This upcoming week might’ve been a banner one for the Orioles’ rebuild, with the opportunity of right-hander Grayson Rodriguez pitching to catcher Adley Rutschman — a pairing of the sport’s prime pitching and hitting prospects — at Camden Yards lined as much as be a actuality as quickly as Tuesday.
Instead, what might need been Rodriguez’s ultimate Triple-A outing ended abruptly with what proved to be a Grade 2 lat muscle pressure that may delay his debut till September, if not early 2023. Rutschman, in the meantime, is 0-for-the homestand, with a hit-by-pitch Thursday all that supplied him an on-base proportion in final week’s video games at Oriole Park.
But at the same time as Baltimore’s prime picks within the 2018 and 2019 drafts handled their respective struggles, the opposite early choices of their draft courses excelled within the higher minors. Each week, The Baltimore Sun will break down 5 of the highest performers within the Orioles’ prospect ranks and hand out some superlatives for individuals who didn’t make that minimize.
1. Double-A Bowie infielder Gunnar Henderson
Before he was promoted to Norfolk together with Jordan Westburg, Henderson had an atypical week, strolling solely as soon as reverse seven strikeouts. He managed a .500 on-base proportion regardless due to going 10-for-21, with half of these hits going for additional bases to culminate in a 1.357 OPS and Eastern League Player of the Week honors. Even after a comparatively disproportionate week, Henderson, the Orioles’ second-round choose after they chose Rutschman first total in 2019, ranks second amongst all certified minor leaguers 21 and youthful in strikeout-to-walk ratio. He doesn’t flip 21 till the top of this month.
2. Triple-A Norfolk outfielder Kyle Stowers
Last yr, Rutschman at one level homered on 5 straight Sundays. Stowers has managed to, in a means, outdo that, with 5 house runs in his previous two Sunday video games. He hit three May 22 towards Charlotte, sat out May 29′s matchup with Gwinnett, then blasted a pair Sunday towards Jacksonville. Taken behind solely Rutschman and Henderson in Baltimore’s 2019 draft class, Stowers has homered 9 instances in his previous 17 video games to provide him a system-best 12 house runs.
3. High-A Aberdeen right-hander Ignacio Feliz
After working in bulk behind right-hander Jean Pinto early on, Feliz’s previous two appearances have come out of the IronBirds’ rotation. The newest featured 5 innings by which he didn’t permit an earned run and struck out seven. A 22-year-old Baltimore acquired within the minor league portion of 2020′s Rule 5 draft, Feliz has a 2.03 ERA and 39.2% strikeout price throughout 31 innings in his previous eight outings.
4. Low-A Delmarva infielder Noelberth Romero
The July 2019 commerce that despatched veteran pitcher Andrew Cashner to the Boston Red Sox remains to be a methods away from being identified extra for the 2 gamers Baltimore bought in return than the meme it generated among the many Orioles’ fan base. But extra weeks just like the earlier one from Romero (hitting .300 with three steals and an .867 OPS) and outfielder Elio Prado (a .294 common to go together with a .480 on-base proportion and even strikeout-to-walk ratio) will assist them hold climbing from the Shorebirds up the Orioles’ system.
5. Triple-A left-hander DL Hall
With Rodriguez sidelined, Hall would be the subsequent well-regarded Orioles pitching prospect to debut, although his arrival is nowhere close to as forthcoming as Rodriguez’s seemed to be earlier than his damage. In two begins final week, Hall struck out 15 batters of the 32 batters he confronted over eight innings. Sunday, he accomplished 5 innings for the primary time this season, needing 72 pitches to take action; his season excessive of 78 got here in a four-inning outing the earlier week. Improved effectivity will assist Hall proceed to construct his pitch depend and work towards the majors.
The prime prospect not featured to this point
With Henderson and Westburg promoted to Triple-A, seven of Baltimore’s prime 9 prospects are at that stage or within the majors. The exceptions are each with High-A Aberdeen in Nos. 5 and 6 prospects Coby Mayo and Colton Cowser. With each having quiet weeks, we’ll focus right here on Cowser, who has but to characteristic in one in every of these recaps two months into the minor league season. The fifth total choose in final yr’s draft, Cowser’s first full season has gotten off to a comparatively sluggish begin, with a .759 OPS and uncharacteristic 29.7% strikeout price. Last week was one other quiet one for him, although he confirmed indicators of maybe returning to kind. All three of his hits went for doubles, whereas he drew 5 walks towards three strikeouts, his fewest in a given week all season.
International acquisition of the week
With one other three steals final week, Delmarva utility man Luis Valdez now has 26 on the yr, 9 extra baggage taken than another Orioles minor leaguer. That output comes regardless of a modest .328 on-base proportion, however final week, he slashed .381/.409/.429 to get acknowledged right here.
The finest former top-30 prospect of the week
Henderson and Westburg’s promotions — to not point out Terrin Vavra’s looming return from a rehab task — will shake up the Tides’ infield image, however Cadyn Grenier has proven in current weeks that he deserves to nonetheless get taking part in time. Grenier, who performed with Rutschman at Oregon State then shared Baltimore’s 2018 draft class with Rodriguez when he was taken thirty seventh total, slashed .444/.542/.611 final week. He enters this week on a seven-game hitting streak, with six multi-hit video games in his previous 13 contests for a .984 OPS in that span. In his first true stint in Triple-A, the 25-year-old is posting profession bests in stroll price and strikeout price.
Time to provide some shine to …
What proved to be Major League Baseball’s final 40-round draft got here in 2019. Right-hander Noah Denoyer went unselected in these 40 rounds, however he’s thrived since signing afterward with Baltimore. In two bulk reduction outings final week with Bowie, he allowed one run over 9 innings with 11 strikeouts. Over 10 appearances this season between High-A and Double-A, the 24-year-old has a 2.31 ERA whereas placing out a 3rd of batters confronted, and over the previous two seasons, he has 2.62 ERA in 30 outings, all however one in every of which has lasted at the very least two innings.
Short-season snippets
The Orioles’ Florida Complex League and Dominican Summer League associates started play Monday. After having a number of FCL groups for the previous few years, Baltimore has dropped again to at least one, although the group nonetheless has two DSL groups. Many of the Orioles’ prime worldwide signings lately are on these rosters, with Braylin Tavera — who obtained a franchise-record $1.7 million signing bonus this winter — taking part in within the DSL with catcher Samuel Basallo and shortstop Maikol Hernández — who signed for $1.3 million and $1.2 million the earlier signing interval — on the FCL workforce. Outfielder Heston Kjerstad, the No. 2 total choose within the 2020 draft, just isn’t on the Orioles’ FCL roster and is anticipated to make his skilled debut with Delmarva within the close to future.
CUBS@ORIOLES
Tuesday, 7:05 p.m.
TV: MASN2
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
()
Source: www.bostonherald.com