As we roll towards the second half of May with the Baltimore Orioles soaring atop of the AL East, one cannot help to be excited by their scorching-hot start to the season.
But as bright as the O’s potential for this season seems to be in the early stages of the campaign, the Orioles also have a pretty promising future when you look at their top prospects and their respective track records through the minor league ranks.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at the O’s top ten prospects and what they’ve done down on the farm this season so far:
#1-Hunter Harvey, SP: Rated unanimously the Orioles’ top prospect, the highly-touted 21-year-old has gone through a brutal and hellish 22-month span in which a fractured leg and elbow issues cost him the entire 2015 season, followed by a groin injury in Sarasota this spring that halted his comeback and a recent sports hernia that required surgery earlier this month that will keep him shelved until at least late-June. Harvey, ranked as the 68th best prospect by Baseball America before the 2015 season, hasn’t pitched in a live game since July 2014.
#2-Jomar Reyes, 3B: Ranked as the O’s top positional prospect and second-best overall, the 19-year-old Reyes has shown flashes of stardom over the past two years and at this point, there’s no doubting his big-time upside. With Delmarva in 2015, the native of Santo Domingo, DR posted a .278 average with 27 2B, 5 HR, 44 RBI and a .334 OBP.
But the fact is he’s still just nineteen years old, and as to be expected, he’s still developing and improving his game while adjusting to North American Baseball. On the year, Reyes is hitting .230 with four doubles, two triples, four homers and 17 RBI in 34 games with the Frederick Keys.
#3-Trey Mancini, 1B: After hitting .341 with 43 2B, 21 HR and 89 RBI last year between Frederick and Bowie, the 24-year-old slugger hasn’t slowed down a bit in 2016 and looks to be on the fast track to the big leagues. After lighting up the Eastern League again with Bowie in April, the O’s eighth round pick out of Notre Dame received a promotion to AAA Norfolk and has recorded a .260 average with six doubles, three homers and five RBI in 21 games with the Tides. On the year between Bowie and Norfolk, the Floridian is hitting .279 with ten doubles, ten homers and 19 RBI.
#4-Chance Sisco, C: The Orioles second round pick in 2013 hasn’t wasted any time in building onto his strong 2015 campaign in which the Corona, California native posted an impressive .297 average with 16 doubles, six homers, 34 RBI and a .376 OBP between Frederick and Bowie.
In 28 games with the Baysox this season, Sisco, has recorded a stellar .333 average and despite having a zero in the homer column, the 21-year-old Californian leads the Baysox in doubles (7) and OBP (.439) and ranks second in hits (31) along with knocking in 14 RBI. He’s also shown off his big-time arm behind the plate by gunning down 41% (16-of-39) of attempted runners.
#5-DJ Stewart, OF: After being taken 25th overall in the first round out of FSU in the 2015 MLB draft, Stewart has shown flashes of promise up to this point but may be a bit less polished than we anticipated. After hitting .218 with Aberdeen in 2015, the 22-year-old is hitting just .198 with seven doubles, one home run, 13 RBI and eight stolen bases through 32 games with the Shorebirds on the year. However, his plate discipline (.369 OBP) and overall skill set should give the O’s faithful enough hope that the promising outfielder can turn his season around so he can start in AA Bowie next season.
#6-Ryan Mountcastle, SS: After getting off to a rough start in Delmarva this spring, the 36th overall pick in 2015 has found himself in an excellent run of form over his last ten games, going 16-for-38 (.421) with four runs, four doubles and four RBI during that span. On the year, the 19-year-old owns a .259 average with seven doubles, one home run and nine RBI in 31 games for the Shorebirds.
#7-Christian Walker, OF/1B: Despite recording just a .214 average over his past ten games, the 25-year-old Walker has also impressively posted four runs, three doubles, two homers and eight RBI during that span. The O’s fourth-round pick in 2012 is now tied for second in the International league in HR (7) and leads the league in RBI (25) to go along with nine doubles and a .252 batting average.
The South Carolina alum has been in great form all season long for the Tides, and one can only hope he makes his permanent jump to the big club sooner rather than later. Since 2014, Walker has posted a .269 average with 67 2B, 51 HR and 195 RBI between Bowie and Norfolk. If that doesn’t merit a place on the squad by next season, I don’t know what does. His recent move to the outfield could help him find a place on the O’s, where 1B is crowded, or on another team through a trade thanks to displaying some versatility.
#8-Chris Lee, SP: After acquiring Lee from the Houston Astros for two international signing bonus slots in May 2015, it was pretty obvious that the O’s pulled off highway robbery instantly. The southpaw went 7-8 with a rock solid 3.08 ERA in 21 starts between Frederick and Bowie in 2015, and allowed just one home run in 114.1 innings.
The 23-year-old has been in sparkling form for the Baysox in 2016 as well. The Savannah, Georgia native is a perfect 5-0 with a stellar 2.41 ERA and a filthy 0.96 WHIP in six outings on the year and has held opposing batters to a .204 batting average. Over his last four starts, Lee is 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA with just five earned runs over his past 25.0 innings. If he stays in this fine of form, Norfolk is right around the corner.
#9-Mike Yastrzemski, OF: After enduring a rough 2015 season, Yastrzemski bounced back with a phenomenal run in the early goings of the 2016 season with the Bowie Baysox. In 33 games, the 25-year-old boasted a .268 batting average with five doubles and led the Baysox in hits (34), runs (27), home runs (6) and RBI (27) before deservedly receiving a call-up to Norfolk on May 15th, 2016.
After a recent streak of a .250 average with nine runs, three homers and 12 RBI over his last ten games in Bowie, the O’s 14th round pick in 2013 is in scintillating form as he heads to Norfolk, so keep an eye on the Vanderbilt alum to hit the ground running as he sets his sights on making the final jump to the big leagues in the near future.
#10-Garabez Rosa, Infielder: The 26-year-old native of Cotui, DR, has been in the O’s minor league system since 2007, but has impressively improved his game every year since 2012 and is definitely a name to keep an eye out for in the near future as the promising infielder seems to be putting it all together in recent times.
After shredding AA pitching in Bowie to start the year, Rosa received a promotion to AAA Norfolk in late-April and has since posted a .268 batting average with one homer and one RBI in 15 games for the Tides. In 30 games between Bowie and Norfolk on the year, the versatile infielder boasts a .299 batting average with four doubles, four home runs and 14 RBI.
Honorable Mentions:
– Catcher Jonah Heim, Frederick: 29 games, .231 average, 4 2B, 4 HR, 13 RBI
– Catcher Alex Murphy, Delmarva: 33 games, .280 average, 7 2B, 3 HR, 20 RBI
– SP Ariel Miranda, Norfolk: 7 GS, 1-3, 3.58 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 37.2 IP, 32 K
That’s all she wrote for this edition of the O’s minor league round-up, everybody!
Be sure to join us again at the end of the month for the monthly rundown of each level of the O’s minor league system.
All photos: Craig Landefeld/GulfBird Photo
