Let’s take the 1-5 week the Bowie Baysox finished up today and say never mind for the time being.
More important is this afternoon’s announcement that catching gold mine Adley Rutschman and pitching gold mine D.L. Hall are being moved up to the O’s Double-A affiliate from High-A Aberdeen effective with Tuesday’s game against Harrisburg, kicking off a six-game homestand at Prince George’s Stadium.
That’s a well-timed move and announcement by Bowie, putting Rutschman and Hall, both on rehab travels through the minor league ranks, in front of what likely will be strong home crowds for the next week. It paves the way for Baysox management to pocket some healthy gate receipts for a brief stretch.
It also puts those two prospects either on the doorstep, or one step closer to it, depending on whether Norfolk – which would be a step-by-step progression – or Baltimore, is their next stop.
The lefty Hall, the O’s fifth ranked prospect (MLB’s No. 88 overall), is recovering from a stress reaction in his left elbow that ended his 2021 season in mid-June. Bowie was where he left off at that point.
Rutschman, coming off his well-chronicled right tricep strain, finished his brief stint with the IronBirds with a .462/.533/.692 slash line and ended on his best note, going 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles on April 30. He walked twice without a strikeout and scored a pair of runs.
Bring them on. The eventual arrival of either or both at Camden Yards can’t come soon enough for a lot of patient fans.
The next step for both is putting Bowie back in the win column. The Baysox lone success this week against the Richmond Flying Squirrels was a 10-0 win on Wednesday, in which O’s No. 6 prospect Jordan Westburg went 1-for-6 with a homer and two RBIs, yet also struck out three times and left seven men on base.
Orioles third ranked prospect, Gunnar Henderson, chipped in with a homer and three RBIs.
The Baysox took two beatdowns, 8-0 on Tuesday and 9-1 Sunday, from Richmond starter Jake Dahlberg. A well-traveled 28-year-old left-hander, Dahlberg was taken by St. Louis in the 21st round of the 2017 draft at age 23 out of the University of Illinois-Chicago.
He is now in the San Francisco Giants system. When the Giants signed him to a minor league deal in 2017, he had spent three seasons with the independent Chicago Dogs.
What do you think of Bowie’s tough week, and, more importantly, the arrival of Rutschman and Hall? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to follow The Baltimore Battery on Facebook and Twitter! And, make sure to use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content to show your Birdland swag!
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