While the Orioles just finished off a slog through the gauntlet of the AL East (looking rather competitive along the way), the minors slugged on.
While the minors roll through the summer, and with the big club fun to watch again, keeping up with just how good the prospects are doing can be challenging.
This is why Who’s Hot and Who’s Not is here to keep you up to date. The numbers will be from the past week for the hitters, and for the pitchers, they need at least five innings.
Delmarva Shorebirds
 Who’s Hot: Isaac Bellony, CF
.350/.458/.700, Seven Hits, Two Doubles, One Home Run, 1.158 Ops
Wow, another young outfielder for the Shorebirds who is performing well. Bellony got off to a slow start but is heating up now. He was beating the life out of baseball this week while also managing to get on base. The Orioles are loaded with many young outfielders, and Bellony looks to be a part of this group. It is fun to have a young prospect like Bellony showing promise and doing well.
Who’s Not: Micheal Deson, OF
.238/.360/.238, .598 Ops, Five Hits, Four Walks, Eight Strikeouts.
Deson is another athletic outfielder that the Shorebirds have at their disposal. Deson still did manage to get on base a decent amount despite his high strikeouts. He didn’t manage to get many hits, but he added value in his walks this week. Deson just needs to hit the ball harder and put more balls in play.
Aberdeen Ironbirds
Who’s Hot: Darrell Hernaiz, SS
.294/.429/.412, .841 Ops, Five Hits, Three Walks, Two Strikeouts.
Including Hernaiz in the Who’s Hot section was long overdue. He got sent up to Aberdeen a while ago and is still getting his feet wet in High-A. If this week is any indication, though, he looks awesome and ready for the next challenge in front of him. Hernaiz is probably the most underrated prospect in this system. He plays excellent defense at short or second and makes a ton of contact. He gets on base a ton and has been improving his power.
Who’s Not: Collin Burns, SS
.118/.286/.176, .462 Ops, Two Hits, One Double, Four Walks, and Three Strikeouts.
Burns always gives you great defense and is patient at the plate so getting anything else is probably extra. Burns is slumping right now, but he always brings value with his patience and defense, which doesn’t slump. He just needs to start hitting some balls and work on his power. He won’t be a huge home run hitter, but he needs to get it up to a respectable level because that defense and patience can play.
Bowie Baysox
Who’s Hot: Jordan Westburg, SS
.333/.385/.458, .843 Ops, Eight Hits, Three Doubles, Two Walks, Six Strikeouts
Westburg needed this appreciation because he has been good this year outside of three weeks. Westburg just hits bullets all over the field. He has been hot lately, and his pure hitting ability has been on showcase these last couple of weeks. Gunnar should have been here, but I needed to give Westburg some much-needed appreciation. Westburg is also so versatile and can play all the dirt.
Who’s Not: J.D. Mundy, 1B
.200/.200/.333, 533 Ops, Three Hits, Two Doubles, Seven Strikeouts, and Zero Walks.
Even in a bad week, Mundy still showed some power at the plate. Mundy is a much better hitter than this, so there isn’t much to say here.
Norfolk Tides
Who’s Hot: Caydn Grenier, SS
.375/.545/.438, .983 Ops, Six Hits, One Double, Six Walks, and, Four Strikeouts.
Grenier needed this week badly. He was struggling so much offensively that he was due to have a week like this. He still didn’t hit the ball hard, but he got on base a ton this week. When you get the defense that he plays every night, you have to accept that the offense probably won’t carry the same weight. Grenier still struggled with strikeouts and still doesn’t hit for power, but I’ll take this week with his defense any day of the week.
Who’s Not: Robert Neustrom, OF
.100/.250/.100, .350 Ops, Two Hits, Three Walks, and Five Strikeouts.
Neustrom falls into the same category as Mundy. He is so much better than this; he just had a bad week. He is a good hitter with light-tower power who had a bad week while still getting on base—nothing much to see here.
Thank you for reading, and I will see you guys next week.
