The Orioles are off to a strong start this spring training, and many of the Birds’ young prospects have been showing out in the process.
Between the plethora of talent still on the farm, coupled with a loaded big league roster, I wanted to highlight five Orioles destined to have breakout seasons in 2024.
This list will consist of both position players and pitchers and will focus on contributions to the big league club in 2024.
Colton Cowser
We might as well start off with the most popular pick. After a very rough first stint in the majors, a lot of Birdland has voiced their doubts on Colton Cowser.
His name came up as a trade piece all offseason while the Orioles were looking for starting pitching, but holding on to Cowser looks like it will be paying its dividends very soon.
Through nine spring training games, Cowser is slashing .450/.577/1.050 with four long balls and nine RBIs. It’s been pointed out that Cowser has lowered his hands in his batting stance and has looked much more comfortable at the plate ever since.
Though it’s a crowded outfield, the O’s fifth-ranked prospect has made a strong case to make the Opening Day roster, and if he does, expect to see Cowser tap into those elite bat to ball skills and be the perfect fourth outfielder for Baltimore.
Grayson Rodriguez
Another popular candidate to break out in 2024 is flamethrowing right-hander Grayson Rodriguez.
Much like Cowser, the former top pitching prospect in baseball had a very rough start to his major league career, posting a 7.35 ERA and 1.74 WHIP in 45.1 innings before being sent back down to the minors to retool his game.
After being recalled in mid-July, Rodriguez would appear in 13 games, posting a 4-2 record, a 2.58 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. Going back to the minors was a huge aid in helping Gray-Rod harness his command and figure out a pitch mix that worked best for him.
Now, with the unfortunate news of Kyle Bradish’s UCL injury, Rodriguez is poised to at least start the season as the O’s No. 2 starter. He has the stuff to be one of the best pitchers in baseball, and after another offseason in the O’s lab, I think we see a huge year for the young flamethrower.
Heston Kjerstad
The aforementioned crowded outfield will be a challenge for Heston Kjerstad, but should he get his chance, he could quickly bring prime Chris Davis vibes back to Charm City.
It wasn’t a bad campaign for Kjerstad in his limited 2023 action. In 30 at-bats, the powerful lefty posted a .233 batting average and .748 OPS, but one look at his baseball savant page, and you’ll see what has Orioles fans excited.
Kjerstad’s average exit velocity of 92.3 and hard hit percent of 55 are both in the 90th percentile or higher in all of Major League Baseball.
It hasn’t been a huge spring spring showing so far for Kjerstad, but we’ve seen flashes of Gold Glove level defense from the young outfielder and all the analytics point to better luck in 2024 for Baltimore’s newest Eutaw Street resident.
Ryan Mountcastle
Ryan Mountcastle was the first of all the Baby Birds to make it to Baltimore, and while he’s been plenty serviceable, a lot of O’s fans have been waiting for the year Mounty puts it all together in the middle of the lineup.
Mountcastle showed flashes of being that player for the Orioles throughout the season, but vertigo plagued him, and he only ended up playing in 115 games. In those games, he put together a respectable .270/.328/.452 slash line and left the yard 18 times.
Right-handed pitching remains a struggle for Mounty, as suggested by his .640 OPS against them. But against leftys, Mountcastle has been one of the very best in baseball, posting a 1.053 OPS against south paws, with 12 of his 18 home runs coming against them.
With, hopefully, a fully healthy 2024 for Mountcastle, he should finally be able to settle in and bolster the middle of the O’s lineup.
Dillon Tate
Orioles’ GM Mike Elias has been criticized for pretty much ignoring the bullpen outside of the Kimbrel signing. But many are quick to forget about Dillon Tate, who missed all of 2023 with lingering injuries but is ready to return to action in 2024.
Tate has been working with the O’s staff since well before pitchers and catchers reported and is set to make the Opening Day roster. In 2022, Tate appeared in 67 games, posting a 3.05 ERA and 0.99 WHIP. He was a huge reason the bullpen quickly introduced itself as one of baseball’s finest.
Tate has had a light workload in spring to help ease him back into action. In his four innings of work, he’s given up just one hit and no runs with three punch outs.
It will be a huge bonus for the O’s getting a healthy Dillon Tate back, and it won’t take long for him to show why the bullpen did not need to be addressed as much as originally thought.
Which O’s do you think will have breakout 2024 seasons? Let us know in the comments below! Make sure to follow The Baltimore Battery on Facebook, Twitter (X) and TikTok, and use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content!
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