Another week of Minor League Baseball has come and gone, and it’s time to dive into the prospects of the week for the Orioles.
Choosing which prospects to highlight was difficult this week, as many of them really had great weeks overall, especially in the pitching department. However, Zack, Stephen and Justin have put together their lists.
Let’s get underway with this week’s version of O’s Prospects of the Week.
Delmarva Shorebirds: Aron Estrada – INF & Blake Money – RHP
While the Shorebirds struggled this week as a team, infielder Aron Estrada absolutely balled out.
In six games, Estrada slashed .333/.429/.667 with a 1.096 OPS, collecting eight hits, two doubles, two home runs and four RBIs. He also stole four bases in four attempts and took one for the team multiple times, getting hit by a pitch three different occasions.
Estrada is coming off a monster month of May, and we named him the Delmarva Player of the Month for a reason. The 19-year-old has a .670 OPS this season with 43 hits, six doubles, three home runs and 19 RBIs. He also has shown off a lot of speed, stealing 15 bases in 18 attempts.
As for the pitching side of things, there was no one more effective on the mound than Blake Money.
The former LSU Tiger came in relief during Friday’s game and tossed 5.1 innings of no-earned-run baseball. He, unfortunately, did receive the loss because of an unearned run, but he did have six strikeouts in his performance.
Money has a 4.38 ERA in 10 games and 37 innings pitched. He has struck out 44, walked just 11 and has given up 36 hits with 18 earned runs. He is definitely still looking for more improvement, but if he continues playing like this, it will be noticed more as the year progresses.
Aberdeen IronBirds: Matthew Etzel – OF & Jackson Baumeister – RHP
Matthew Etzel had yet another week notching more hits than games played, with seven of them in his five starts.
Of those seven hits, three were doubles. To go along with all of those hits, Etzel stole three bases and drove in eight runs. His average now sits at .303 with an .839 OPS on the season.
On the pitching side, Jackson Baumesiter had himself a week. The 21 year-old right-hander saw action in two games this series.
Collectively, he pitched 8.1 innings, allowed just three hits and gave up one un-earned run. He struck out seven batters this week to lower his WHIP to 1.34. This was also the third and fourth straight appearance for Baumesiter without an earned run allowed.
Bowie Baysox: Samuel Basallo – C/1B & Kyle Brnovich – RHP
Another week where Samuel Basallo is the Bowie prospect of the week. Is there anything this kid can’t do?
Basallo absolutely showed out against the Patriots, slashing .380/.480/.571, good for a 1.051 OPS. He collected eight hits, two extra-base hits, four RBIs, walked four times and stole two bases. Remember, he is only 19 years old.
Basallo has still taken a dip in stats between this season and last. Posting an OPS of .786 this season, Basallo is still producing at a high level with stealing bases, getting productive outs and hitting the cover off the ball.
As for the pitching side of things in Bowie, Kyle Brnovich was lights out on the mound in two games against Somerset.
Brnovich started in game one of the series and went five innings of four-hit, one-run baseball. He also walked two and struck out three and picked up the win. In his second start, Brnovich went six innings of no-hit baseball, walked a batter and struck out six.
Brnovich cooled down a little in the month of May but is starting to pick up a little in the last few games. The 26-year-old has pitched 44 innings and has a 3.27 ERA in 10 games this season. His main improvement is holding batters to a .154 batting average after finishing the 2023 season with a .214 average against.
Norfolk Tides: Jackson Holliday – INF & Nolan Hoffman – RHP
Nolan Hoffman stood out this week when other pitchers struggled for the Tides.
Appearing in two games this week, Hoffman would go 1-0, pitching a combined four innings, allowing no runs while surrending a total of three hits and striking out six batters.
Hoffman improves to 3-1 on the season, pitching 19.1 innings while striking out 27 batters. The right-hander has a 5.59 ERA and compiled a 1.97 WHIP while opponents have hit .295 against the right-hander.
Jackson Holliday came into the series with a 10-game on-base streak, and by the end of the series, he boosted that to a 17-game on-base streak and a nine-game hitting streak.
For the series, Holliday would go 7-for-17 (.412 avg) while picking up three doubles, a home run and three RBIs, walking five times, scoring five times and swiping a stolen base.
Holliday is now slashing .283/.439/.484/.923 across 42 games with the Tides this season. The O’s No. 1 prospect has collected 45 hits, including 14 doubles and six home runs, while scoring 47 runs and driving in 23. He has 44 walks to 44 strikeouts and has stolen five bases.
Which O’s prospects stood out to you this week? 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!
Like Zack’s content? Follow him on X – @Zackattack8211 and @OsMilbUpdates for all the latest news and updates on the O’s farm system! Also, check out the latest episodes of The First Flight podcast!
Like Stephen’s content? Follow him on X – @SRJHeckman, and listen to the official podcast of The Baltimore Battery, The Final Strike, anywhere you get your podcasts!
Like Justin’s content? Follow him on X – @orioles4life96
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