Shorebirds Release Break-Camp Roster

[DrShorebird]

Shorebirds Announce 2017 Break Camp Roster

Team Features Three Top Prospects, Six Former Shorebirds

SALISBURY, MD - The Delmarva Shorebirds, Class A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, have announced their break camp team roster, as assigned by their parent club. The team features 28 players, including three of the Orioles’ top 25 prospects and six returning Shorebirds.

Right-handed pitcher Matthias Dietz is the Orioles’ 13th-best prospect in 2017, according to MLB.com. Dietz was drafted in the second round (69th overall) of the 2016 MLB First Year Player Draft out of John Logan College in Illinois. Considered by some to be the best junior college prospect in the draft, the Orland Park, Ill. native earned top-100 overall rankings from ESPN’s Keith Law and Baseball Prospectus. The 6’6” righty began his time in Birdland with Low-A Aberdeen last summer, sporting a 4.82 ERA in seven starts for the IronBirds. Dietz projects as a member of the Shorebirds’ starting rotation in 2017.

Other notable prospects include left-handed pitcher Alex Wells (No. 17) and shortstop Irving Ortega (No. 23). Wells, a native of Newcastle, Australia, signed as an 18-year-old with the Orioles in August 2015. Last year in Aberdeen, he won team MVP after finishing 4-5 with a 2.15 ERA and 0.91 WHIP in 13 starts. The southpaw also earned both New York-Penn League Midseason and MiLB.com Organizational All-Star nods. His twin brother Lachlan pitches in the Twins organization, spending last season with the Class-A Cedar Rapids Kernels. Wells projects to join Dietz in the Delmarva rotation to begin the season.

Ortega spent a majority of 2016 with the Gulf Coast League Orioles before earning a promotion to Aberdeen late in the season. The Dominican national batted .258 with eight doubles and 12 RBIs over 48 games between the GCL and NYPL. Ortega inked with Baltimore as an 18-year-old in October 2014 and impressed the club with a knowledge of the game well beyond his age. This will be Ortega’s first year of full-season minor league ball, and with a strong glove and improving bat, he could fight to be the Shorebirds’ starting shortstop.

Five of the six returning Shorebirds are pitchers, as Jake Bray, Francisco Jimenez, Steven Klimek, Zeke McGranahan, and Jhon Peluffo will take curtain calls at Perdue Stadium. Righty Jimenez, who begins his third season in Delmarva, made 20 starts and six relief appearances for the Shorebirds in 2016, going 9-9 with a 4.27 ERA, 45 walks, and 96 strikeouts in 128.2 innings. The Dominican national came on strong at the end of the season, allowing one earned run over six innings in each of his last three starts. Fellow right-hander Bray split his time between Delmarva and Aberdeen, going 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA in 30 innings over 21 relief appearances for both clubs. He earned two saves for the Shorebirds, both against Kannapolis.
Right-hander Klimek began his season in Aberdeen before making five late-season appearances in Delmarva. He went 2-4 with a 3.42 ERA over 17 appearances (one start) at both levels. Righty Peluffo made three late-season starts for the Shorebirds after beginning the year with the GCL Orioles, finishing with a 5.92 ERA in 11 total starts in the organizaiton. The Colombian national drew attention last summer as the Padres considered him as a piece in an attempted trade involving outfielder Melvin Upton, Jr.
Right-hander McGranahan boasted a 2.53 ERA in 12 relief appearances for the Shorebirds in 2015 before missing the rest of the season with an injury. He returned to action with the GCL Orioles last August, pitching in eight games.

Infielder Alejandro Juvier is the Shorebirds’ only returning position player. The Miami, Fla. native began his 20-year-old season last year in Delmarva before transitioning to Aberdeen in the summer. He hit .218 with 11 doubles, three home runs, and 33 RBIs over 330 at-bats in 88 games between the Shorebirds and IronBirds.
A longtime blue chip hitter in the Orioles system, Dariel Alvarez begins his transition to pitcher in Delmarva. A career .282 hitter in the minors, Alvarez had cups of coffee in the majors in 2015 and 2016. While primarily a hitter for Camaguey of the Cuban National Series from 2006-11, the right-hander made 22 appearances on the mound
and in the past drew attention from major league scouts for his mid-90s fastball. The Orioles will hope to follow the same blueprint for Alvarez that they did for current reliever Mychael Givens, who began his own transition from hitter to pitcher with the Shorebirds and pitching coach Justin Lord in 2013. Alvarez will also moonlight as a designated hitter in games where he does not pitch, giving the Shorebirds one more offensive threat.

Another notable roster addition is the latest Palmeiro family member to play in the Baltimore system. First baseman Preston Palmeiro was drafted in the seventh round last season after he hit .337 with a .951 OPS as a junior at North Carolina State. He spent the minor league season in Aberdeen, hitting .258 with 18 RBIs in 34 games. Preston is the son of Rafael Palmeiro, who spent seven of his 20 major-league seasons with the Orioles, hitting 223 of his 569 career home runs and collecting his 3,000th career hit in Baltimore orange and black. Preston’s older brother Patrick spent three seasons in the White Sox system before playing the last two seasons with the independent Sugar Land Skeeters.
Here is a complete roster breakdown, sorted alphabetically by position:

Right-Handed Pitchers (12)
Dariel Alvarez, Jake Bray, Matthias Dietz, Cody Dube, Kory Groves, Lucas Humpal, Francisco Jimenez, Nick Jobst, Steven Klimek, Zeke McGranahan, Jhon Peluffo, James Teague
Left-Handed Pitchers (3)
Zack Muckenhirn, Travis Seabrooke, Alex Wells
Catchers (3)
Daniel Fajardo, Jerry McClannahan, Christopher Shaw
Infielders (6)
Chris Clare, Frank Crinella, Alejandro Juvier, Irving Ortega, Preston Palmeiro, Collin Woody
Outfielders (4)
Cole Billingsley, Gerrion Grim, Ryan McKenna, Jake Ring
The Shorebirds will announce their 25-man roster before season opener in Greenville on April 6. The team returns to Perdue Stadium for Opening Day on April 13 against Hagerstown.

[Frobby]

The pitching staff looks interesting, but the offense looks abysmal.   

[ChuckS]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

The pitching staff looks interesting, but the offense looks abysmal.   

McKenna and Ortega are the only interesting offensive prospects I'm aware of. I think Billingsley will hit. But he's way old for the level (about to be 23).  

I was hoping to see Seamus Curran get a shot with Delmarva this season.  I guess they feel he is still too green.  

[DrShorebird]

I thought Seamus Curran had earned a trip north, but perhaps he needs to learn to be less argumentive with the umps.

[Legend_Of_Joey]

56 minutes ago, DrShorebird said:

I thought Seamus Curran had earned a trip north, but perhaps he needs to learn to be less argumentive with the umps.

I'm guessing there is a very good story to go along with that?

[Tony-OH]

8 hours ago, ChuckS said:

McKenna and Ortega are the only interesting offensive prospects I'm aware of. I think Billingsley will hit. But he's way old for the level (about to be 23).  

I was hoping to see Seamus Curran get a shot with Delmarva this season.  I guess they feel he is still too green.  

Curran is only 19, but I was hoping he would have earned his way to Delmarva this year, even if it's to get PAs as a DH with Palmeiro at 1B. Maybe we will see him eventually get some PAs here until Aberdeen starts up. In my mind, unless he is totally not ready, more professional PAs can't hurt.

[DrShorebird]

14 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

Curran is only 19, but I was hoping he would have earned his way to Delmarva this year, even if it's to get PAs as a DH with Palmeiro at 1B. Maybe we will see him eventually get some PAs here until Aberdeen starts up. In my mind, unless he is totally not ready, more professional PAs can't hurt.

I was told that Palmeiro had a couple of very minor nagging injuries, one after the other, but it gave Curran a chance to play more. I thought he did OK, but I was told that he needs to keep his emotions under better control on balls and strikes. He can sting the ball when he hits it.

[Tony-OH]

11 hours ago, DrShorebird said:

I was told that Palmeiro had a couple of very minor nagging injuries, one after the other, but it gave Curran a chance to play more. I thought he did OK, but I was told that he needs to keep his emotions under better control on balls and strikes. He can sting the ball when he hits it.

At just 19, it sounds like it could be a case of maturity needing to get in a bit. I like the numbers he put up last year, especially the plate discipline, but he'll need to cut that swing down as he moves up the ladder. I was hoping to get eyes on him this year in Delmarva but I'll just have to wait until Aberdeen starts up up unless he gets a taste before then.

[Slade-OH]

SALISBURY, Md. - The Delmarva Shorebirds, Class A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, have announced their break camp team roster, as assigned by their parent club. The team features 28 players, including three of the Orioles' top 25 prospects and eight returning Shorebirds.

Right-handed pitcher Matthias Dietz is the Orioles' 13th-best prospect in 2017, according to MLB.com. Dietz was drafted in the second round (69th overall) of the 2016 MLB First Year Player Draft out of John Logan College in Illinois. Considered by some to be the best junior college prospect in the draft, the Orland Park, Ill. native earned top-100 overall rankings from ESPN's Keith Law and Baseball Prospectus. The 6'6" righty began his time in Birdland with Low-A Aberdeen last summer, sporting a 4.82 ERA in seven starts for the IronBirds. Dietz projects as a member of the Shorebirds' starting rotation in 2017.

Other notable prospects include left-handed pitcher Alex Wells (No. 17) and shortstop Irving Ortega (No. 23). Wells, a native of Newcastle, Australia, signed as an 18-year-old with the Orioles in August 2015. Last year in Aberdeen, he won team MVP after finishing 4-5 with a 2.15 ERA and 0.91 WHIP in 13 starts. The southpaw also earned both New York-Penn League Midseason and MiLB.com Organizational All-Star nods. His twin brother Lachlan pitches in the Twins orgainzation, spending last season with the Class-A Cedar Rapids Kernels. Wells projects to join Dietz in the Delmarva rotation to begin the season.

Ortega spent a majority of 2016 with the Gulf Coast League Orioles before earning a promotion to Aberdeen late in the season. The Dominican national batted .258 with eight doubles and 12 RBIs over 48 games between the GCL and NYPL. Ortega inked with Baltimore as an 18-year-old in October 2014 and impressed the club with a knowledge of the game well beyond his age. This will be Ortega's first year of full-season minor league ball, and with a strong glove and improving bat, he could fight to be the Shorebirds' starting shortstop.

Five of the eight returning Shorebirds are pitchers, as Jake Bray, Francisco Jimenez, Steven Klimek, Zeke McGranahan, and Jhon Peluffo will take curtain calls at Perdue Stadium. Righty Jimenez, who begins his third season in Delmarva, made 20 starts and six relief appearances for the Shorebirds in 2016, going 9-9 with a 4.27 ERA, 45 walks, and 96 strikeouts in 128.2 innings. The Domincan national came on strong at the end of the season, allowing one earned run over six innings in each of his last three starts. Fellow right-hander Bray split his time between Delmarva and Aberdeen, going 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA in 30 innings over 21 relief appearances for both clubs. He earned two saves for the Shorebirds, both against Kannapolis.

Right-hander Klimek began his season in Aberdeen before making five late-season appearances in Delmarva. He went 2-4 with a 3.42 ERA over 17 appearances (one start) at both levels. Righty Peluffo made three late-season starts for the Shorebirds after beginning the year with the GCL Orioles, finishing with a 5.92 ERA in 11 total starts in the organizaiton. The Colombian national drew attention last summer as the Padres considered him as a piece in an attempted trade involving outfielder Melvin Upton, Jr.

Right-hander McGranahan boasted a 2.53 ERA in 12 relief appearances for the Shorebirds in 2015 before missing the rest of the season with an injury. He returned to action with the GCL Orioles last August, pitching in eight games.

Infielder Alejandro Juvier and outfielders Gerrion Grim and Jake Ring are the Shorebirds' three returning position players. Miami, Fla. native Juvier began his 20-year-old season last year in Delmarva before transitioning to Aberdeen in the summer. He hit .218 with 11 doubles, three home runs, and 33 RBIs over 330 at-bats in 88 games between the Shorebirds and IronBirds. Grim played the entire season in Delmarva, hitting .193 with five home runs and 25 RBIs in 70 games. Ring played his first 51 games of the year with the GCL Orioles before making a three-game cameo with the Shorebirds at the end of the season, going 2-for-12 with a double and RBI.

A longtime blue chip hitter in the Orioles system, Dariel Alvarez begins his transition to pitcher in Delmarva. A career .282 hitter in the minors, Alvarez had cups of coffee in the majors in 2015 and 2016. While primarily a hitter for Camaguey of the Cuban National Series from 2006-11, the right-hander made 22 appearances on the mound and in the past drew attention from major league scouts for his mid-90s fastball. The Orioles will hope to follow the same blueprint for Alvarez that they did for current reliever Mychael Givens, who began his own transition from hitter to pitcher with the Shorebirds and pitching coach Justin Lord in 2013. Alvarez will also moonlight as a designated hitter in games where he does not pitch, giving the Shorebirds one more offensive threat.

Another notable roster addition is the latest Palmeiro family member to play in the Baltimore system. First baseman Preston Palmeiro was drafted in the seventh round last season after he hit .337 with a .951 OPS as a junior at North Carolina State. He spent the minor league season in Aberdeen, hitting .258 with 18 RBIs in 34 games. Preston is the son of Rafael Palmeiro, who spent seven of his 20 major-league seasons with the Orioles, hitting 223 of his 569 career home runs and collecting his 3,000th career hit in Baltimore orange and black. Preston's older brother Patrick spent three seasons in the White Sox system before playing the last two seasons with the independent Sugar Land Skeeters.

Here is a complete roster breakdown, sorted alphabetically by position:

Right-Handed Pitchers (12)
Dariel Alvarez, Jake Bray, Matthias Dietz, Cody Dube, Kory Groves, Lucas Humpal, Francisco Jimenez, Nick Jobst, Steven Klimek, Zeke McGranahan, Jhon Peluffo, James Teague

Left-Handed Pitchers (3)
Zack Muckenhirn, Travis Seabrooke, Alex Wells

Catchers (3)
Daniel Fajardo, Jerry McClannahan, Christopher Shaw

Infielders (6)
Chris Clare, Frank Crinella, Alejandro Juvier, Irving Ortega, Preston Palmeiro, Collin Woody

Outfielders (4)
Cole Billingsley, Gerrion Grim, Ryan McKenna, Jake Ring

The Shorebirds will announce their 25-man roster before season opener in Greenville on April 6. The team returns to Perdue Stadium for Opening Day on April 13 against Hagerstown.