Another week is in the books, and it was filled to the brim with fun and exciting moments.
We finally got to witness the debut of the O’s first round draft choice, Vance Honeycutt. We saw back-to-back walk-offs from the same team, and we got to see a flurry of promotions come sunday night.
With all that said, here are the O’s Prospects of the Week.
Delmarva Shorebirds: Ryan Stafford – C / Braxton Bragg – RHP
Another week where a 2024 draft pick has earned himself a spot in the O’s Prospects of the Week article.
The former fifth-round pick in Ryan Stafford had himself quite the week, as he slashed .538/.619/.615 with a 1.234 OPS in five games and 13 at-bats.
Stafford picked up seven hits, one double, four RBIs and walked five times while stealing two bases in two attempts. He also was hit by a pitch and had two sacrifice flies.
Stafford has had an amazing start to his professional career, posting 12 hits and eight walks. The Cal Poly product has also stolen six bases in seven attempts and is carrying a .931 OPS in just 10 games.
On the mound, Braxton Bragg once again had just one start this week, but that one start was the best of the week by far.
Bragg struck out 11 batters in 5.1 innings of work while giving up four hits and just one earned run.
In 22 games and 18 starts, Bragg has a 3.45 ERA in 86 innings of work. He has given up 80 hits, 33 earned runs, has walked 21 batters and has struck out 108. He has also held batters to a .240 average.
The 23-year-old has been lights out this month, posting a 0.42 ERA in 21.1 innings of work and holding batters to a .182 average.
Aberdeen IronBirds: Leandro Arias – INF / Zach Fruit – RHP
The Position Player of the Week for Aberdeen is a new one, Leandro Arias.
This series, the 19-year-old saw action in five games, totaling 18 at-bats. He tallied hits in six of those at-bats, in which two of those six hits were doubles.
He notched three RBIs, as well as reached safely three more times via walks. He only struck out twice in this series.
On the mound, we have the usual suspect. It is just impossible to discredit what Zach Fruit is doing on the mound for Aberdeen.
In this series, Fruit started twice. In total, he tossed 10 innings, allowing just two runs off three hits. In his first start of this series, the 24-year-old tossed six hitless frames, totaling four of his six strikeouts for the week.
Fruit has now allowed only five runs all of August, and his season total in innings pitched is now at 99.
Bowie Baysox: Samuel Basallo – C / Alex Pham – RHP
It’s the final time we get to mention Samuel Basallo as a Bowie Baysox after his recent call-up to Norfolk. The kid walks away with the Eastern League Player of the Week, as well as our honor as well.
Basallo slashed an incredible .421/.519/.737 with a 1.255 OPS in six games, collecting eight hits, three doubles, one home run and six RBIs. Basallo ends his time in Bowie on a high note, to say the least.
He’s been the MVP of the Baysox this season, no question. In 106 games with Bowie, Basallo slashed .289/.355/.465 with a .820 OPS and had 115 hits, 22 doubles, 16 home runs and 55 RBIs. He also stole nine bases in 14 attempts and made some incredible defensive plays.
As for on the mound, Alex Pham is the guy to talk about when it comes to this Baysox pitching staff.
Pham had one start this week, and while he struck out seven batters in 5.1 innings of work and gave up just one hit and two walks, the 24-year-old continued his scoreless-inning streak to 24.1 innings.
To say that Pham turned his season around would be an understatement. He had an ERA of 6.64 after his 10th start, and it has been nothing but uphill since. He has a 2.78 ERA since that 10th start, which brings his ERA to 4.30 on the season in 106.2 innings of work.
The former 19th-round pick has struck out 125 batters this year and is holding batters to a .221 batting average. Pham was my preseason pick for the Jim Palmer Minor League Pitcher of the Year Award, and it’s looking very possible as we continue this season.
Norfolk Tides: Niko Goodrum – UTIL / Kade Strowd – RHP
Niko Goodrum played in only four games this week, but he took advantage of his chances to the tune of a .417 average. Collecting five hits, including a double and a triple, Goodrum has added to his best month since April.
For the month of August, Goodrum is slashing .306/.368/.452/.820. In 18 games, the former second-round pick has picked up 19 hits, including three doubles and three triples. Though Goodrum hasn’t hit a home run this month, he does have five RBIs and five runs scored.
The 32-year-old was signed more as a depth piece but is showing he would be ready if needed by the big league club.
A week that saw the Tides allow 41 runs across six games, there was little to get excited about when it came to pitching. Fortunately, the Tides had Kade Strowd, who was one of the few pitching bright spots this series.
Strowd appeared in two of the games played this past week, combining for three scoreless, no-hit innings and striking out four.
On the season, Strowd is 5-3 in 39 games with a 5.91 ERA across 42.2 innings. The 26-year-old righty has a 1.59 WHIP, has struck out 58 and has held opponents to a .259 batting average this season.
Which O’s prospects stood out to you this past 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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