The Norfolk Tides saw their squad lose Richie Martin and Tyler Nevin to the bigs and ended the week with news of Kyle Stowers ready to make his MLB debut.
With newcomers Jordan Westburg and Gunnar Henderson now in Norfolk, it seems that a few exciting players are being replaced with a couple more head-turning prospects to make things fun.
The Tides didn’t let all the roster turnover affect them, as they took four games of their six-game series with Nashville. The Tides are now 30-30 and find themselves five games back in the standings. They are 7-3 over their last 10 and are just getting their footing.
Newcomer and No. 6 Orioles prospect, Jordan Westburg, announced his coming to Triple-A by going 10-for-22 across five games this week.
In Thurdays 5-4 victory, Westburg would go 3-for-4 in his second game, collecting a double and home run and driving in three runs, scoring one himself.
To start his Triple-A career, Westburg is batting .455 with two doubles and two home runs, while driving in seven. For the season, he is now hitting .270 with 11 round trippers to go with 39 RBIs. This is just a continuation of what looks like a promising start to Westburg’s career.
If Westburg was playing Batman, then Gunnar Henderson was Robin this week. Henderson showed out on defense, making a few highlight real plays. But his bat did some talking as well.
During Norfolk’s 8-3 victory Wednesday, Henderson would go 2-for-4, hitting his first Triple-A home run in his first Triple-A at-bat. He would end up hitting .278 for the series but would also collect eight walks in the five games.
On the season, the Orioles No. 3 prospect is batting .309 with nine homers and 38 RBIs. What has everyone turning their heads is Henderson has more walks (49) than strikeouts (41) to help with his .460 OBP. Once on base, Henderson has collected 13 steals, making him an all around threat.
In the pitching department, a familiar name to Orioles fans stands out this week.
Marcos Diplán has pitched in 13 games this season and currently holds a 0.52 ERA. During the series with Nashville, Diplán would collect two victories, allowing no runs across 4.2 innings of work. He allowed one hit and struck out four.
Diplán has pitched in five games for the Orioles and will more than likely be back in the bigs soon, as long as he keeps pitching lights out ball.
Blaine Knight had a stand out performance in Thursday’s 5-3 victory coming in relief.
He would pitch 3.1 innings, allowing no runs and striking out two to pick up his first win of the year. This continues a strong June for Knight, as he has yet to allow a run across 6.1 innings of work, while striking out four on the month.
On the year, Knight is now 1-2 and has struck out 23 across 34.2 innings of work in 10 games.
The Norfolk Tides will look to continue their hot streak, as they welcome the 21-38 Syracuse Mets to town.
Who stood out to you this week for Norfolk? 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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