Orioles 2022 51-75 Prospects

[Tony-OH]

Obviously at this point do not get too caught up in the rankings but here are the 25 players we will cover.

51. Reed Trimble – OF (FCL/A-): Switch-hitter who was the Orioles 2nd round pick in 2021, Trimble has struggled to stay healthy or show much game power in games. It’s too early to completely discount him as a prospect, but he needs a big year next year to stay a priority play.

52. Ryan Watson – RHP (AA/AAA): 24-year old right-hander split his season between Bowie and Norfolk and actually won the Orioles minor league pitcher of the year. While Watson sits 93-95, he doesn’t eally have an out pitch and the thought is maybe his stuff will tick up in a relief role.

53. Ignacio Feliz – RHP (A+): Right-hander with a fastball that can sit 93-95, t97, Feliz has command issues he needs to overcomes and while his slider can flash average, it’s inconsistent. His change is also not a very good pitch so he’s a candidate for relief if his stuff or command doesn’t improve.

54. Stiven Acevedo – OF (CPX/A): Only 19-years old, Acevedo found the Carolina League too tough in his first go around, but he’s got a good frame to put on muscle and he’s athletic with loose swing that could end up generating good power if he can put it together. Basically a toolsy athlete that will most likely repeat Delmarva next year and should be watched.

55. Andrew Politi – RHP (AAA): The 26-year old strike thrower was taken by the Orioles in the Rule 5 draft and should get an opportunity to compete for a relief spot. His stuff is pretty average overall, but dominated AAA batters for a .137/.225/.218/.442 over his last 37.1 innings pitched last year.

56. Zach Peek – RHP (AA): A four-pitch strike-thrower with a 90-92 MPH fastball, Peek worked more off pitchability than stuff. Unfortunately he suffered an elbow injury and underwent Tommy John surgery last summer and will miss most of 2023.

57. Greg Cullen – 2B/3B (AA/A+): Left-handed line drive hitter who can spray the ball all over the field and gets on base, but doesn’t have much power. There are mixed reports on his defense at 2B, but he doesn’t move very well side to side and has a below average arm.

58. Chris Vallimont – RHP (AA/AAA): Right-hander acquired on waivers from the Twins this past season, Vallimont brings a 92-94, t95 fastball to the mound. His best offspeed pitch is his changeup that has good drop and fade and works well against lefties. He needs to improve both his slider and curveball, neither are consistently average offerings.

59. Yennier Cano – RHP (AAA/MAJ): The 4th pitcher acquired in the Lopez trade, Cano is a power sinker, slider, changeup guy who really struggled with his command in his major league time last year. Raw stuff can flash plus but he lives too much in the middle of the plate and needs to find consistency. Threw an immaculate inning in AAA last year.

60. Logan Gillaspie – RHP (AAA/MAJ): A 4-pitch reliever with a mid-90s fastball, you would think he’d be higher on this list. Unfortunately none of his pitches really miss bats much and he doesn’t have a go to strikeout pitch limiting his role to middle relief.

61. Zach Showalter – RHP (DNP): The Orioles 11-round pick never pitched professionally after being drafted and signed for an overslot 440K. He’s a low ¾ guy with a low 90s fastball that has touched 94-95 this spring. Shows a tight 80’s curveball as well. Decent arm to hope upon out of high school.

62. Connor Gillespie – RHP (A+): Short right-hander with a 89-92 MPH fastball, good slider, as well as curve and change. He’s going to have to prove it on the way up and needs a jump in velocity.

63. Nolan Hoffman – RHP (AA): Low-side arm righty with a sinker, slider change repertoire. Creates a lot of groundballs (64.7%) but the question is will that translate against upper-level pitching. He does have a decent change to defend against lefties which gives him a better chance.

64. Doug Hodo – OF (CPX/A): The Orioles 6th round pick that hit .319/.418/.532/.950 in 340 PAs at Texas University but didn’t do much in his first taste of pro ball. Decent defensive outfielder range wise but doesn’t have a strong arm so may be limited to left field.

65. Luis Valdez – 2B/CF (A/A+): Probably the fastest guy in the system stole 71 bases on the year and put up a .339 on base percentage between Delmarva and Aberdeen. No power though and he should probably burn his infield mitt. Wasn’t great in the outfield either so will need to find some kind of defensive value to sniff the major leagues.

66. Isaac Bellony – OF/1B (A/A+): Athletic outfielder/first baseman that hit well in Delmarva as a 20-year old, but found High-A to be very difficult. Gave up switch hitting and now hits left-handed full -time. Needs more game power to become interesting.

67. Raylin Ramos – OF (DSL): Physically ahead of his 17-year old counterparts, 6-1, 180 pound right-hnded hitting outfielder has a nice professional debut. Slashed .289/.359/.410/.769 with  15-21 BB-K ratio. Has a good arm out in right field as well.

68. Isaac De León –1B/3B (A/A+): The Orioles have given him ample opportunity to prove he doesn’t belong on the left side of the infield where his inconsistent hands and arm accuracy leave a lot to be desired. Hit decent in his first taste of Delmarva though he needs to tap into his game power more. Since he needs to play 1B to be effective, it puts a lot of pressure on his power to develop.

69. Donta Williams – OF (A+/AA): Light-hitting outfielder who does a good job working counts and getting on base via walks, but a lack of power limits his upside. Good defensive outfielder with enough speed to cover center field. There are some concerns that he struggles with velocity.

70. Anthony Servideo – INF (CPX/A): It’s hard to know what to make of Servideo since he’s never been really healthy since he’s been in pro ball. Came out of college with a good defensive profile and an emerging bat, but he has not showed much as a pro. Next year will be a make or break year with him.

71. Thomas Sosa – OF (DSL): Talented outfielder with good raw power, but too much swing and miss. Never really got on track as a 17-year old last season, but he has enough tools to keep an eye on in 2023.

72. Peter Van Loon – RHP (A+): Big, 6-foot-5, 230 pound plus right-handers with a 93-94 MPH fastball, curve, slider and change. Nothing stands out stuff wise, but he has enough pitchability to keep an eye on in case he improves his pitch shapes. Could also get an up tick in velocity if he moves to the pen.

73. Reese Sharp – RHP (A): 20th round pick has more stuff than results. Throws 95-96 MPH with a pretty good curveball and supposedly a change that he can use on occasion. Has a long way to go with his command but he’s a good arm.

74. Kyle Brnovich – RHP (AAA): Was moving quickly through the system despite having no plus pitches but suffered the dreaded elbow injury and had season ending Tommy John surgery after just two starts at Norfolk. Won’t pitch until mid-season next year and will be 25 years old so it really depends on what he looks like when he comes back.

75. Harif Frias – RHP (DSL): 6-foot-4 beanpole that may have finally started to grow into his body a bit. Uses a 92-95 MPH fastball and slider to dominate DSL hitters. Put up a 14.6 K/9, 1.71 FIP, and an amazing 45.2% swinging strike %. Held batters to a .202/.272/.226/.498 slash line and gave up only 3 extra base hits. Will pitch at 22-years old next season so he could jump to Delmarva and see how he fairs.

[Aristotelian]

I'm a little surprised Feliz is this low. Maybe he has to repeat his 13 K/9 in AA before he starts getting the Felix Bautista comparisons.

[Jim'sKid26]

Lots of pitchers in these last two lists with 1-2 pitches. Lots of mid 90s FB throwers. Lots of guys without much to keep guys off their FBs. @Tony-OH do you see any patterns in what the pitching coaches are looking for in the guys they are drafting or in the direction they are taking with these young pitchers. Thanks.

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, Jim'sKid26 said:

Lots of pitchers in these last two lists with 1-2 pitches. Lots of mid 90s FB throwers. Lots of guys without much to keep guys off their FBs. @Tony-OH do you see any patterns in what the pitching coaches are looking for in the guys they are drafting or in the direction they are taking with these young pitchers. Thanks.

I'm guessing here but I think if you check every team's 51-75 prospects you are going to find hard throwers with iffy secondary pitches.  The industry standard seems to be to take hard throwing kids and try and team them to pitch.

[Jim'sKid26]

15 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I'm guessing here but I think if you check every team's 51-75 prospects you are going to find hard throwers with iffy secondary pitches.  The industry standard seems to be to take hard throwing kids and try and team them to pitch.

Thanks, Corn. I was wondering if there is anything that sets these guys apart for your average minor leaguer. Like body type or advanced analytics like spin rates and the like. The O's don't seem to spend high draft picks on pitchers. So is there a specific pitching trait they covet? That's my question.

Edited December 11, 2022 by Jim'sKid26
spelling

[Frobby]

I’m a bit surprised that Peek and Brnovich are rated so far behind Brandon Young.   

[Tony-OH]

11 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I’m a bit surprised that Peek and Brnovich are rated so far behind Brandon Young.   

When they were all healthy in 2021, I liked Young much more than Peek or Brnovich. It was hard to get much off Young or Brnovich due to the injuries early on and Peek was more of the same for me.

[Tony-OH]

15 hours ago, Jim'sKid26 said:

Thanks, Corn. I was wondering if there is anything that sets these guys apart for your average minor leaguer. Like body type or advanced analytics like spin rates and the like. The O's don't seem to spend high draft picks on pitchers. So is there a specific pitching trait they covet? That's my question.

The organization is looking for pitchers with high spin rate fastballs and breaking balls or at least good pitch shapes for the breaking balls.

I've also heard things about the industry looking at low 3/4 fastball guys saying they play up from that angle.

[Tony-OH]

37 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

I'm a little surprised Feliz is this low. Maybe he has to repeat his 13 K/9 in AA before he starts getting the Felix Bautista comparisons.

Feliz just doesn't have the consistent velocity or that height/angle Bautista throws from. The numbers were really good, but I need to see it work against AA/AAA hitters before I believe too much.

[Frobby]

11 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

When they were all healthy in 2021, I liked Young much more than Peek or Brnovich. It was hard to get much off Young or Brnovich due to the injuries early on and Peek was more of the same for me.

Last year Young was 23, Peek 31, Brnovich 32.    This year it’s Young 37, Peek 56, Brnovich 74.   That’s a pretty dramatic widening of the gap considering that Young threw 13 innings, Peek 45, and Brnovich 8 this year.  But like you said in the OP. I don’t take the order of the rankings too literally this far down anyway.  

[SpOkane]

Forgot all about overslot Zach Showalter.

[Tony-OH]

13 hours ago, SpOkane said:

Forgot all about overslot Zach Showalter.

Showalter could have been higher based off his scouting reports, but with no pro stats to work off of, he'll need to show what he can do next year to get higher.

[CharmCityHokie]

Quote

75. Harif Frias – RHP (DSL): 

Part of me hopes that you had a bunch of random names in a spreadsheet for the #75 spot and saw the name "Harif Frias" and said, 'now that's a name' and annointed him #75 mostly based on his appellation...

I know you didn't, I just thought it was a great name for the last rung on this massive list! Thanks so much for all the hard work, I can't imagine getting this much detail or learning these many names to follow going into next season from anywhere else (and I feel like I'm pretty deep into the minor league scene, but it's nothing compared to you!) Many thanks Tony, as always!

[Tony-OH]

40 minutes ago, CharmCityHokie said:

Part of me hopes that you had a bunch of random names in a spreadsheet for the #75 spot and saw the name "Harif Frias" and said, 'now that's a name' and annointed him #75 mostly based on his appellation...

I know you didn't, I just thought it was a great name for the last rung on this massive list! Thanks so much for all the hard work, I can't imagine getting this much detail or learning these many names to follow going into next season from anywhere else (and I feel like I'm pretty deep into the minor league scene, but it's nothing compared to you!) Many thanks Tony, as always!

Lol, thanks.

I had a couple of names for the last spot and I just started to play with the stats available at Fan graphs and Frias stood out. A couple of texts later I had enough info to make him #75. 

Gotta root for the name though if nothing else! 

 

[LookinUp]

I like that you went 31-50 and then 51-75. It's an interesting break point that I think starts to demonstrate the extent of our depth.

IMO, the 31-50 is a pretty impressive group. Several of those guys at least have a chance to perform. Odds are a few will really develop and maybe become really good prospects or MLers.  From 51-75, there's still some hope in there, but much less. 

So I feel like the O's system has essentially gone from a 10-20...ish player system years ago to a 40-50 player system now. I obviously have no clue who will and won't succeed, but there's potential in here.