The weather is warming up on the East Coast, and so are the prospects.
Another week of minor league baseball has finished, and that means that it’s time for another edition of O’s Prospects of the Week. This week was filled with incredible performances both on offense and on the mound.
With that said, let’s get right into it.
Delmarva Shorebirds: Leandro Arias – INF / Jacob Cravey – RHP
At just 19 years old, Leandro Arias is already in the middle of his third professional season in the Orioles organization. While his year started off slow, this past week, Arias was an absolute star for the Shorebirds.
In five games, Arias slashed .465/.632/.385 with a 1.017 OPS and had six hits, one double, four RBIs, five walks and stole two bases in three attempts.
Arias has battled injuries this season, and he really struggled to start the year. But since he has come back from his injury, the Dominican native has really started to light it up with the Shorebirds, slashing .247/.351/.402 with a .753 OPS in 29 games.
Right-hander Jacob Cravey was drafted in 2023 out of Samford University. After not pitching during the 2023 season in the minors, Cravey has had an up and down season thus far in 2024.
But that wasn’t the case this week, as Cravey went four innings of scoreless baseball in his only start. He gave up just two hits, walked a batter and struck out seven.
Cravey currently has a 5.03 ERA in 11 games and seven starts this season. In 34 innings, the 22-year-old has given up 37 hits, 19 earned runs, has walked 21 batters and struck out 26. Batters are hitting .287 off him, and he has a WHIP of 1.71.
Aberdeen IronBirds: Creed Willems – C / Zach Fruit – RHP
The offensive player of the week for the IronBirds was a really tough decision between Elio Prado and Creed Willems. However, Willems takes the cake on this one.
In a 6-for-20 effort, Willems notched four extra-base hits as part of those six. He logged three walks as well while driving in four runs.
What ultimately took the honor this week was Willems’ two-run walk-off blast in extra innings to seal the victory on June 14.
On the mound, Zach Fruit takes home the honor this week.
Fruit had a really good bounce-back outing after allowing four runs in his last appearance. The 24-year-old threw 4.1 innings on June 14 and allowed just one hit and struck out six to lower his ERA back to under four.
Bowie Baysox: Jud Fabian – OF / Alex Pham – RHP
In honor of the College World Series, let’s talk about a collegiate baseball legend in Jud Fabian. The former Gator decided to have a truly powerful series against Harrisburg this week.
In five games, Fabian slashed .272/.304/.672 with a .976 OPS and collected three hits, all three being home runs, and four RBIs.
Fabian has been a true slugger this season in Bowie. The 23-year-old outfielder has a .778 OPS in 53 games with the Baysox and has hit 12 home runs on the season with 29 RBIs.
Not only has Fabian been an offensive beast for the Baysox, but the O’s No. 12 prospect has also shown off his cannon of an arm and has made great defensive plays all season.
Before the season started, my prediction was that Alex Pham would have a breakout 2024. While he hasn’t been as dominant as I thought, the O’s No. 24 prospect has been solid for the Baysox this season.
Pham, 24, made two starts this past series and went 11 innings, gave up eight hits, three earned runs, walked one batter and struck out 14.
While Pham has a 5.91 ERA this season in 13 starts, he’s had plus control on the season, only walking 25 batters and striking 70.
Norfolk Tides: Billy Cook – UTL / Brandon Young – RHP
Last week, there was an argument for Billy Cook to be the player of the week, but he just missed out. Cook might have taken it personally because he came back and had another strong week, thus earning him the honor.
For the week, the former Pepperdine product collected nine hits in 22 at-bats (.409 avg). Of his nine hits, he collected a double, a triple and three home runs while driving in six and scoring seven runs.
For the year, the former 10th-round pick is slashing .287/.389/.465/.854 with eight home runs and 39 RBIs. Cook has a .333 BABIP while seeing a career high 3.8 pitches per at-bat, which has him eight walks behind his career-high of 42 for a season.
When you talk about the Tides’ pitching, a name that doesn’t get mentioned often is Brandon Young.
After all, Young has four years of professional experience, has appeared in 48 games (43 starts) and has accumulated a 7-10 career record. But the 25-year-old righty is having a dominant June, and his most recent outing is showing the growth the undrafted free agent has made.
Young’s latest outing consisted of five innings of one-hit, no-run ball. He would strike out four in helping to lead the Tides to a 9-2 victory, picking up the win.
In June, Young improves 2-0 in three games (two starts) with a 3.65 ERA through 13 innings. Opponents are hitting .167 off Young for the month while he has accumulated a 0.85 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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