Inching towards contention as the 2022 season hits the last few weeks is as outstanding as it is unexpected. The Orioles have plans to eventually be better, but this Ferrari is stuck in 6th gear and it looks like there’s more to come. The big club just took two of three from the Blue Jays, a team who identifies themselves as a contender but are really an elite offense making up for deficiencies all over including the farm. The Orioles are better now and in the near future.
The talent of the players combined with the acumen of the staff is blossoming in a multitude of ways. There’s no better reflection of that then one elite prospect replacing another atop the landscape’s top post. Adley Rutschman graduated and his 2019 draftmate Gunnar Henderson took his spot atop many lists soon after.
Gains across the system in pitching have been harder to see, but the emergence of Noah Denoyer, Drew Rom, Justin Armbruester and Juan De Los Santos highlight some of the successes. The trade deadline was an opportunity to address that area and six pitchers replaced veterans Trey Mancini and Jorge Lopez. The headliners, Cade Povich, Chase McDermott and Seth Johnson all immediately become top 20 prospects with ace potential, finishing pitches and experience in the minors. Johnson’s hurt and temporarily shelved yet represents the most upside of the group when he’s healthy.
The depth part of the deal addressed immediate needs at Delmarva and the FCL with both Juan Nunez and Juan Rojas demonstrating good slider usage and sequencing with varying early success.
Top tier talents DL Hall and Kyle Stowers have debuted and been sent back down. But Terrin Vavra is thriving while showing that crucial aspect of potential rebuild success, the ability to transition skills from the minors to the majors. He’s wasted no time contributing to a winning team in a playoff race.
The core of last year’s draft class is thriving just in time for this year’s class to start climbing the organizational ladder, a sign of system vitality. Intelligent, well scouted selections like Heston Kjerstad, Coby Mayo and Jud Fabian have all shown success and had to battle through some form of adversity to get there.
Patience across the organization has given them a chance to fully see through the development of players like Dillon Tate, Ryan McKenna and Nick Vespi. It’s also shown in Henderson and Jordan Westburg still being on the farm. But the front office has earned the trust of fans hitting so many player development milestones so when those two and others join the big club it’ll be with a chance to succeed.
The main bump in the road as far as minor league stars getting closer has to be Grayson Rodriguez’s lat injury. The ace’s mound time is in some form of a regular schedule as of now. When he’s back he’ll bolster a Birds staff that has shown to have playoff level stuff.
It finally seems that the key elements of the rebuild are all in place, especially personnel. To reach the stage where contention is expected, the faith invested in this front office to supply proven talent through free agency has been earned through shrewd moves, signings and drafts. Winning consistently is the ultimate goal, yet the strides made in so many individuals has to make the brain trust feel as if their ideas are working.
Getting this close to the postseason is a pleasant surprise and the experience shows the framework of how things will look when the system’s stars break through.
