Tony-OH

Yep, 1-for-2 so far...

If only there was someone they could bring up to help the offense. You know, someone who might be able to start at 2B.

So weird to see the Orioles strand runners in scoring position. It's almost like I've seen this somewhere!

Funny, and Stowers very well may go into a funk, but he's much better prospect than Vavra overall.

I wish they'd just go with the middle school AV club. I'm 90% sure they would put a better product together.

Anyone else dealing with another quality MASN broadcast of the audio cutting in and out?

Amazing that Fan Duels spends all this advertising money on Orioles broadcasts and no one in Baltimore can use their service unless at a casino.

Yep, good play all around. Say what you want about his bat this year, Mountcastle has gotten very good at scooping.

Saw this on Facebook and thought it was funny!nny.

Norby's bat could profile at 1B for sure. He could be a guy that ends up there though he has more value as a 2B.

Vavra is small and most teams don't like small guys at 1B. He could be a potential option but I'm not sure his bats plays as a regular without a little more pop. Urias might be an option as well, but again, not sure the bat profile there though he's putting up similiar numbers to Mountcastle this year.

Mountcastle makes some sense for Miami in a trade for pitching. Either way, it won't hurt his versatility to learn 1B and there are no real 1B prospects in the minors.

Yeah, I thin he's going to be an option next year but not at the beginning of the year. I think he'll be starting in RF probably by May or June or potentially earlier depending on offseason deals. I could see a midseason lineup that looks like this: 1B: Stowers 2B: Westburg SS: Mateo 3B: Henderson LF: Hays CF: Mullins RF: Cowser DH: Santander/Rutschman on his day off from catching This is why I think Stowers would be best served as 1B.

With a crowded outfield picture from next year on, it would make some sense to try and convert someone to first base to see how they play there. I know they say they've started with Santander, which is good, but they may also want to consider others. The guy I think might be a good fit is the 6-foot-3 Stowers. Coming up, I never was too impressed with his outfield speed and his early statcast sprint speeds show him to be a below average runner (32nd percentile). I've been saying for awhile that he's a Santander-like defender in RF and in case you haven't been paying attention, Santander is not exactly a speed burner out there. He throws effectively Now Stowers is not a Mancini like outfielder so it's not an emergency to move him, but he's a big target, left-hander (preferred for 1B) and he might be the best place for him long term. If he could play there effectively, this could free up the Orioles to move Mountcastle in the right deal this offseason. 2023 Outfield options LF: Hays, Vavra, McKenna, Cowser CF: Mullins, McKenna, Vavra, Hays, Cowser RF: Stowers, Santander, Hays, Cowser

Best thing for me is it gives me time to keeping catching up on Yellowstone with the wife after the game. lol

Really other than Hernaiz, almost every "prospect" has struggled a bit in Aberdeen, especially initially. It's going to be a real test for him. Something about that league and or course Aberdeen's cavernous power alleys affects the hitters.

What a really good article. I love reading Verducci and I'm sure @DrungoHazewood needed some alone time after he read the stories about the Spiders and Perfectos! Seriously though, he hit the nail on the head for the most part. Personally, the improved pitching, both starting and reliving, along with the defense have been the keys. The good news is the Orioles should have the minor league players to trade in order to get a #1 or #2 starter this offseason. If they can do that along with upgrading one more starter, this team has a real chance to be a contender next year.

If he plays well over the last month in AAA and then has a good spring next year, I think he could be in the running for an opening day spot, but that would require some offseason trades of one of the major league outfielders and some kind of terrible spring by Stowers. Most likely I see him starting next year in AAA and would be the "Stowers guy" in AAA, ready to come up in need in the OF. Also, the one thing everyone has to keep in mind is he hasn't hit lefties this year, slashing .196/.309/.250/.559 off them in 110 PAs. This is an area you really want to see him improve upon or he becomes a platoon option down the road.

I'll admit I couldn't see him a lot because of the MilbTV hole that is the Sally League. He very well may have improved hands wise since going to High-A but he certainly did not show soft hands in Delmarva when I did see him a decent amount. Players certainly can improve, especially at his age, so I wouldn't say my comment is final verdict but ore of a wrapup of what I've observed so far in his career. I imagine he will see mostly SS time at Bowie since Ortiz moved up so I'll get more looks on him there.

He singled out Daschbach as well. So let's not make him infallible. Saying that, I don't have an issue with any one of those three players as guys who are a bit under the radar nationally. Fabian has been shockingly good so far after a couple of underwhelming college seasons.

He really came back much stronger and looked more athletic then the previous year so whatever his offseason program was it was a good one. Saying that, he doesn't have the hands or arm to stick at SS, so he's going to have to find a home at 2B to provide defensive value or move to the outfield.

I would be surprised if Kjerstad doesn't go to the AFL. I think he almost HAS to go there to get more PAs. Can't bury him because we saw what Aberdeen and the Orioles hitting ways did to Cowser there and how he rebounded in Bowie, but certainly would like to see a little something from Kjerstad at Aberdeen.

These will probably be the last power rankings of the year though we could do one more.

Gotta wonder if that is part of the equation here. This is the fastest they've moved a college guy in his drafted year, including Rutschman and Cowser. I'm not saying he's better than those two, just pointing out how quickly they've pushed him with limited PAs at a level. Kinda sucks from my scouting perspective as the Sally League is waste land of MiLB TV coverage.

It might have something to do with him slashing .173/.241/.280/.521 with a 13 BB to 44 K ratio in his last 166 PAs since July 12th while the team has been struggling to score runs in a wild card chase.