 years after his choice. After hitting .529 and strolling six occasions in opposition to two strikeouts final week for Low-A Delmarva, Kjerstad was promoted to High-A Aberdeen on Monday, leaving the Shorebirds with a batting line of .463/.551/.650 in 98 plate appearances.
3. Double-A Bowie outfielder Colton Cowser
Kjerstad’s promotion brings some high-draftee pedigree to Aberdeen that was misplaced when Cowser, Coby Mayo and Connor Norby had been bumped to Bowie. After a gradual begin to his first full skilled season, Cowser, final yr’s fifth total decide, appears to be discovering his footing. He hit .273/.360/.500 final week for the Baysox, with two doubles and a house run representing half of his hits. He’s nonetheless placing out an atypical quantity, however the outcomes in any other case counsel he’s on target.
4. Triple-A Norfolk second baseman Terrin Vavra
The success of Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg — now ranked as Baltimore’s No. 2 and 4 prospects, respectively, based mostly on Baseball America’s newest prime 100 — with Norfolk has followers clamoring for promotions, however Vavra is simply as deserving of, if no more prone to obtain, the possibility to debut. Already on Baltimore’s 40-man roster, Vavra has been dynamic as a table-setter for the Tides, persevering with this week with a .350 common, .458 on-base proportion and a good 4-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio. In 177 Triple-A plate appearances, Vavra is hitting .329 with an .888 OPS.
5. Double-A Bowie right-hander Garrett Stallings
On May 8, Stalling pitched the primary six innings of a mixed no-hitter for Bowie. Over his subsequent eight begins, he had a 16.96 ERA, permitting 16 dwelling runs in 26 innings. Acquired from the Los Angeles Angels together with right-hander Jean Pinto for shortstop José Iglesias, Stallings has now thrived in two straight bulk reduction outings. After placing out 10 in 4 one-run frames, Stallings threw six shutout innings out of the bullpen for Bowie on Friday. Pinto can also be on a pleasant run at Aberdeen, with a 1.24 ERA over his previous seven appearances.
The prime prospect not featured up to now
With Adley Rutschman’s commencement from prospect standing, right-hander Grayson Rodriguez is now the Orioles’ prime prospect. His injured proper lat has price him the title of the sport’s consensus prime pitching prospect, with Tampa Bay’s Shane Baz shifting above him in Baseball America’s rankings. Although he’s progressing effectively, it’s nonetheless uncertain Rodriguez returns earlier than September, which means he’ll probably stay a prospect by the offseason. Elias mentioned reimaging of the harm final week “looked great, as good as it could have.”
“Things are trending well, but we still have stuff to go,” Elias mentioned. “We still do not have a timetable yet, either, just because of the nature of these lat injuries. We’re not at a sort of checkpoint where we’d start scripting that out.”
International acquisition of the week
When Delmarva’s Luis Valdez will get on base, he’s prone to break for second. That was the case this week, when Valdez walked seven occasions and singled 4 others and got here away with 5 steals with out being caught. He now has 41 this season, 20 greater than every other Orioles minor leaguer. He doubled twice final week, as effectively, hitting .316/.519/.421.
The finest former top-30 prospect of the week
The Orioles haven’t gotten a lot manufacturing out of third base this season, however Rylan Bannon continues to slug away at Norfolk. Part of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ package deal to amass Manny Machado, Bannon hit .333 with a 1.100 OPS final week. Across his previous 23 video games at Triple-A, Bannon is hitting .257/.415/.554 with six dwelling runs and 17 walks in 94 plate appearances. He didn’t do a lot with the 15 main league plate appearances he has acquired, and he didn’t get into any video games for Baltimore in his most up-to-date stint earlier than being moved to the taxi squad after which returned to Norfolk.
Time to provide some shine to …
Infielder Frederick Bencosme has carried out effectively in his first month stateside. Signed out of the Dominican Republic in August 2020, the 19-year-old has hit .366 with a .427 on-base proportion for Delmarva after being one of many group’s prime performers within the Dominican Summer League final yr. He hit .412 with a .945 OPS final week, strolling and placing out twice every whereas stealing three bases.
ORIOLES@CUBS
Tuesday, 8:05 p.m.
TV: MASN2
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
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Source: www.bostonherald.com