2024 Delmarva Shorebirds

[btdart20]

8 hours ago, Yossarian said:

So are all but 2 of the position players on this roster from the Dominican Academy?  If that is the case,  that is quite the investment the O's have made down there.  Our were some of these guys picked up in the international draft?

A few names I don't recognize, but I think you're reading the trend correctly.

To add on a bit:  It also has to do with the O's drafting college heavy (vs HS) in the state-side amateur draft.

[RZNJ]

8 hours ago, Yossarian said:

So are all but 2 of the position players on this roster from the Dominican Academy?  If that is the case,  that is quite the investment the O's have made down there.  Our were some of these guys picked up in the international draft?

There is no international draft.  Romero, the infielder, was picked up in a trade.  Casimiri, the pitcher, was originally signed by another team, released, and signed.  To my knowledge, every other Latin player on the team was originally signed as an amateur FA in the J2 classes by the Orioles.  Estrada, Arias, Sosa, and Tavera all were signed in the January 2022 class and all 4 will be in their age 19 seasons.

[Frobby]

15 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

Based on breakout roster, these should be the main starters at each position. Note, we know the Orioles like to mis and match and move guys around.

1B: Noelberth Romero
2B: Aron Estrada
SS: Leandro Arias
3B: Anderson De Los Santos
LF: Stiven Acevedo
CF: Braylin Tavera
RF: Thomas Sosa
DH: Jake Cunningham (He will rotate through all 3 outfield spots)
C : Aneudis Mordan



 

Jake Cunningham had better learn some Spanish!

[Sports Guy]

Surprising that Liranzo isn’t on this roster or to be expected?

[RZNJ]

Just now, Sports Guy said:

Surprising that Liranzo isn’t on this roster or to be expected?

He’s 17 and only played in the DSL last year.   He should be in the FCL this year.   

[Just Regular]

Shorebirds pitching has struck out Elijah Green repeating Low-A his first couple times up tonight.

[Frobby]

That was a fairly dismal weekend for the Shorebirds, going 0-3 and being outscored 25-10.  

The bright spot was the pitching performances of the rotation.   

Game 1: 2023 6th rounder Jacob Cravey allowed 1 hit in 4 scoreless innings, 2 walks 5 strikeouts.

Game 2: 2023 12th rounder Blake Money allowed 1 run on 2 hits in 4 innings, walking nobody and gathering 7 strikeouts.   

Game 3: 20-year old Luis De Leon allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on 2 hits with no walks 5 strikeouts.  

Money, by the way, was born in Sarasota FL.   



 

[EdwinRip]

Does anyone have any reports on Mordan?  He’s only 19 and hit very well last year in the FCL…..off to a blazing start again this year.

[Frobby]

This team looks utterly overmatched, now 0-6 and outscored 47-21.   

One small bright spot is last year’s 6th rounder Jacob Cravey, who’s thrown 7 scoreless innings.  He may deserve his own thread soon, but for now I’ll just post @Tony-OH’s writeup from the top 31-50 list:

43. Jacob Cravey – RHP (NCAA): The Orioles nabbed this 6-for-6 right-hander in the 6th round after being the Friday night pitcher for Samford University this year. Cravey brings a low-90s fastball (91-93) to the mound but has touched as high as 97 on occasion. His fastball has good ride and garners swings and misses up in the zone. He throws a slider and changeup with the changeup being a pretty good at times against lefties although it's inconsistent. He's got a bit of a hitch in his delivery so there is some reliever vibe in him, but he'll get developed as a starter for now. He'll most likely start his career in either Delmarva or Aberdeen depending on how he looks next spring.

Edited April 12 by Frobby

[RZNJ]

I’m treating this year’s Delmarva team like the DSL teams.  It’s always more fun to win but keep running Sosa, Tavera, Arias, and Estrada out there and hope for development.   This is probably the youngest low A team we’ve ever had.   Could be some painful growing pains.   BTW, a quick check on Carolina League stats show plenty of high profile names from last years draft struggling quite a bit as well.   And then there’s always Elijah Green and Druw Jones.  It’s a challenge.   Tavera isn’t hitting but he’s making a lot of contact.  Just a matter of time.

[Frobby]

27 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

I’m treating this year’s Delmarva team like the DSL teams.  It’s always more fun to win but keep running Sosa, Tavera, Arias, and Estrada out there and hope for development.   This is probably the youngest low A team we’ve ever had.   Could be some painful growing pains.   BTW, a quick check on Carolina League stats show plenty of high profile names from last years draft struggling quite a bit as well.   And then there’s always Elijah Green and Druw Jones.  It’s a challenge.   Tavera isn’t hitting but he’s making a lot of contact.  Just a matter of time.

The hitters are young (20.1, 2nd youngest in the league).   The pitchers aren’t (22.2, 3rd oldest).   

[RZNJ]

9 minutes ago, Frobby said:

The hitters are young (20.1, 2nd youngest in the league).   The pitchers aren’t (22.2, 3rd oldest).   

21 runs and a .581 OPS so far.  Surprisingly there’s a few teams doing worse.

When I mentioned how young the team was I should have specified position players.  Of course, all of the 19 yo players I mentioned are position players.

Edited April 12 by RZNJ

[Frobby]

4 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

21 runs and a .581 OPS so far.  Surprisingly there’s a few teams doing worse.

When I mentioned how young the team was I should have specified position players.  Of course, all of the 19 yo players I mentioned are position players.

Yes, and I do think that’s a big factor.  I seem to remember a lot of our FCL guys got off to slow starts last year but picked up the pace after a month or so.  We may see something similar with the Delmarva hitters.  

Another consequence of the young position players is shaky defense.  8 unearned runs already after 6 games.  That’s sonething that should improve as the year goes along.  

As to the not-so-young pitchers, 36 walks in 52 innings kind of sticks out like a sore thumb.  

 

[Tony-OH]

On 4/10/2024 at 10:26 PM, EdwinRip said:

Does anyone have any reports on Mordan?  He’s only 19 and hit very well last year in the FCL…..off to a blazing start again this year.

62. Aneudis Mordan – C/1B (FCL/A): 19-year old catcher broke out with the bat in the FCL after two years of struggling in the DSL. Earned himself a cup of coffee in Delmarva at the end of the FCL season and did not look out of place at the plate. He's got a quick bat with power potential who showed a much better ability to work counts. Defensively his arm was terrible last year although he said there was nothing wrong, but if he comes back throwing like that next year he'll need to move to 1B where his 6-1 height will not be a plus. His defensive short comings puts a lot of pressure on the bat to be special.

[Tony-OH]

33 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

21 runs and a .581 OPS so far.  Surprisingly there’s a few teams doing worse.

When I mentioned how young the team was I should have specified position players.  Of course, all of the 19 yo players I mentioned are position players.

They are young, and many have not played in cold weather before. Arias, Sosa and Tavera are all off to slow starts for sure, but too early to panic on them (not saying you are).

I'd like to see less strikeouts for sure from Sosa and Arias. Tavera has done a nice job of controlling the strike zone even though he hasn't hit much. Sosa's K rate is certainly not good right now. He did have a two walk game but the K's are piling up on him and that's a big concern if he can't get that under control.