The month of June is underway, which means baseball weather has officially arrived.
Kids are about to get out of school, the weather is warm, the pools are open and the Baby Birds are flying high down on the Orioles’ farm system.
All four Orioles affiliates either won or split their opening series of June, including the Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds, who opened the month with a five-game winning streak.
Let’s take a look at this week’s O’s Prospects of the Week.
Triple-A Norfolk: Christian Encarnacion-Strand – UTIL / Trey Gibson – RHP
The Norfolk Tides had a productive week and much of that success was fueled by Christian Encarnacion-Strand.
In four games, the former Cincinnati Red slashed .471/.471/1.000 with a 1.471 OPS. He collected eight hits, launched three home runs and drove in five.
Encarnacion-Strand has been one of Norfolk’s most productive hitters all season. Through his first 55 games, he owns a .291 batting average, a .910 OPS, 55 hits and 13 home runs.
On the mound, Trey Gibson continued his impressive campaign with another quality outing.
The O’s top pitching prospect worked 6.1 innings, allowing four hits and two earned runs while striking out six.
Through 38 innings this season, Gibson owns a 3.55 ERA with 38 strikeouts. If the Orioles need rotation depth later this summer, Gibson could once again find himself in the conversation for a trip to Baltimore.
Double-A Chesapeake: Ethan Anderson – C / Joseph Dzierwa – LHP
Offensively, the honors go to Hawaii native Ethan Anderson.
There were several strong candidates this week for Chesapeake, but it is hard to overlook an 8-for-21 performance from your catcher. Among his eight hits were three home runs, one double and six RBIs.
Anderson also drew a walk on Wednesday, allowing him to reach base safely in all five games he played during the week. That performance extended his on-base streak to eight consecutive games.
Joseph Dzierwa has been on a roll since his appearance in the Spring Breakout, and that success continued in his third start at the Double-A level.
The crafty left-hander takes home Pitcher of the Week honors after tossing 6.2 innings and allowing just one run while striking out four batters.
All three hits Dzierwa surrendered came in the first inning before he settled in and retired 15 of the final 16 hitters he faced on Sunday. Following the outing, his Baysox ERA sits at 3.24 through three starts.
High-A Frederick: Victor Figueroa – 1B / Yeiber Cartaya – RHP
The Frederick Keys enjoyed another strong week, finishing 4-2 in its series thanks in large part to the Orioles organization’s home run leader, Victor Figueroa.
Figueroa slashed .333/.333/1.111 with a staggering 1.444 OPS. He collected six hits in five games, including two doubles and four home runs, while driving in 10 runs.
The 22-year-old has quietly become one of the most productive players acquired by Baltimore at the 2025 trade deadline. Through 48 games with Frederick, Figueroa leads the club in average (.283), slugging percentage (.618), OPS (.982), doubles (9), home runs (15) and RBIs (45). He has also added two triples and 22 walks.
His 15 home runs already represent a career-high despite playing 41 fewer games than he did when setting his previous mark. It has been quite an impressive breakout campaign for the young first baseman.
On the pitching side, right-hander Yeiber Cartaya helped lead Frederick to an 8-6 victory over the weekend. Cartaya tossed five innings, allowing four hits and one earned run while striking out seven without issuing a walk.
It marked the fourth time this season that Cartaya has recorded at least seven strikeouts in a start.
At this point, Cartaya has a strong case to be considered the frontrunner for the 2026 Jim Palmer Minor League Pitcher of the Year Award. In 44.1 innings, he has allowed just 28 hits and seven earned runs while striking out 54 batters, the second-highest total on the Keys.
Among qualified starters in the South Atlantic League, Cartaya’s 1.42 ERA is the lowest. The next closest qualified starter owns a 2.73 ERA.
Low-A Delmarva: Edwin Amparo – INF / Andrew Herbert – RHP
This may be the first time both of these players have been featured in a Baltimore Battery article. Let’s start with the position player.
Edwin Amparo entered the week amid a difficult season at the plate, but he showed signs of turning things around this past week. While he hit just .250 over five games, he posted an impressive 1.018 OPS.
Amparo recorded five hits, including a double, a triple and two home runs. Those long balls were especially notable considering he had never hit more than two home runs in a single month during his professional career. He matched that total during the first week of June alone.
While Amparo’s overall numbers still leave room for improvement, there are reasons to believe better days may be ahead. He is currently slashing .176/.319/.294 with a .613 OPS, the lowest mark of his career. Even so, he has collected 27 hits, four doubles, one triple and four home runs this season.
One area where Amparo continues to excel is plate discipline. His 31 walks rank second on the Shorebirds, and he has remained a threat on the bases with 14 stolen bags.
On the mound, Andrew Herbert continued one of the most remarkable stories in the Orioles’ farm system this season.
Herbert made two relief appearances and combined for nine scoreless innings. He allowed seven hits, walked one batter and struck out 10, the highest strikeout total among Shorebirds pitchers this past week.
His path to affiliated baseball is just as impressive as his performance. Herbert attended Reinhardt University, where he dominated Division II competition during the 2024 season, going 12-0 with a 1.88 ERA across 100.1 innings before joining the Washington Wild Things of the Frontier League.
The Orioles purchased Herbert’s contract on May 21, and he has been nearly untouchable ever since. Through his first 14 innings in the organization, Herbert owns a 0.64 ERA while making just three appearances out of the bullpen.
Not bad for a 25-year-old independent league signing.
What are your thoughts on our selections 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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