The first full month of Minor League Baseball has come to a close, meaning it’s time to discuss which Oriole prospects showed off the most in April.
These five prospects have had amazing months filled with shutdown appearances on the mound, monster home runs and some great eyes at the plates.
Without further ado, here is the first edition of O’s Prospects of the Month.
Low-A Delmarva: Kevin Guerrero – OF
In his first month as a Shorebird, Kevin Guerrero was outstanding to watch, posting a .295/.419/.361 slash line in 19 games.
Guerrero had a .780 OPS, collected 18 hits, four doubles and knocked in five RBIs. He also stole three bases and walked 12 times.
The Dominican native celebrated his 21st birthday this past month, is almost at 700 career minor league at-bats and has 32 career stolen bases on top of seven home runs.
High-A Aberdeen: Michael Forret – RHP
Arguably the top pitching prospect in the Orioles system, Michael Forret looked lights out for the IronBirds to start the season.
Forret carries a 1.66 ERA in five starts and has only given up eight total hits in 21.2 innings of work. The North Carolina native has struck out 29 batters and has held them to just a .118 batting average.
The former 14th-round pick in 2023 is following the momentum he had towards the end of the 2024 season. He now has a career 3.49 ERA and has collected 153 strikeouts in 31 total games.
Double-A Chesapeake: Creed Willems – C/1B
The Baysox had a good number of players to choose from, but we ultimately decided to go with the extra-base hit machine and friend of The Battery, Creed Willems.
Willems has 19 hits on the season, including eight doubles and two home runs, with over 50% of his hits going for extra bases. He also has a .812 OPS, six RBIs to his name and has walked eight times.
Willems has hit the 40-home-run mark for his career, has 170 RBIs and a career OPS of .711. The 21-year-old backstop will be moving up the ladder quickly if he continues being this great at the plate.
Triple-A Norfolk: Coby Mayo – INF
The decision to pick Coby Mayo wasn’t easy, as four of Norfolk’s hitters could have been chosen for this spot. However, Mayo has been the best all-around for the Tides.
The start of the season has seen 15 extra-base hits for Mayo, including six home runs, 21 RBIs and 16 walks for the top prospect.
Mayo is sitting so close to hitting 100 home runs in the minor leagues, which is extremely impressive. However, every fan wants to see if he can replicate that success at the major league level.
Overall: Braxton Bragg – RHP
Right-hander Braxton Bragg has undoubtedly been the best pitcher in the system so far this season.
The 24-year-old has a 0.73 ERA in five games this year and has allowed just two earned runs in 24.2 innings, walking eight batters, striking out 31 and posting a 0.93 WHIP.
It didn’t take long for the Dallas Baptist product to get the call-up to Double-A this year. Not to Bragg or anything, but he is a really underrated prospect in the system and in all of baseball for that matter.
What do you think of our selections? Let us know in the comments below! Make sure to follow The Baltimore Battery on Facebook, X, Bluesky and TikTok, and use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content!
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