The first set of minor league series that include the month of May have concluded, and we saw a lot happen down on the O’s farm.
From rehab assignments to multi-home-run games to a position player receiving the win on the mound, it was another fun and exciting week for the Baby Birds.
With that said, let’s recap this past week and highlight which top prospects stood out the most.
Triple-A Norfolk: Luis Vázquez – INF / Chayce McDermott – RHP
Luis Vázquez took advantage of his playing time as he played in four of the six games this week. During that stretch, Vázquez went 7-for-16 with seven RBIs and two runs scored. Included in his hits were two doubles and a home run.
Vázquez, 25, is slashing .298/.365/.553/.918 across 14 games. He has collected 14 hits, with seven of them going for extra bases (four doubles, triple and two home runs), 11 RBIs and six runs scored.
Vázquez, who the Orioles traded for in January, is making the best of his chances and proving his value.
Chayce McDermott returned to Norfolk and showed he’s ready to pick up as one of the Orioles top pitching prospects.
In the Tides’ 11-1 victory Saturday, McDermott would pitch four innings of one-hit, scoreless ball. He struck out three batters, throwing 57 pitches, 33 for strikes.
Though he didn’t pick up the win, McDermott showed why he is the Birds’ No. 4 ranked prospect. He has now pitched 5.2 innings across two games with six strikeouts and has a 1.59 ERA and 1.06 WHIP, holding opponents to a .105 average.
Double-A Chesapeake: Creed Willems – C/1B / Braxton Bragg – RHP
Creed Willems has been one hot hitter, to say the least. In five games in the series against Hartford, Willems slashed .273/.333/.636 with a .970 OPS.
The 21-year-old had six hits, two doubles, two home runs (in the same game) and knocked in four.
Willems has looked like the best prospect this season for the Orioles offensively. A season OPS of .884, an Eastern-League-leading nine doubles and 10 RBIs could warrant a call-up to Triple-A Norfolk in the near future.
On the pitching side, who else could it be but Braxton Bragg?
Bragg made two starts this series, and while he lost one of them, he still compiled 13 strikeouts, walked just two batters and gave up his first two earned runs of the season.
Bragg has a 0.61 ERA in six games, 29.2 innings of shutdown pitching and 39 strikeouts to just nine walks. The 24-year-old is holding batters to a .168 batting average and has a WHIP of 0.91 so far this year.
High-A Aberdeen: Aron Estrada – INF / Trey Gibson – RHP
The pitcher for the week during this first series of May had one heck of an outing.
Trey Gibson tossed 4.2 innings in his relief outing, giving up just one hit and one run. What was impressive was the 10 strikeouts in this outing alone for the Liberty product.
This brings his season total to 32, having this outing counting for nearly 10% of his season total.
The offensive honors for this week go to 20-year-old Aron Estrada.
In 17 at-bats, Estrada reached safely seven times. This included two doubles and two three-hit games.
His average in just under 100 at-bats is above .300, and his two stolen bases in this series bring his season total to 12.
Low-A Delmarva: Braylin Tavera – OF / Eccel Correa – RHP
Braylin Tavera was an on-base machine during this past series against Fayetteville.
A spectacular .520 OBP on top of a .368 average and a .947 slugging for a 1.467 OPS earned the 20-year-old six hits, three home runs and five RBIs. He also walked six times.
While posting a .843 OPS, the Dominican native is batting .235, has 19 hits, five home runs (already a career-high) and has nine RBIs. Tavera has also stolen five bases in six attempts on the year.
Eccel Correa might not be a household name, but he might be soon with how his season is going.
The 22-year-old Cuban native pitched eight innings of no-earned-run baseball between two games against Fayetteville. He collected nine strikeouts, allowed five hits and five walks.
Correa has a 2.55 ERA in 24.2 innings, 10 walks to 27 strikeouts, seven earned runs and has held batters to a .242 batting average.
What are your thoughts on our picks this week? 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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