A look at how all four Baltimore Orioles Minor League affilates performed this past week
*Cover Photo Credit: John Topoleski
July is almost over, and the calendar is about to flip over to August. In a dramatic and tense series of events past and yet to come, several Orioles prospects have already played their final games in the organization while others may potentially be on the move before tomorrow's MLB trade deadline at 6 pm. Who knows what will happen before the deadline, but we all will certainly be doing a ton of X scrolling for updates and rumors.
Here is a look at how each Orioles affiliate did last week, the last full week of July.
AAA Norfolk Tides
Well, it was a rainy week to say the least. Rain forced two suspended games and two doubleheaders between the Tides and the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Marlins AAA). The Tides went 1-3 in those doubleheaders, but they finished the series with a 3-3 draw and played solid baseball for the most part.
Two of the Tides' wins this series came on walk offs. In the first game of a 7-inning doubleheader on Wednesday, the Tides were down 5-3 in the bottom of the 7th when Nick Maton stepped up to the plate. The utility player called game with a walk-off 3-run home run, completing a 6-5 comeback victory for the Tides. They would eventually drop the second game by a score of 1-0 after collecting just 2 hits the entire game. The second walk-off came on Saturday. After Norfolk blew a 4-2 lead in the top of the 9th inning, Jackson Holliday stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the inning after Maverick Handley bunted Maton over to third base. Holliday proceeded to call game with a walk-off sacrafice fly, securing a 5-4 victory for the Tides. They would take the series finale by another 5-4 score thanks to a 2-for-4, 2 RBI day from Billy Cook and 5 innings of one-run ball from starter Justin Armbruester.
Norfolk is even at 13-13 in the second half standings in the International League East, good enough for fifth place. They are 49-52 overall. Here are three standout performers from last week's rainy 6-game set.
IF Nick Maton: the 27-year-old infielder has had a ton of clutch hits for Norfolk this season, and his walk-off home run on Wednesday further deepens that list of clutch at-bats. He went 5-for-18 (.278) overall in the series.
UT Billy Cook: Billy was cookin'! The fan-favorite utility man went 9-for-17 (.529) in the series with 3 doubles, a home run, 4 RBI, and 3 runs scored. He is a .389 hitter in the month of July.
LHP Bruce Zimmermann: the Maryland native gets his first Player of the Week selection after a solid start in Saturday's win. He went 5 innings, allowing just 2 earned runs while walking none, and he only needed 68 pitches (43 strikes).
The Tides travel to Charlotte, North Carolina to take on the Knights (White Sox AAA). The series begins tonight with the resumption of June 30's suspended game in the bottom of the 9th. The game is tied at 4 a piece.
AA Bowie Baysox
The Baysox hit the road last week to face the Akron Rubberducks (Guardians AA), who had compilled a 15-6 in the second half prior to the start of the series. The Rubberducks stayed hot and took the series from the Baysox 4-2.
Bowie started off hot with two wins to begin the series, and it appeared that their bats had finally found the groove. They outscored Akron 10-7 in those two games, outhit them 18-10, and smoked 5 long balls. No. 6 prospect Dylan Beavers had two of those home runs on Wednesday with his first career multi-homer showing. As they dropped the final four games of the series, the bats went quiet again as they combined for just 6 runs and 26 runners left on base, even though they collected 17 hits. This series proves that when the Baysox hit, they are more likely to win ballgames. When they do not hit and cannot capitalize in scoring opportunities, wins are harder to come by. They continue to rely on dominant pitching which was, once again, pretty darn good last week. Peter Van Loon started Thursday's loss and went 3 innings, striking out 6 and allowing just one run. No. 14 prospect Trace Bright started Sunday's loss and got a no-decision after going 4 innings with just one run allowed, 4 strikeouts, and no walks. If the Baysox can combine these outstanding efforts on the mound with a red-hot offense, then the team will start winning a ton of more games. One of these days soon, that lineup will click. They are batting just .182 as a team in the past 15 games with a .595 OPS. However, we must remember that every team has their dryspells at some point in a season and these slumps do not last forever. It does not help that Bowie lost perhaps one of their best hitters last week, Matthew Etzel, in the Zach Eflin trade with the Rays.
Bowie falls to 11-16 in the second half and 43-52 overall this season. Here are three standout performers from the Baysox last week.
RHP Trace Bright: the Orioles' No. 14 prospect had a nice start on Sunday even though he only got a no-decision. In 4 innings, he threw 65 pitches (40 strikes), striking out 4 batters and allowing just one run on three hits and a big fat ZERO in the walk column.
RHP Houston Roth: the 26-year-old reliever had a very nice 3-inning relief outing on Saturday in which he struck out 4 batters and did not allow a single run.
RHP Lincoln Henzman: the reliever appeared in 2 games last week for the Baysox and pitched very well. He tossed a total of 3.1 scoreless innings with 4 strikeouts, just one hit, and no walks.
Bowie returns home this week for the start of a 12-game homestand. First is a 6-game set with the Somerset Patriots (Yankees AA). Find me at both tonight's game and Thursday's game.
A+ Aberdeen Ironbirds
The Ironbirds did battle with the Jersey Shore Blue Claws (Phillies A+) again last week. They had a 9-5 record against them prior to the series, and they improve that record to 12-6 with a series split.
The offense was fairly quiet in the first three games in which the Ironbirds went 2-1. They scored just 6 runs on just 17 hits, and they won Thursday's contest thanks to a costly passed ball by Claws catcher Jordan Dissin in the top of the 11th. They broke out the bats for the final three games of the series, more specifically in the two wins to wrap up the road trip. During Saturday's 10-5 win, the team went 4-for-9 with runners in scoring position and they did a bulk of their damage early on, scoring 8 runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings. Adam Retzbach smashed his second grand slam of the season and had a 5-RBI night. In Sunday's 8-5 win, the 'Birds broke out for 10 hits and went 6-for-15 with runners in scoring position, leaving just 7 runners on base. Douglas Hodo III and Carter Young each had 2 RBI. Aberdeen, of course, has been one of the better hitting teams in the South Atlantic League as of late as they have a respectable .717 OPS in the last 30 games as well as a .390 slugging percentage during that span. With a handful of exciting young hitters in the Ironbirds' kineup, the offense has been swinging it well as of late. Along with the heavy hitters, some of their young starters have been lights out at the same time. All of this being said, the Ironbirds have been playing great baseball as of late and they will look to remain hot as they look to fight for a playoff spot here in the second half.
Aberdeen improves to 50-46 overall and16-14 in the second half. They are 2 games behind the Greensboro Grasshoppers (Pirates A+) for first place in the second half in the South Atlantic League North. Here are three standout performers from last week's road trip.
RHP Zach Fruit: the 24-year-old was lights out on Thursday as he got the start and went 5 scoreless innings. He allowed just one hit and struck out 6 batters.
OF Enrique Bradfield Jr.: the Orioles' No. 4 prospect reached base safely in every game that he appeared in last week. He went 5-for-17 (.294) with 3 doubles, 4 RBI, 5 runs scored, and a pair of stolen bases. He had a 2-for-4 showing on Friday.
RHP Preston Johnson: the right-hander was clutch coming from the bullpen last week. In two relief appearances, he tossed 4 scoreless innings, allowing just 3 hits while picking up 3 strikeouts.
The Ironbirds are back home this week for a 6-game homestand against the Brookyln Cyclones (Mets A+). The last time these two teams met, the 'Birds came away with a 5-1 series win.
A- Delmarva Shorebirds
It was Battle of the Beltways A-ball version all last week as the Shorebirds and the FredNats (Nationals A-) did battle. The FredNats came away with a 4-2 series win due to a lack of Shorebirds offense last week with the exception of one game.
Let's review that one exception, a 17-5 blowout win for the Shorebirds on Wednesday. That included 18 hits and an 8-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Anderson De Los Santos and No. 13 prospect Leandro Arias each had 5 RBI and a home run each. No. 11 prospect Braylin Tavera had a 2 RBI showing while Jake Cunningham went 2-for-4 with his 4th home run of the season. Other than this game, the offense was fairly quiet for the Shorebirds the rest of the week. They were shut out twice in the series and they barely escaped with a 3-2 win on Sunday. Throughout the series, however, the 'Birds had some great pitching performances. Blake Money had a 4-inning 7 strikeout start on Tuesday while Braxton Bragg and Nestor German spun scoreless outings in the latter end of the series.
Delmarva falls to 13-17 in the second half and are tied for last place in the Carolina League North. They are 36-59 overall. Here are three standout performers from last week for the Shorebirds.
IF Leandro Arias: the Orioles' No. 13 prospect went 7-for-21 (.333) in the series and reached base safely in every game he appeared in. His massive 3-for-5 Wednesday, which included a home run and 5 RBI, helped propell Delmarva to a huge 17-5 win.
IF Anderson De Los Santos: the 20-year-old had his own 3-for-5, 5 RBI on Wednesday as well. He went 5-for-17 (.294) overall in the series.
RHP Braxton Bragg: the 23-year-old needed just 67 pitches (48 strikes) to get through 5 scoreless innings. He allowed just 2 hits and struck out 5 batters.
Delmarva comes home for a 6-game series this week against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Cubs A-).
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