The first full week of MiLB baseball in June is complete, and it’s a fantastic week to write about the Baby Birds.
All four Orioles affiliates performed well, and the prospects who were selected by us this week showed out.
Let’s not waste any time. Here are the O’s Prospects of the Week.
Delmarva Shorebirds: Aneudis Mordán – C / Juan Rojas – LHP
Aneudis Mordán might have struggled in the month of May, but he picked it up in the first full series in June.
In five games, Mordán slashed .333/.400/.722 with a 1.122 OPS and collected six hits, a double and two home runs. He also drove in seven and walked twice.
In 46 games, Mordán is slashing .228/.337/.437 with a .774 OPS. He has collected 36 hits, three doubles, 10 home runs and 26 RBIs and has also walked 25 times and has stolen three bases. The 20-year-old backstop has also been solid defensively, and his offensive continues to improve every month.
Juan Rojas has been struggling on the mound this season, and it’s nice to see him have a great outing. In his one game of relief, Rojas tossed three innings of no-hit baseball. He also gave up no earned runs and struck out four batters.
Rojas has three games with the Shorebirds this season, and this last outing was the first time that he has gone more than one inning. The 20-year-old has pitched five innings and has given up five earned runs, good for a 9.00 ERA on the season. He has also walked four batters and struck out five.
Rojas was a part of the trade that brought in Cade Povich and Yennier Canó, and he, along with the others in the package, is showing that the O’s won that trade in the end.
Aberdeen IronBirds: Matthew Etzel – OF / Kyle Virbitsky – RHP
Once again, what Matthew Etzel was able to do this week was incredible, enough to earn him a promotion to Double-A Bowie. We have gotten to a point where seeing a week with five plus hits with multiple RBIs, extra-base hits and steals is normal for this guy.
Etzel finished out his final High-A series with seven hits, with two in each of the final three games. Two of his seven hits were triples, and he also recorded four steals.
On the mound, there were a few arms who showed out this week. The best of the best, however, was Kyle Virbitsky.
Virbitsky, who came to Baltimore with Cole Irvin from the Oakland Athletics, tossed 3.1 innings across two outings, allowing three hits and no runs with three strikeouts. This week also saw his first save on the year.
This week also saw the return of Moisés Chace, who pitched in his first game since he was injured in a scary collision while covering first base back on May 24.
Bowie Baysox: Samuel Basallo – C/1B / Seth Johnson – RHP
Yes, you are reading that correctly. Samuel Basallo is back as the Bowie Prospect of the Week.
Basallo is something we like to call insanity in the sport of baseball. In six games, Basallo slashed .347/.400/.739 and had eight hits with two home runs and three doubles. He also knocked in seven and walked twice.
The 19-year-old is the best hitting prospect in the Orioles organization right now with the way he’s been playing. In 53 games with Bowie, Basallo is slashing .293/.342/.483 with a .825 OPS. He’s collected 60 hits, nine doubles, 10 home runs and 32 RBIs.
Earlier, we talked about Juan Rojas and how he was a piece of the Jorge López trade. Well, now we can talk about that same deadline in 2022 and talk about a big part of the Trey Mancini trade.
The Orioles received Seth Johnson in that deal, and he had two amazing starts this past series. The O’s No. 10 prospect gave up zero runs and only three hits in his 7.2 innings of work this series. He walked six batters but struck out 12.
Johnson is coming off a stellar month of May and wasted no time in June. Even with an 0-4 record, the 25-year-old righty has posted a 2.75 ERA in 11 starts and 39.1 innings pitched this season. He has only given up 12 earned runs, walked 23 batters and struck out 43.
Johnson is coming off Tommy John Surgery just last season, and he’s making it known why the O’s acquired him even during that procedure.
Norfolk Tides: Blake Hunt – C / Chayce McDermott – RHP
Not too long ago, Blake Hunt was playing for a different organization. Now, with the Orioles, his third organization in less than a year, Hunt is starting to show how good of a player he can be.
This week, Hunt would collect hits in four of the five games (7-for-20, .350 avg) he played, including two multi-hit efforts. His showing in Thursday’s 9-3 Tides victory, 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs, left him a triple short of the cycle.
Since arriving in the Orioles organization, Hunt is slashing .250/.270/.556/.826 across nine games. He has homered three times, scored six times, driven in five runs and doubled twice.
Chayce McDermott was on when the rest of the Norfolk pitching staff was off Saturday. The former fourth-round pick was good enough to lower his ERA, opponent’s batting average and WHIP while coming up with a no-decision.
McDermott would pitch six strong innings, throwing 96 pitches (59 strikes) and allowing just one run on three hits, striking out eight in the process. Unfortunately, he would leave with a 5-1 lead, and the Tides would drop the game 10-7.
The O’s No. 8 prospect is 2-3 through 13 games (12 starts) while compiling a 3.57 ERA. Across 58 innings, the 25-year-old righty has collected 90 strikeouts to just 37 walks and has held opponents to a .230 batting average with a 1.50 WHIP.
Which 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!
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