The first half of the 2025 season is complete, and it has been a wild one for the Baltimore Orioles farm system.
Between great individual campaigns from some of the Orioles’ top prospects, exciting walk-offs and growth from all around the organization, the farm is only going to get better with the addition of a new crop of prospects from the 2025 MLB Draft.
Without further ado, we present your O’s Prospects of the First Half for each affiliate.
Triple-A Norfolk: Dylan Beavers – OF / Roansy Contreras – RHP
Most people will see this name and wonder why it doesn’t say Samuel Basallo. That is easy to understand, as the O’s No. 1 overall prospect has been the talk of Birdland through the catching carousel at Camden Yards.
Dylan Beavers, on the other hand, has flown under the radar, having a season that is just a bit better offensively than what Basallo is having.
Beavers is slashing .311/.405/.482/.887 while playing in nine more games than Basallo and has slid under the radar as he paces himself towards a 20/20 season. He has tallied 11 home runs and 20 stolen bases at the Triple-A level.
With 52 runs scored and 34 RBIs at the halfway point of the season, Beavers is a threat from the top of the lineup to jump start Norfolk’s offense. His eye at the plate is strong as well, as he has 41 walks to 52 strikeouts.
The soon-to-be 24-year-old is easily becoming the next outfield prospect developing into a major-league-ready player who could easily make his debut this season.
Here’s a name not many have paid attention to this year. With the likes of Chayce McDermott, Justin Armbruester and various others, Roansy Contreras has flown by while having one of the better seasons for the Tides.
At 25 years of age out of the Dominican Republic, the often-traveled righty has compiled a 6-2 record. He is at or near the top of most pitching categories for the Tides, showing durability and improved control.
Contreras has pitched 63.2 innings, compiling a 3.82 ERA and a respectable 1.30 WHIP. He is holding opponents to a .242/.307/.413/.720 slash line while striking out 50 batters to 22 walks.
One area that Contreras needs to improve on is the long ball, as he has allowed nine home runs, which is on pace to set a new career-high.
Double-A Chesapeake: Creed Willems – C/1B / Braxton Bragg – RHP
Arguably a top five consistent hitting prospect for the Orioles, Creed Willems had a solid first half for the Baysox.
Willems slashed .253/.340/.440 with a .780 OPS in 72 games played in the first half for Chesapeake, collecting 65 total hits, 16 doubles, 10 home runs and 35 RBIs.
The O’s No. 11 overall prospect continues to dominate at the Double-A level since his call-up in 2024. He is most likely going to finish the season with a small stint in Triple-A Norfolk, which would be well-earned for the 22-year-old.
On the pitching side of things, Braxton Bragg has been nothing short of dominant.
Bragg made his Chesapeake debut this year and is carrying a 2.32 ERA in 42.2 innings of work with the Baysox. The 24-year-old has given up 11 earned runs, walked 12 batters, struck out 59 and has held batters to a .225 batting average.
The O’s No. 15 overall prospect is flying through the minor leagues after he was drafted out of Dallas Baptist in the eighth round of the 2023 draft. That’s pretty remarkable, considering he wasn’t a top-30 organizational prospect entering this season.
High-A Aberdeen: Aron Estrada – INF / Michael Forret – RHP
Over the first half of the season, a few names have really stood out in an IronBirds uniform. Among that list is none other than infielder Aron Estrada, who has landed himself atop the leaderboards of nearly every stat offensively.
Estrada, the O’s No. 16 overall prospect, is first on the IronBirds roster in OPS at .783, first in average with .278, second in home runs with five and first in RBIs with 36.
We could go on and on about the hot start to Estrada’s season, which also has him leading the team in total hits, doubles and triples as well. By the way, he’s just 20 years old.
On the mound, our first half honor easily goes to Michael Forret, who has not missed a beat coming into this season after an electric finish to last year.
So far this year, the 21-year-old right-hander has tossed 45.1 innings, allowing just 10 earned runs, good for a 1.99 ERA. He’s recorded a whopping 60 strikeouts with a WHIP of 0.84 on the mound this year for Aberdeen.
As long as Forret is on the mound, opposing offenses have been able to do almost nothing against the IronBirds.Some numbers, including opponents’ .455 OPS against him and an 11.9 K/9 compared to a 2.38 BB/9 are impressive numbers that show how dominant the O’s No. 7 overall prospect has been.
Forret’s last time out was his highest total in terms of runs allowed (three runs in 5.2 innings), which stopped a streak of 11 consecutive starts of two runs or less to start the season.
Low-A Delmarva: Yasmil Bucce – C / Michael Caldon – RHP
Despite a rough season overall for the Shorebirds team, Bucce has been a highlight offensively.
The 20-year-old is slashing .269/.408/.439 with a .847 OPS in his first year with Delmarva and has 68 total hits, 13 doubles, eight home runs and 47 RBIs at the break.
For his first 74 games in Low-A, Bucce looks comfortable at the plate, with 56 walks on the season.
For the pitching side of things, there were some options, but Michael Caldon has been the guy for the Shorebirds this season.
The former 18th-round pick in 2024 has compiled a 2.22 ERA in 14 games and is holding batters to a .207 average this season.
Most players don’t get to forgo playing rookie ball. That was not the case for Caldon, as the 22-year-old didn’t play a single rookie ball game before his Delmarva debut.
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