It was a fun week down on the Orioles farm, as we had doubleheaders, rehab assignments and a 12-inning game in Chesapeake.
As always, many of the O’s top prospects showed out this past week. But which went above and beyond?
Let’s dive into this edition of O’s Prospects of the Week.
Norfolk Tides: Dylan Beavers – OF / Terrin Vavra – RHP (Yes, you read that right)
Dylan Beavers is quietly becoming another one of those outfield prospects to watch in the O’s system. With the likes of Jud Fabian, Vance Honeycutt and Enrique Bradfield Jr. getting most of the attention, Beavers had a statement week for Norfolk.
The O’s No. 6 prospect would play in all six games this week, going 7-for-19 (.368), collecting a double and a home run while driving in five. He also stole three bases and scored four runs while walking four times to just one strikeout.
The University of California, Berkeley product is now slashing .262/.385/.405/.790 with three home runs and 10 RBIs on the season. He has scored 18 times, walked 10 times and has stolen nine bases on the year.
If Terrin Vavra winning pitcher of the week for the Tides tells you anything, it should be how bad the pitching is struggling in the top minor league club for the Orioles.
Much like the pitching for their parent club, there was not a lot to write home about this week. Instead, the Norfolk resorted to using Vavra to stop the bleeding in a 10-1 loss.
Vavra threw just seven pitches (four strikes) to retire the side. He now has an ERA of zero in one inning of work and a WHIP of zero, which makes for the strongest pitching performance of the week. Pretty sad.
Chesapeake Baysox: Silas Ardoin – C/1B / Braxton Bragg – RHP
On-base machine: That is the best way to describe Silas Ardoin this week against the Altoona Curve.
In six games, Ardoin slashed .278/.519/.556 with a 1.074 OPS and collected five hits, two doubles, a homer while driving in two. The most impressive part, though, was that Ardoin walked nine times this series.
Ardoin has a .400 OBP for the year in Chesapeake, with 14 hits and 17 walks in 19 games. You can always see Ardoin on first base when you turn on a Baysox game.
On the pitching side of things, right-hander Braxton Bragg made his Double-A debut this week as he followed up Trevor Rogers, who made his first rehab assignment on Wednesday.
Bragg went on to toss 4.1 shutout innings, giving up three hits, walking two and striking out eight.
Bragg has been a shutdown pitcher all season. He currently has a 20.2-inning streak without giving up a run, has held hitters to a .127 batting average and has 26 strikeouts to just seven walks.
Aberdeen IronBirds: Ryan Stafford – C / Ty Weatherly – RHP
In a tough decision between two really good starting outings this week for the IronBirds, the pitcher of the week after it all is Ty Weatherly.
In the right-handers’ lone start, he lasted 4.1 innings, allowing no runs on just two hits. To go with just one walk, Weatherly struck out six opposing batters.
This was the first scoreless outing for the 24-year-old former undrafted free agent, who looks to continue the kind of outings he had this week.
Offensively, this week’s honor goes to catcher Ryan Stafford. The 22-year-old was wreaking havoc all over the field.
The Cal Poly product netted six hits, including a double and a triple. He also added two stolen bases, four walks and six RBIs to the stat chart.
Half of Stafford’s RBIs for the year came in these five games alone, so it’s safe to say he was feeling it against the Wilmington Blue Rocks.
Delmarva Shorebirds: Cole Urman – C / Evan Yates – RHP
Cole Urman might have only played four games this past week, but he was the most impactful player on the field.
The 23-year-old backstop went 6-for-14 for a .429 average, carried a 1.071 OPS and tallied two doubles for a struggling Delmarva offense.
Urman has taken advantage of the times he gets to play for Delmarva. The Cal State Fullerton product is slashing .304/.360/.435 with a .795 OPS and has seven total hits, three of them being doubles.
As for the pitching staff, Evan Yates came in relief on Saturday and really showed out after a struggling start to the season.
The 22-year-old righty pitched five innings of one-run baseball, walking one and striking out six. Yates also picked up the win in his lone outing.
Yates is carrying a 6.75 ERA in 12 innings of work this season, but he is improving, posting 19 strikeouts to 10 walks and holding batters to a .260 average.
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