Reflecting on the Orioles top 10 prospects of 2014
*Cover Photo Credit: John Topoleski
*Note: all autographed baseball cards in this blog post belong to the author, me
10 years ago, Dylan Bundy and Kevin Gausman headlined the Orioles’ Top 10 prospects charts, according to MLB Pipeline. While those two were forecasted as the future number 1 and 2 punches of the Orioles’ starting rotation, many of the other names in this list were predicted to have a huge impact on the Orioles and their postseason run. Here is a look at what ended up happening to the Orioles’ top 10 prospects of 2014.
Bundy was the Orioles’ 4th overall pick of the 2011 draft. A year later, he won the 2012 Jim Palmer Minor League Pitcher of the Year award after posting a 2.08 ERA that season with 119 strikeouts and a 9-3 Minor League record. He even made his big league debut in September of that same year. With a fastball in the upper 90s and strikeout capabilities, this was a young man that Orioles fans foresaw as the ace to come.
Arm injuries derailed Bundy’s development, and he did not see the big leagues again until 2016. Upon his return, he had a solid season, posting a 10-6 record with a respectable 4.02 ERA. Unfortunately, beyond that, things did not work out between Bundy and the Orioles. He saw his fastball velocity decrease to around 91 MPH, and he ended up posting a 4.67 ERA while surrendering 114 home runs and 206 walks as an Oriole.
The Orioles traded Bundy after the 2019 season, sending him to the Los Angeles Angels in the trade that landed Kyle Bradish. Bundy spent some time with the Angels and the Minnesota Twins in the following years. He was last seen with Triple-A Syracuse, the New York Mets’ Triple-A affiliate, where in a start at the Norfolk Tides, he was ejected for using a foreign substance. He remains a free agent.
Many figured Gausman to be in the 1-2 mix at the top of the rotation with Bundy. Like Bundy, Gausman was also a 4th overall pick, but from the 2012 draft out of LSU. Known for his plus changeup, he was moved quickly through the minors and got promoted to the Orioles less than a year after being drafted. After rookie struggles, he settled in during his sophomore season in 2014, posting a 3.57 ERA in 20 starts while striking out 45 and helping the Orioles win the AL East.
Gausman eventually solidified his name into the Orioles’ starting rotation, and he posted a 39-51 record with a 4.22 ERA in 6 seasons as an Oriole. As the team’s miserable rebuild began in 2018, Gausman was one of the players to be dealt at the trade deadline. So far, it has been his post-Orioles career where he has made his name known, as he is a 2x All-Star (Giants & Blue Jays) and a constant front runner for the AL Cy Young award. He is currently on a 5-year $110M contract with the division rival Blue Jays.
The Orioles were desperate for left-handed starters during the 2010s, and Rodriguez, then 21, could have easily broken in as the lefty that they had longed for. Heading into 2014, Rodriguez had posted tremendous Minor League numbers, including a 3.41 ERA in a 2013 season that saw him post a career high 145 innings and 125 punchouts. He was not far from a promotion to the big leagues and it would occur a year later, but not with the Orioles.
The lefty from Venezuela was shipped to the Red Sox during the 2014 campaign for reliever Andrew Miller. E-Rod ended up making himself a home there until the 2022 season, posting a 4.16 ERA with the Red Sox and helping them win the 2018 World Series. He posted a 3.30 ERA last year with the Tigers, but opted out of that contract and is now with the defending NL champs, the Diamondbacks, on a 4-year $80M deal. I’m very glad it all worked out for Rodriguez.
The son of former big league reliever Bryan Harvey, Hunter was selected 22nd overall in the 2013 draft out of Bandys High School. The panorama quickly surrounded Harvey, as the righty was ranked as Baseball Prospectus’ 58th best prospect prior to 2014. That year he posted a 3.18 ERA while striking out 106 batters in 87.2 innings while walking just 33. He was named an organizational All-Star and was widely regarded as a future stalwart in the Orioles’ rotation.
Tommy John surgery and other injuries derailed his development, and it eventually forced him to the bullpen. He finally made his big league debut in 2019 and in 7 relief outings, he had a 1.42 ERA with 11 strikeouts. Harvey has found his niche out of the big league bullpen since then, though not with the Orioles. Since his departure, he has become one of the Nationals’ most reliable relievers. He posted a 2.82 ERA last year and even collected 10 saves along the way.
Schoop, a native of Curacao, was raised as a shortstop and was highly regarded for his cannon for an arm. The 2011 Brooks Robinson Minor League Player of the Year and team representative at the futures game was forecasted as a future everyday middle-infielder for the O’s. However, with a crowded left side of the infield with JJ Hardy and Manny Machado, he made the conversion to second base upon arrival to the big leagues in 2013. From there, Schoop was manager Buck Showalter’s everyday second baseman.
Schoop held down the fort at second base until 2018. He posted a .747 OPS as an Oriole, smashing 106 home runs while slugging .450 and rising as one of the city’s most popular young stars. To many people’s surprise, the 2017 All-Star was sent to the Milwaukee Brewers during the 2018 teardown. He has traveled around with the Tigers and Twins since then. He has hit 68 home runs since leaving Baltimore in 2018, but remains a free agent after being released by the Tigers last summer.
Hart was the 37th overall pick of the 2013 draft out of Parkview High School (Lilburn, Georgia). His speed and ability to handle the bat were appealing to the organization, and they relied upon him to develop into a potential big league outfield candidate. Hart’s speed came into play often as in 366 Minor League games with the Orioles, he stole 67 bases. In the end, Hart reached as high as Frederick and hit .243 with 109 RBI and a .606 OPS in 5 seasons in the organization. Injuries, including a torn meniscus, hampered his development, and he was eventually released after the 2017 season.
Wright Jr. was a 3rd rounder out of East Carolina University in 2011 and rose to be a standout pitching prospect of his own. His best season of pro ball in the Orioles’ organization came in 2013, when in 27 starts for Bowie and Norfolk, he went 11-3 with a 3.11 ERA and a 1.310 WHIP. This led to him winning the Jim Palmer Minor League Pitcher of the Year award and raising eyebrows in the Orioles’ front office as they wondered where he might fit on the roster one day.
His big league debut against the Halos on May 17, 2015, saw him toss 7.1 scoreless innings on 90 pitches, striking out 6 and walking none. The Orioles felt like they had the guy. However, things never truly worked out for Wright Jr. in Baltimore. As he was in and out of the rotation and the bullpen, he posted a lifetime 5.95 ERA in Baltimore and could never get things going. Since he was designated for assignment in 2019, he has traveled around with several different MLB organizations, and he even had a stint in professional Korean baseball.
Berry, who turned 33 on Monday, was a late-round pick out of San Marcos High School (California), coming to the Orioles in the 50th round of the 2009 draft. He reached Bowie by 2013 but after some struggles, he was reassigned to the Keys for the 2013 season. His 11 win, 3.85 ERA, 1.289 WHIP season led to his breakthrough and his placement in the Orioles’ top 10 prospects list. Berry continued to grind it out in the Minor Leagues for the Orioles, Marlins, and Phillies until 2018. Unfortunately, he never reached the big leagues and is currently the vice president at Pathway Capital Management, according to his LinkedIn.
The Orioles had a group of young catchers under training in the event that Matt Wieters departed, which he eventually did after 2016. Ohlman, a 2009 11th rounder from Lakewood Ranch High School (Bradenton, Florida), was one of them. From 2012 to 2013, he posted back-to-back seasons batting over .300 and putting up an OPS over .800 in 2012. Unfortunately, that 2012 campaign came with a 50-game PED suspension. Eventually, Ohlman was traded to the Cardinals, and he eventually made his Major League debut in 2017 with the Blue Jays (.231 BA, 1 RBI). He has not been in professional baseball since 2019, when he caught for the former independent league Somerset Patriots, who now operate as a frequent Bowie rival as the Yankees’ Double-A team.
This was the catching prodigy that the Orioles foreshadowed as the future starting catcher. A 2nd rounder in 2013 out of Santiago High School (Corona, California), Sisco hit .363 in a 33 game sample upon being drafted, which led to his ranking in the Orioles’ top 10. In 2014, he won the SAL batting title after hitting .340 with an .854 OPS. He continued to see and mash the ball well throughout his Minor League career, as he never hit below .267 and never had an OPB under .340 before his big league debut.
The Orioles let Matt Wieters and Wellington Castillo walk so Sisco could take over the reigns behind the dish. His batter’s eye transitioned to the big leagues but unfortunately, the rest of his offensive potential did not. In 5 years as an up-and-down Oriole, he was a .199 hitter with a .658 OPS. His defensive struggles did not help him either, as he often had difficulty blocking (69 wild pitches allowed in 164 games) and framing. In the end, Sisco’s lack of offensive production and defensive struggles are what cost Sisco. He was booted off the 40-man roster in 2021 as Rutschman drew closer to a big league promotion, which happened a year later. Sisco was last seen with the Long Island Ducks in 2023, where he hit .305.
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