2023 All FCL Orioles Team (Rookie)

[Tony-OH]

I'm going to put together an All-League team for each Rookie level. These are not necessarily the best prospects, but the guys who had the best season. The rules are the player must have spent most of his season at that level and played most of his games at that position to qualify.

1B: Victor Gonzalez      - (.221/.280/.397/.677)
2B: Aron Estrada          - (.206/.383/.365/.748)
SS: Maikol Hernandez - (.179/.308/.269/.577)     
3B: Leandro Arias         - (.271/.370/.414/.785)
OF: Kevin Guerrero      - (.277/.323/.420/.743)
CF: Braylin Tavera         - (.262/.391/.421/.812)
OF: Thomas Sosa         - (.290/.385/.492/.877)
C : Aneudis Mordán     - (.274/.390/.504/.894)
SP: Luis De Leon         - (1.65, 27.1 IP, 23 H, 14 BB, 36 K)
SP: Raúl Rangel          - (4.39, 26.2 IP, 27 H, 14 Bb, 26 K) 
RP: Bryan Bautista      - (3.60, 20 IP, 19 H, 10 BB, 19 K)
 

[Chaka Garcia]

@Tony-OH, curious what your thoughts about Braylon’s FCL season? It seemed so-so, unlike Basallo’s FCL season where we saw signs of breakout.

[RZNJ]

1 hour ago, Chaka Garcia said:

@Tony-OH, curious what your thoughts about Braylon’s FCL season? It seemed so-so, unlike Basallo’s FCL season where we saw signs of breakout.

Their numbers are very similar.  Curious why you see “breakout” in Basallo’s 2022 FCL season but not in Tavera?   The most significant difference is that Basallo was 17 and Tavera 18.  Otherwise, very similar.

[Tony-OH]

2 hours ago, Chaka Garcia said:

@Tony-OH, curious what your thoughts about Braylon’s FCL season? It seemed so-so, unlike Basallo’s FCL season where we saw signs of breakout.

I think it was a very good season and in fact, was a better overall season than Basallo's FCL season last year. I love the 22 BB-23 K ratio and the .391 OBP. Tavera is just six months older than Basallo was in the FCL. But let's look at the two:

                        WRC+   WOBA   BB/K    ISO   BABIP  SwStr% 
2022 Basallo     116        .369      0.41   .137    .322     28.7%  
2023 Tavera      117        .395      0.96   .159    .293     16.5%

Hard to see how you can not get excited about Tavera after seeing Basallo take off this year.

[Frobby]

I’m very happy with Tavera’s season and look forward to seeing what he can do in full season ball next year.  I’m sure he doesn’t have Basallo’s power (few do), but he’s got enough and great plate discipline.   

[LookinUp]

I'm curious how the difference in age affects prospect status. I know younger is better, but Sosa and Mordan also had really nice seasons on paper. Mordan is the oldest of the bunch (already 19). Still, he played half a season at 18 and ended up with some nice numbers over a decent sample.

I like Tavera and DeLeon most from this list. Both have the potential to have really interesting baseball futures. I'd be curious to know more about the other two I mentioned though. I know Sosa's gotten some online love.

[Tony-OH]

On 10/16/2023 at 3:57 PM, LookinUp said:

I'm curious how the difference in age affects prospect status. I know younger is better, but Sosa and Mordan also had really nice seasons on paper. Mordan is the oldest of the bunch (already 19). Still, he played half a season at 18 and ended up with some nice numbers over a decent sample.

I like Tavera and DeLeon most from this list. Both have the potential to have really interesting baseball futures. I'd be curious to know more about the other two I mentioned though. I know Sosa's gotten some online love.

You will soon!

[RZNJ]

Kevin Guerrero could be interesting.   He was a lottery ticket from the Marlins in the Tanner Scott trade.    In 2022 he hit .146 in the FCL and was one of the worst looking hitters, on video, I have ever seen.  It looks like he got bigger and stronger this year and started to gradually learn how to hit.  A .743 OPS in the FCL with a .793 in July in 15 games and over 1.000 in 8 games in August.   He started to show some power with 4 homers although a more aggressive approach saw his strikeout rate stay about the same while his walk rate decreased significantly.

He’ll be 20 next year.   The Orioles are overloaded with outfielders between Delmarva and Aberdeen next year so it’s difficult to say.  As of today, I’d guess top 20 FCL prospects Braylin Tavera and Thomas comprise 2/3 of Delmarva’s outfield.   Do they promote Stiven Acevedo, who had a mini breakout year, to Aberdeen?   Do they start 2023 3rd and 5th rounders Tavian Josenberger and Jake Cunningham at Delmarva?   Normally, I’d answer yes to both questions but normally, other 2023 draftees like Enrique Bradfield,Mac Horvath, and Matthew Etzel would also be slated for Aberdeen.   I have a few ideas on how they might make that work.  One of those ideas includes Kevin Guerrero being the 3rd starting outfielder in Delmarva.  He’s a pretty extreme longshot but worth keeping an eye on next year.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=guerre000kev&type=bgl&year=2023

Edited October 21, 2023 by RZNJ