Well, not quite as successful a week on the Orioles farm as we were hoping for, with a combined 6-18 combined record, but non-winning baseball is better than no baseball at all! Plenty of momentum to be built upon at all four levels of the system too, so let's look back at a busy week.
Norfolk Tides
Lost series vs. Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 0-6
-Quite a turnaround from the previous week and a half of dominance, and not in the right direction
-Jackson Holliday went 1-4 with a walk in his last game for the Tides. It was great to see him in the Orange and Black, but they surely missed him in Harbor Park
 |
| Photo: Billy Schuerman/ Virginian Pilot |
-Norfolk Four*: Predictably everyone came back to Earth some, but there was still some to buzz about
-Coby Mayo: 8-24, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 4 R, 1 BB, 8 K, only member of the four to collect a hit in every game
-Heston Kjerstad: 4-22, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 5 R, 4 BB, 8 K
-Connor Norby: 3-21, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 1 R, 3 BB, 7 K
-Kyle Stowers: 2-18, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R, 2 BB, 8 K
-Nice game Thursday for journeyman catcher Michael Perez, going 2-4 with 3 RBI while hitting his first home run for the Tides. He'll be splitting time with Maverick Handley until Samuel Basallo gets moved up
-Errol Robinson still ripping .293 at the dish!
-Walks continue to be a problem for Chayce McDermott, racking up 5 more on Wednesday. He's racked up 15 free passes in just 12 innings so far; a troubling ratio no matter how you swing it
-A lot of runs for Justin Armbruester this week, surrendering 7 in 9 frames spanning two starts. The kid can eat innings, but the calories add up
-Cade Povich has been supremely encouraging for the organization, with another brilliant start Saturday. The ninth rated prospect struck out 10 over 5.1, walking two and allowing just one hit-- a solo home run. It was unfortunately enough to earn him his first decision loss of 2024
-Nick Vespi will be in the big league pen sooner than later here, going 2.2 scoreless on the week
-However, we'll double down on our sentiment from last week, the Tides can keep Bryan Baker. 4 earned runs in just 2 innings inflated his ERA to 18.69-- not nice. He's also allowing opposing batters to hit .429 off of him-- bad.
Bowie Baysox
Lost series vs. Hartford Yard Goats 2-4
-Samuel Basallo went 5-21 on the week with an RBI and 8 strikeouts. Some growing pains for the second ranked prospect, but not too shabby a showing
-Catchers galore in this Baysox lineup-- with Silas Ardoin and Connor Pavolony each batting over .313 on the season. They collected 7 hits while splitting time against the Yard Goats
-Dylan Beavers ripped .300 on the series, working from the leadoff and three-hole
-All Frederick Bencosme seems to do is hit: posting a .333/1/3 line with a stolen bag in 5 games
-Shoutout TT Bowens for showing out! The fan favorite went 7-18 with a dinger and 9 driven in
-Seth Johnson wasn't good on Tuesday, walking 4 and allowing 2 earned in just 2 innings
-Dylan Heid and Trey McGough have been really bright spots for this AA bullpen, currently combining for 9 scoreless frames over the first week and a half. Cade Strowd's also shut out opposing batters for his first 4.2 innings of relief work. Names that could work their way up to Norfolk soon
-Speaking of Bright, a joke/transition I'll probably use multiple times this year, Trace had 8 strikeouts in a decent Sunday start. He also allowed 8 hits and 3 earned runs, but fair all considered
Aberdeen Ironbirds
Tied series with Wilmington Blue Rocks 3-3
-Matthew Etzel and Creed Willems led the way for Aberdeen during their home opener, each taking their one base hit to the outfield bleachers. It was a trend that'd continue. The 2023 10th-rounder Etzel finished the week 7-20, sustaining a .360 average and .993 OPS, only to be one upped by Creed, who ripped a .352/3/7 line in just four games
-Carter Young finally got his first hit of the season, collecting 2 on the week while driving in that same number. Hoping we can see a boost in his confidence from it
-A 2-RBI ground rule double for Hudson Haskin Wednesday helped kick start his season, finishing the series 3-14 with 5 walks and 7 strikeouts
-Catcher Randy Florentino is back, announcing his return with a 2-4, 2 RBI performance Saturday
-2/2 on stolen bases this week for Enrique Bradfield Jr., bringing him up to 4 on the year
-Moises Chace looked great Tuesday, allowing just 3 hits and a walk over 4 scoreless with 9 strikeouts. His follow up Sunday may have been even more impressive, with no hits and a single base on balls over 4 innings, punching out 6 along the way. Hell of a week by the 20 year old
-Despite how good Chace looked in the series opener, it was Juan Nunez got the W, preserving the shut out as he finished 4.2 of the final 5 innings with 4 K's of his own. He'd also throw Sunday, lasting 2 frames in a less impressive start
-Cameron Weston continued his hot start, plunking one batter and striking out 9 through 5 nearly perfect innings Thursday. His ERA's currently sitting at an elite 1.13
-Yaqui Rivera's looked sharp overall too, allowing just 1 earned run in 4 innings of relief work thus far
Delmarva Shorebirds
Lost series with Salem Red Sox 1-5
-Aneudis Mordan stayed productive, going 5-18 at the plate with a home run and 3 runs driven in. He's been far and away the most consistent Shorebirds' hitter
-While in attendance, I got to bear witness to a big home run by Stiven Acevedo Sunday. It was a welcome display of power by the intriguing prospect
-Dougie Hodo's back on the shore! The former sixth round pick hit a long ball this week to announce his return, but unfortunately collected only one other hit in 14 total at bats
-The non-racist Riley Cooper had himself a nice series vs. Salem, racking up 6.2 innings over 2 appearances, with 1 earned run, 9 hits allowed and 10 K's
-Nestor German had a nice Class-A debut Wednesday, going 3 hitless IP with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts
-Jacob Cravey was encouraging once again, this time in relief on Thursday, permitting 3 hits, 3 walks and 1 unearned run over 3 innings
-Strong relief effort from Ty Weatherly on Friday, striking out 3 over 4 scoreless frames
-Michael Forret was incredible in the series finale, allowing just 1 walk over a 5 inning start, plus 7 strike outs. He was hype on the mound after some big outs too, bringing big energy to Perdue Stadium, as well as the Shorebirds' first win of 2024!
Thoughts from Elsewhere
-Nice series for Benny Montgomery of the Colorado Rockies organization. Our former Minor League Spotlight went 8-20 with 2 home runs and 8 RBI against the Bowie Baysox, showing why he's such a highly regarded prospect. That Hartford Yard Goats team has some fun names on it for sure.
-Disappointed to not see this week's MLS Nazzan Zanetello get any action down in Delmarva. Can't imagine he's too buried on the depth chart, so curious if he's less than 100%. Online searches have yet to reveal any of that, so if anyone has any tea on the matter, feel free to share!
------
@Choppinglines
*I own no rights to any images found in this blog
Comments
Post a Comment