Baseball America Orioles Top 30 Prospects

[RZNJ]

PRESEASON

TOP 30 PROSPECTS

Click prospect for player report

1. 1
   
   Gunnar HendersonSS/3B
2. 2
   
   Grayson RodriguezRHP
3. 3
   
   Jackson HollidaySS
4. 4
   
   Colton CowserOF
5. 5
   
   D.L. HallLHP
6. 6
   
   Jordan WestburgSS/3B
7. 7
   
   Connor Norby2B
8. 8
   
   Joey OrtizSS/2B
9. 9
   
   Kyle StowersOF
10. 10
    
    Coby Mayo3B
11. 11
    
    Dylan BeaversOF
12. 12
    
    Heston KjerstadOF
13. 13
    
    Cade PovichLHP
14. 14
    
    Jud FabianOF
15. 15
    
    Samuel BasalloC
16. 16
    
    Seth JohnsonRHP
17. 17
    
    Terrin Vavra2B
18. 18
    
    Michael BaumannRHP
19. 19
    
    Max Wagner3B
20. 20
    
    Justin ArmbruesterRHP
21. 21
    
    Luis AlmeydaSS
22. 22
    
    Noah DenoyerRHP
23. 23
    
    Chayce McDermottRHP
24. 24
    
    Drew RomLHP
25. 25
    
    Cesar Prieto2B
26. 26
    
    Hudson HaskinOF
27. 27
    
    John RhodesOF
28. 28
    
    Carlos TaveraRHP
29. 29
    
    Frederick Bencosme 
30. Anderson De los Santos 

Edited February 21, 2023 by RZNJ

[btdart20]

Cowser and Mayo are giving the prospectors fits!   

What does the OH executive board have to say about where you would have Stowers ranked?  It seems reasonable to me, but it feels like the SigBot/Elias/Eve/Hyder still have their questions that I'm not sure Stowers will have the leash to answer...

That Stowers-Mayo-Beavers-Kjerstad grouping is beefy!  May the baseball gods smile graciously on this grouping to be Murderer's Row 2.0!

That's an aggressive ranking on Almeyda.  Fine by me!

[Sports Guy]

Should Stowers even be on the list?

[btdart20]

1 hour ago, Sports Guy said:

Should Stowers even be on the list?

The list creator says yes.  Setting aside that arbitrary line in the sand, I am curious how he'd slot in with the rest of the list.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, Sports Guy said:

Should Stowers even be on the list?

BA has a different criterion for who qualifies as a “prospect” than MLB uses for who qualifies as a “rookie.”   As I understand it, for position players, BA only uses PA or AB (I forget which) and doesn’t use service time as a criterion.   Most other sources that rate players just use MLB’s rookie standards, under which Stowers wouldn’t qualify due to having more than 45 days of service time.   I don’t know why BA decided to use a different standard.   

[btdart20]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

BA has a different criterion for who qualifies as a “prospect” than MLB uses for who qualifies as a “rookie.”   As I understand it, for position players, BA only uses PA or AB (I forget which) and doesn’t use service time as a criterion.   Most other sources that rate players just use MLB’s rookie standards, under which Stowers wouldn’t qualify due to having more than 45 days of service time.   I don’t know why BA decided to use a different standard.   

PAs or ABs is a better measure of "will they stick" than a date tied to a service clock for determining how a player will adjust to the MLB.

Where would you have Stowers on this list of players?

[RZNJ]

Scouting Report: Their hitting department was on-board with taking Beavers and working with him to get his bat on a better and less steep path through the zone, and so was the player. Quick alterations including his hand placement and torso angle after signing allowed Beavers to lower his in-zone-whiff rate and make more contact from college to pro ball. Beavers is a quick-twitch athlete who has taken to instruction well, but still has several aspects of his swing overhaul ahead of him and will be undertaking those as he deals with consistent velocity and challenging pitch shapes in pro ball. Even moderate swing improvements can make him a fringe-average hitter with plus power, though there's way more upside here. He's a plus runner who is even quicker underway and has a plus arm, with the potential to adequately handle either center or right in the majors.
 

[RZNJ]

Here's part of the writeup on McDermott.

 

Scouting Report: The Orioles targeted him for his diverse repertoire of high-octane pitches on the belief they can help keep him in the strike zone and make his offerings more dynamic. His whole arsenal is based off his above-average mid-90s fastball with high-quality vertical life, and he has separation in all four directions otherwise. His sweeper slider had a 39% chase rate, and he also has a harder cutter that challenged hitters in that same direction. McDermott has a vertical curveball and made strides on a changeup after the trade. All the pitches can be at least average, perhaps with the slider and cutter leading the way a half-tick or tick above that, but McDermott will need to iron out inconsistencies in his delivery and more regularly throw his pitches in the zone, as higher-level hitters will be able to recognize balls out of hand.
 

 

[RZNJ]

My pick to click this year.   John Rhodes

Track Record: Rhodes signed for an above-slot $1.38 million as the 76th overall pick in 2021 after the draft moving from June to July made him eligible as a sophomore. He was more of a projection pick than one based on production after an uneven draft summer, and injuries to his wrist, toe, and knee limited him to 83 games in 2022. He started well when healthy at High-A Aberdeen before struggling to end the year at Double-A Bowie.
 

[RZNJ]

Interesting about Carlos Tavera.  Sounds like he didn't have any arm troubles last year which is good news.

Track Record: A rare early pitcher pick for the Orioles, Tavera signed for a below-slot $375,000 but looked like he'd be a fast-mover in his full-season debut at High-A Aberdeen. He allowed one earned run in four May starts to earn organizational pitcher of the month honors, and entered June striking out 12.1 batters per nine with a 17% swinging strike rate and 0.98 WHIP before non-baseball medical issues that eventually ended his season materialized. Even with two months where he wasn't at his best, Tavera still struck out 32.9% of batters he faced.
 

[Frobby]

Hopefully Tavera’s non-baseball medical issue has cleared up.   He showed a lot of potential last year, but he needs reps.  

[Frobby]

3 hours ago, btdart20 said:

PAs or ABs is a better measure of "will they stick" than a date tied to a service clock for determining how a player will adjust to the MLB.

Where would you have Stowers on this list of players?

I think BA has him in about the right spot.  I see Westburg, Norby and Ortiz as all on a similar tier as Stowers and you could put those four in almost any order.   

[Tony-OH]

23 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Should Stowers even be on the list?

If you go by true rookie status like I do, no, he's not eligible, but it's hard to find the days active on the 26-man roster without going through game logs and transactions, so I can understand why they need to draw a different line in the sand due to doing so many players and teams. As for my list, Stowers would be just ahead of Norby.

As for the list, BA has always ranked guys with draft status and bonus as a heavy part it's criteria so it's not surprising to see them go with their first 13 selections as mostly 1st round/2nd round picks/million bonus guys.

Saying that, I don't really have huge issues with any of their rankings though they like Cowser a bit more than more and don't like Mayo as much as I do. Saying that, I think we all know I've been bullish on Mayo. This year though should give us a pretty good indications of his prospects status and yes, I think he needed to start playing some 1B and or RF along with 3B just so the Orioles have more options for him when/if he's ready.

[MarCakes21]

@Frobby thanks for referencing me here.  Does anyone also have the best tools and projected lineup writeups?  Those are always decent reads too.

[RZNJ]

Best Hitter for Average: Gunnar Henderson

Best Power Hitter: Kyle Stowers

Best Strike-Zone Discipline: Jackson Holliday

Fastest Baserunner: Luis Valdez

Best Athlete: Jordan Westburg

Best Fastball: D.L. Hall

Best Curveball: D.L. Hall

Best Slider: Grayson Rodriguez

Best Changeup: Grayson Rodriguez

Best Control: Grayson Rodriguez

Best Defensive Catcher: Silas Ardoin

Best Defensive Infielder: Joey Ortiz

Best Infield Arm: Gunnar Henderson

Best Defensive Outfielder: Jud Fabian

Best Outfield Arm: Kyle Stowers