Orioles sweep the White Sox as Tyler Wells makes his case for the 2026 rotation

Orioles sweep the White Sox as Tyler Wells makes his case for the 2026 rotation

Yeah, it may have been the Chicago White Socks, but a sweep still feels great for this 2025 Orioles club. You are Locked on Orioles, your daily Baltimore Orioles podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Hey there, Orioles fans. Today is Thursday, September 18th, 2025, and welcome back in to the Locked on Orioles podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. As always, I’m your host, Connor Nukem. And coming up on today’s episode, we are going to recap the Orioles sweep clinching 3 to1 victory over the Chicago White Socks on Wednesday afternoon. get you the five things you need to know from that one, including the Orioles setting some base running records, another home run from Dylan Beavers, and a really solid start from Tyler Wells. Then we’re going to talk about some minor leaguers. Every level but Triple A is now officially finished with the minor league season. So, I picked up three hitters and three pitchers in the Oriole system this year who really weren’t high known prospects coming into the season, but kind of broke out onto the scene in 2025. But that’s all coming up on this episode of the Lockdown Orioles podcast, which is brought to you by FiveHour Energy. Enough with boring flavorless caffeine. It’s time to give your caffeine a flavor upgrade with 5Hour Energy Shots. Go to www.5hourenery.com or head to Amazon today. So, let’s start with another Orioles win. Final score from the Southside on Wednesday afternoon. The Orioles three and the Chicago White Socks won as the O’s complete the three-game sweep over the Socks. It’s been quite a little bit of a whirlwind here. O’s sweep the Pirates at home last week, then get swept over the weekend by the Blue Jays and then sweep the White Socks. Making some sense. They swept the two really bad teams. They lost to all three games to the good team. But overall, it’s still allowed the Orioles to put together what has been now an 11-4 month of September. It’s been a disappointing season, but at least they are somewhat here finishing strong. And I’m going to get you the five things you need to know from the Orioles victory over the White Socks on Wednesday. And the first thing you need to know is the Orioles ran wild on the bases in this one, collecting a total of seven stolen bases in this game. tied an Orioles franchise record, something they had only done once before, and it had been almost 40 years since they did it. August 28th of 1986 is the only other time the Orioles had stolen seven bases in a game. It was game two of a double header in an 8-7 loss to the Athletics. Eddie Murray had one in that game. Cal stole a couple of bases and they got to seven total in this one. Three steals from Gunnar Henderson, two from Tyler O’Neal, and one each from Jorge Matteo and Dylan Beavers. And those three stolen bases for Gunner, that is a new careerhigh. He had had uh multiple stolen bases in a game seven different times, including twice earlier this year, but never three steals. And Gunner’s now up to 26 stolen bases this season. He swiped 21 bags last year in more games than he’s played this season. He’s got a chance here. I mean, it’s not impossible in the final 10 games that Gunner could steal four more bases and get to 30 steals. In a season where his power has been way down, the speed’s gotten better. The defense has certainly gotten better recently. So, those are at least things to look up for for the Gunnar Henderson season. And for Tyler O’Neal, just the fourth time ever that he’s stolen multiple bases in a game. He actually did it once earlier this year back in May when he was a little bit healthier. And the Orioles, I I would say one of the biggest changes they’ve made since firing Brandon Hyde and Tony Manelino took over as interim manager back in May is that the Orioles have certainly been more aggressive on the base paths and especially in in terms of stolen base attempts. They have just run more overall. It’s been kind of a mixed bag in terms of the success of that plan, but it was not a mixed bag on Wednesday. It was maybe not the biggest reason they won the game. They they also went one for 11 hitting with runners in scoring positions. They didn’t exactly capitalize on a lot of these chances they were given because they swipe bases, but they put pressure on the catchers, on the pitchers. And it’s at least fun to watch to watch a team that’s going to go like this. And maybe it’s something, you know, even though it’s a good chance Manolino is not the manager next season, maybe something they can take into next year knowing that, you know, it’s easier to steal with the new rules, they’ve got a team that can steal some bases, could make them a different kind of offensive team in 2026. Second thing you need to know from this one is that Dylan Beavers homerred for the second straight day. Really good long feature story from Andy Kuska in the Baltimore Banner on Wednesday about Beavers, some of the swing changes he’s gone through, his hitting coach. It was really big about the mental approach that’s kind of changed Dylan Beavers throughout his college and professional baseball career. But he hit another bomb two-run homer off of the veteran lefty Martin Perez in the fourth. extended the Orioles lead, made it a three- nothing game after he also hit a two-run homer in Tuesday night’s game. Second and third home runs for Beavers. That was just his third hit and first home run off a left-handed pitcher in the big leagues. And he crushed it. Was a sinker down and in kind of middle in. 107 the exit velocity off the bat as that ball just sailed out of here into right field to extend the Orioles lead. Also drew another walk. Also stole a base as I mentioned. Another really nice day for Dylan Beavers. Third thing you need to know from the Orioles win is that Jorge Matteo had probably his best game of the season. Got the start in center field with the lefty Perez on the mound for the White Socks. And it was just Matteo’s second start in the lineup since he was activated off the injured list on September 5th after missing a couple of months. And he had a big day at the plate, a single, a double. He also stole a base as I mentioned. Just the third multi-hit game of the season for Matteo and his first since May 23rd. Now, he’s missed a lot of that time with injury, but still it is Jorge Matteo. Not exactly known for the bat, but even better, I thought this was really the first time that he actually looked good in center field. He’s made a handful of starts over the past two seasons out in center or he was trying to kind of add that to his game. It was something he worked on in the off season. He clearly has the speed to play center field. No one has ever denied that. But the instincts and the range, just watching him, and again, he’s new to the position, so you want to cut him a little bit of slack, but there’s been some really, really bad routes and reads and plays he’s made out in center field. He made a couple of really nice running catches. I mean, for Tyler Wells’s final out in the sixth inning, he made a great running catch, just sprinting over into left center field, kind of not really colliding with the wall, but running into it a little bit and holding on to the ball. He he looked by far the most comfortable he’s looked defensively in center field. Now, he was still replaced by Colton Cowser defensively in the bottom of the ninth inning with the Orioles holding a two-run lead because even with Matteo looking better, Cowser is an enormous upgrade defensively out there when you’re looking to lock down the final three outs. But, but I think it’s clear Matteo is at least getting better at that position. Does that make me want to bring Matteo back for 2026? It does not. It does not change the bar there, but maybe it makes him more appealing to another team when he hopefully does hit free agency this off season. At the very least, it was not a disaster out there like we have certainly seen it be multiple times earlier this season. Fourth thing you need to know from the Orioles win in the final game of this series that Tyler Wells had a really good start and a very good just Tyler Wells style start. When when you hear Tyler Wells had a good start, that exact pitching line is probably what you think of and what we’ve seen him do a lot of times in his career. Six innings of one-run ball on four hits, four strikeouts, no walks, and one home run allowed on 89 pitches. It’s now a 2.04 ERA for Wells in his three starts since returning from elbow surgery this September. He’s most likely just got one more start to make before the season is over. if he can make one more good one. That is such a strong finish for those four starts to get himself ready for 2026. He didn’t miss a ton of bats in this one, but he threw a whole bunch of strikes with all five of his pitches. Only had three at bats that even went to a three ball count the entire day. Obviously did not walk anyone and that just allowed him to be really efficient. And the main plan because his most two used pitches were the four seamer and the change up. It was the high fourseamer up and the change up down. and whether it was lefties and even attacked some righties like that in the White Sox lineup, even if they weren’t all strikeouts because he had just four Ks in six innings. That combination helped him get a lot of hitters out and then he would mix in, you know, the slider and the cutter and the curveball when he needed them. I’m still not convinced that this version of Tyler Wells can be sustained as a starter over an entire season. We’ve seen him try and do that and he kind of fully broke down in the second half in 2023. That’s why I think he is still a reliever long term and I think he’ll he’ll be a good reliever for this Orio team. We’ve already seen him in multiple stints be a good reliever. But he’s going to come into spring training next year as a starter. He’s going to pitch and be built up as a starter in Sarasota. And when we get closer to opening day, the Orioles are going to assess, do we need him in the rotation or are we going to put him in the bullpen? We know he’s going to be on the opening day roster. It’s just nice to have him as a starting option if the O’s need it. I think the goal is that when you get to opening day, you have five better starting options than Tyler Wells, but he’s awesome depth to have there. And he can be really, really good. He’s a candidate to be the closer for the Orioles potentially next year if they need it. Just very versatile guy. And it’s always good to see him, especially coming off elbow surgery, look this good in his return. I mean, him and Bradish have combined, you know, their seven starts. I mean, their combined RA is under 2.5 in of those seven starts coming off elbow surgery. I mean, that is that is fantastic for the Orioles here down the stretch. And the fifth and final thing you need to know from the Orioles 3 to1 win over the White Socks on Thursday to complete the sweep is that the Orioles bullpen got it done with three scoreless innings with basically the same relievers that threw in the game on Tuesday night. We knew it was kind of an issue for the Orio bullpen on Tuesday. They had an 8-2 lead. All of a sudden, it was eight to seven in the eighth inning. Now, a lot of those runs scored off Chase McDermott making his first kind of true relief appearance in the big leagues. Also, it was the fact that he should have been out of the inning, but a dropped third strike with two outs, continued it, and then he allowed a few more runs. But it was a little odd to see Manelino, who’s been kind of mixing all these kind of auditioning relievers pretty well over the past two months, just go back to back with these guys. Yarm Heraldo, who went inning and a third Tuesday. He was just filthy out of the g again out of the bullpen a 1237. That change up was dancing. Rico Garcia who gave up the home run to Ben Tendy on Tuesday rebounded with a much better one two3 eighth inning to hold that three to1 lead and then once again despite my chagrin it was Keegan Aken in the ninth protecting a two-run lead going for the save and he did allow a leadoff single and he did allow some loud contact and he didn’t really miss bats like he did when he got the save on Tuesday night but he got his three outs. He got some help from Dylan Carlson. Made a fantastic running catch at the wall for the second out of the ninth inning. But Aken got his three outs and there was a few lefties up. So maybe a little bit of matchup base, but he’s kind of the deacto closer right now. I wouldn’t call him the definite closer because even recently Yen Canó has gotten a few of those chances, but Akin’s last five outings have come in the ninth inning in either a save chance or with the game tied. That is the usage of a closer and that is how Tony Manelino has used Keegan Aken. Does that mean Keegan Akin is going to go into 2026 as the Orioles closer? Absolutely not. They’re going to build out the bullpen. He’s going to go back to a middle reliever in what is his last year under contract with Baltimore. But I, you know, I talked about it last week or I guess earlier this week when recapping kind of a bad bullpen weekend for the Orioles in Toronto. I see both sides. I would rather the Orioles put some of these younger guys into these save spots rather than be Keegan Aken and Canó. But I also get it that you want to give the guys with the most experience Aken and Canó that ninth inning because it’s a different beast. And I also had some good comments that made some good points about Manscolino. I’m operating under the assumption that Mancelino, even though he’s going to get an interview, is just more than likely not going to get the long-term managerial job for the Orioles. But Tony Manelino, he’s managing to try and get that job. He’s managing to put good stuff on his resume when he does get that full interview from the Orioles this off seasonason. And although the O’s as a whole organizationally are not trying to win games day-to-day, it’s more about development down the stretch here. Manelino is trying to win as many games as possible because that makes him look better as a manager. And if he feels that the guys with the most experience in Aken and Canó are going to give the O’s a better chance in the ninth inning to win that night, I would side with the fact that he’s probably right in that thinking. And if that’s where he’s coming at it, Ralph trying to balance the development. I totally get it. He’s looking out for himself as well. So, I understand why Akin’s in these spots. And first time in his career that Aken has recorded a save in back-to-back relief outings. He does it Tuesday nights and Wednesday afternoon to secure a three to1 Orioles win and a sweep over the White Sox. Now, it does mean that with Haraldo, Garcia, and Aken all pitching on backto-backs, we definitely won’t see any of them tonight against the Yankees, but the Orioles should have their other five relievers ready to go against the team from the Bronx, hoping they can keep up those winning ways. But from the majors, we go to the minors. The Orioles, they had some really interesting prospects kind of break out on the farm this year. I want to talk about first three hitters who are kind of flying under the radar a little bit who you should certainly be paying attention to in this oral system that is coming up next. But first, this episode of the Lockdown Orioles podcast is brought to you by 5Hour Energy. Caffeine just got a flavor upgrade. Five-hour energy shots deliver tasty caffeine in 17 bold flavors. Each 2 oz shot packs the caffeine of a premium 12 ounce c of coffee plus B vitamins and nutrients with zero sugar and zero crashes. And what I love is how portable they are. Big taste, tiny shot. You can take it anywhere and get that boost when you need it. And it’s fast. It kicks in. It’s sugarf free. So, you also don’t have to worry about crashing later when you’re reaching for a 5-hour energy shot. So, enough with the boring flavorless caffeine. It’s time to give your caffeine a flavor upgrade with 5hour energy shots. Get the favorites you love or be bold and try something new in store and online at www.5hourenergy.com or at Amazon today. So, the Oros got the win over the White Sox. completed the sweep at the major league level on Wednesday afternoon. Let’s move down to the minor league level because the only minor league team left playing at this point is the AAA Norfol Tides at this point in September. Every other level of the minors has completed their regular seasons. A good chunk of them are still in the postseason. None of the Orioles minor league teams uh made the postseason this year. They didn’t exactly have the best of records, although it’s not really what minor league baseball is about, winning and losing the games. But there’s been some big- time prospects who had huge years and some of them got to the big leagues, you know, about a month ago. Talking about, of course, Dylan Beavers and Samuel Bisayio for the Orioles. But I wanted to talk about some other guys mostly at levels lower than Triple A, although one of the six players I’ll talk about did end his season in AAA Norfol and as is still playing. Tides had a double header here on Wednesday. but guys who are a little under the radar for whatever reason, but but really had big kind of breakout 2025 seasons that should now be much more on the radar heading into 2026. I did three hitters and three pitchers. And let’s start with the three hitters. My first one is 20-year-old switchhitting infielder Aaron Estrada, a 2022 international signing by the Orioles out of Venezuela. Now, Estrada began the year in Aberdine, and he was dominated. He was hitting the ball everywhere. He ended 2024 in Aberdine. He came back for a longer stretch, played about half the season there. He was great. So, Estrada ends up getting promoted to double A at 20 years old where, you know, at the end of July where he’s going to be younger than most of the pitchers he’s facing, and he ends up giving the Bay Socks 110 plate appearances, and a 137 WRC plus. He hit 300, had a 500 slugging percentage, good walk rate, low strikeout rate, didn’t really run a lot. Now, he did miss a couple of weeks with a quad injury at the end of August, but did hit 313 in the final nine games when he returned. So, the quad issue may have been why he wasn’t running because he stole 30 bases in Aberdeene and then just four bases in his time at the end of the season in DoubleA Chesapeake, but the speed is certainly there for Estrada as well. He can be a little clunky in the field at times. I would say probably second base is his main position, but this year alone between high A and double A, Estrada played second base, short stop, third base, left field, and right field. And even although he didn’t do it this year, last year he played some center field as well. So really a guy that can move all around the diamond. And yeah, there’s not any, you know, position where he is elite defensively. He’s never going to win a gold glove at any of those spots, but can you blame him? He’s 20 years old and handling five different positions in the infield and the outfield and handling them well enough where the Orioles feel it’s important at this age getting to double A to to still move him around and get him experience there. And he’s getting better at some of these spots, especially defensively this year. I think the big knock on him as a prospect coming into the year was people were pretty down on his defense. It it definitely looked better at times that I watched him in 2025. Now, the swing is a little long. That’s one of the other issues from some some of the main prospect writers. And you can see it when you watch him from the right or the left side. But I will say the right-handed swing. Watch some Aaron Estrada and get back to me on this one. It reminds me a little bit of Steve Pierce. Whenever I see a prospect swing, I immediately am thinking of what other Orioles it looks like. And it’s a little Steve Piery from the right side. It’s it’s a little cleaner from the left side for Estrada as a switch hitter. But it’s an interesting package. I mean, he’s 20, so it’s very extremely likely he begins 2026 back at double A. But the way he’s moving up, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s in AAA at some point, you know, at at age 21 in AAA next year at some point. I mean, that that’s a really intriguing guy and another one of these international prospects in the Orioles system. Next guy is 22-year-old left-handed hitting outfielder Austin Over. The Orioles third round pick in the 2024 draft out of USC. now over and overshadowed a little bit as an outfielder because he was in the same draft as Vance Honeyut a year after Enrique Bradfield Jr. Some saw him as a better prospect, some saw him as worse. He, you know, came out of the draft he rad in Delm Marva and Aberdine after the draft coming into the season Eric Long and hanging at Fan Graphs ranked over in the number four overall prospect in the Orio system like the highest ranking you’ve seen him anywhere. He did have some slow patches early this season, but in Aberdine he started to rake again even with a 28% strikeout rate which is really really high for that level. He was then promoted to double A in early August. And honestly has held his own in double A until that season ended at 111 WRC plus. He hit 266. He stole 21 bases in 30 games. He cut his strikeout rate down a little bit even though his walk rate went way down which you’ll still take it a little bit from over. He definitely uses the speed. I mean, in total, he stole 64 bases in 114 minor league games this season. Was well above average with the bat. Could really play all three defensive spots in the outfield as well. It’s elite speed. It’s some power. He’s got to cut down on the strikeouts, but he is an elite athlete. The the swing is a little out of whack. There’s a lot of movement with the back foot from the left side, but the raw tools are there, and he’s now kind of fully focusing on baseball. when he came to USC, he was recruited as a football and baseball player and did actually play on the football team for a little bit until right at the end he fully focused on baseball, kind of knowing that’s where his sweet spot was for the money and the draft pick and all of that. Of course, does end up getting picked in the third round. So now he’s really fully focusing on baseball, honing out those baseball specific skills with the the body that he has and the power that he possesses. Again, he’s going to start the year in double A next year, but it could be a really exciting package with him potentially working on that swing a little bit this off seasonason. And the final hitter to talk about is the 25-year-old switchhitting outfielder Reed Trimble. He was a 2021 draft pick by the Orioles in the competitive balance round. They took him 65th overall in the draft that year out of Southern Miss. And since he’s been drafted by the O’s, Trimble, who I was super high on back in the draft, he was a very highly rated prospect when he came out. He has just been destroyed by injuries since the Orioles drafted him. He played 33 games in 2022, 16 games in 2023, and 65 games in 2024. All three of those seasons he dealt with injury, and he dealt with injury in 2025 as well. He still only played 85 games so far this year. But 85 is a huge leap from 16 just two years ago and this has been his longest healthy stretch as a professional baseball player. He was dominating doubleA this year with big power. Briefly went to AAA for two weeks in August when the Orioles just needed a player, but he he struggled a bit. Nothing was really made of it. He went back down to double A for a little bit, then was recalled to AAA on September 2nd. This time with a lot more fanfare. was like, “Hey, we are promoting Reed Trimble to Triple A, even though he had already been there once.” But the stats and the data look great for Trimble at the AAA level. Like, this isn’t going to include stats from the Tides double header on Wednesday, but entering Wednesday, a 117 WRC plus, 275 average, 44 slugging, and about 100 plate appearances for the Tides. Strikeout rate a little high at 27%, but he’s popped five homers. He’s stolen seven bases. He’s putting on a show as a switch hitter there in Norfol. The swing has always looked great. I mean, he’s got all the tools. It’s just been the injuries, but the data under the hood has been amazing at AAA. And shout out to Prospect Savant. If you’re watching on the lockdown Royals YouTube page, this is the Prospect Savant page for Reed Trimble specifically in Triple A this season. You see a lot of red on there, which is good stuff. 45% hard hit rate, 9% barrel rate. The big one is a 32% pull air rate. that is the amount of balls he is pulling in the air. Generally, balls that you pull in the air do the most damage and end up with the most homers and the most extra base hits. He’s got great speed. He’s making good swing decisions. He’s swinging and missing a little too much on pitches inside the zone, but otherwise it’s it’s been a great season. It it’s really like and again, I’m not saying he’s this type of player, but there’s so much Byron Buckton in his profile in this way. He has all the tools, all the talent when he’s on the field, but it felt like it’s been impossible for him to stay on the field because of injuries. And now finally, we’re getting a a semifull season out of him, just like we’re seeing out of Buckton in Minnesota this year. And he’s been awesome. And so the question for the Orioles now where Trimble was just kind of waiting out his time trying to get healthy and the O’s weren’t thinking about it much. Now he’s in AAA putting up this great data and these great numbers. I mean, he’s got a 136 WRC plus in the 11 games since he returned to Triple A back in early September. And all of a sudden, like as he’s been for the last year or so, he is eligible for the rule five draft. The Orioles might be adding him to the 40man roster this offseason to protect him from the rule five. That’s how big of a jump he’s made. I’ve always been on the reach trimble train. Finally, he gets healthy and it’s paying off here in 2025. Those are the three hitters. I’ve got three pictures to highlight to finish off the show coming up next. But first, this episode of the Lockdown Orioles podcast is also brought to you by Monarch Money. 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Use code lockedMLB at monarchmoney.com in your browser for half off your first year. That’s 50% off your first year at monarchmoney.com with code locked on MLB. So, from the hitters, we go to the pitchers. Wanted to highlight three arms down on the farm for the Orioles, who, you know, didn’t come into 2025 with much prospect status at all, but at least open some eyes here in 2025. And the first one is 24year-old right-handed pitcher Ben Vespie, who was a 2024 undrafted free agent signing out of UCF. And yes, he is Nick Vespy’s little brother, the former Orioles reliever. Now, he didn’t pitch in the minor leagues after being signed last year. So this year he debuted in Delm Marva and he was he was great in Delm Marva. He was a little older than some of the competition but he was great there in about 50 innings and then he got a promotion late in the year and he threw eight games in Aberdine and he was awesome there. Even got one game in double A when they needed an arm. But overall it was it was good stuff between those three levels. A 284 erra in 63 and a third innings with a 29% strikeout rate and a 7% walk rate. That is stuff that is going to catch your eye, especially when he’s the younger brother of a pitcher that made it to the major leagues for you a few years back. And he didn’t pitch a ton and he was used mostly as a reliever even if there were a lot of multi-inninging stints. So, I’m not really sure what the future holds for Ben Vesby who is going to turn 25 next May. So, I would think if the Orioles are believing in him, he’ll maybe start in Aberdeene, but then hopefully quickly get a promotion to double A or should say Aberdine, it’ll be Frederick next year and then quickly get a promotion to double A. So, we’ll see if the O’s want to hold on to him. But that season deserves a shout out and to have another Vespie in the system is kind of cool. Next one is another 24 year old right-handed pitcher. Another 2024 undrafted free agent signing. This one is Joe Glassie who the Orioles signed out of Illinois. an unbelievable season in Delm Marva. So Glassie was on the Delm Marva roster to begin the year, pitches in his first game in April, gives up two earned runs, doesn’t look great, and then goes on the injured list and misses two months with an injury. He returns in June and is just unbelievable. His numbers in Delm Marva, 24 and a third innings pitched, 17 hits, six earned runs, 32 strikeouts, two zero walks. Let me say that again. 32ks and zero walks. He did hit two batters, but he did not walk anyone in 24 and a third innings. That is absurd just for that. Even if he never makes it, that should be written down and kept somewhere because that’s amazing. And again, six earned runs, two of them were in that first outing when he was probably hurt. And there was one other bad appearance when he allowed three earned runs. Outside of those two, it’s one run with no walks and all those strikeouts. He was basically otherwise unhitable. He’s got kind of a a crossfire delivery. Hitters just don’t pick it up. And the Orioles did reward him. They promoted him to Aberdine right at the end of the year and he made one appearance through one inning with a couple of strikeouts for the Ironbirds before the season was over. Most likely Glassie will begin the year in ha Frederick next year and then you know he is 24 and he won’t be 25 till July of next year but he’s a guy who could move quickly if they really like the stuff and it is as good as it showed to just not walk anyone still strike a bunch of guys out this season. And the final arm I want to highlight is 23-year-old right-handed pitcher Blake Money who was the Orioles 12th round pick out of LSU in the 2023 draft. And money is a guy who can kind of get lost among all the great arms the Orioles had coming through double A at some point this season. You know, the Trey Gibsons and the Nester Hermmans and the Michael Ferrettes and the Zack Fruits and the Braxton Braggs and all these guys who just dominated in Chesapeake this year. Blake money can get lost. But Money began the year in Aberdeene, made nine starts, was pretty good, and then gets promoted to double A in June. in double A. While his ERA was not pristine, it was a 4.21 ERA in about 68 innings, his rates were good. 30% strikeout rate is elite for a starter. 9% walk rate is pretty solid. And in his final double A start of the year, he went seven scoreless innings, four hits, 10ks, no walks. May have been the best start by any pitcher in the Orio system in 2025. Like that’s how good he was at his peak at I mean really just 23 years old. I just talked about two 24 year olds who were in a ball and we’re talking about a 23 year old dominating double A and who has a chance to pretty quickly get to AAA Norfolk at the beginning of 2026. And this guy was a 12th round pick. Like he’s got that huge frame at 6’7. He uses it for leverage. Got good breaking balls, great command of his fast ball. Maybe not the upside of the Netor Hermmans and the Trey Gibsons of the world, but might have a higher floor than than some of his other counterparts that are maybe still in DA that haven’t made the trip up to AAA where because of the strike throwing can still strike guys out. He could be a major league starter. Like if if we’re in 2027 and Blake Money is starting a game for the Baltimore Orioles, I would not be surprised at all. I would have been surprised two years ago when they took him in the 12th round, but from what we’ve seen from Money, he he is money sometimes when he’s out there and definitely deserves a shout out for his 2025 season. That’ll do it for today’s episode. Thank you so so much for tuning in. Make sure to like, comment, and subscribe to the Locked on Orioles YouTube channel. If you are an audio listener, we love that as well. You could follow the show, subscribe wherever you listen. Leave a fivestar rating and a review, especially on Apple Podcast. Haven’t gotten a lot of reviews in a while. Let’s send those reviews in. And of course, if you want to talk baseball, you got mailbag questions, you want to give feedback on the show, you can always email me locked onoriosaggmail.com. We got one more episode coming up this week. That is tomorrow and it’ll be a recap of game one between the Orioles and the Yankees. O’s and Yanks start a 4game series in Baltimore tonight, 7:15 first pitch on national TV. It’s on Fox. I’ll be in the ballpark tonight for probably my final game of the season. So, if you want to definitely come and say hello, it’ll be a couple of lefties who have been compared to each other in the past. Max Freed of the Yankees with his big contract, his 303 RA and 30 starts, and Kate Povich for the Orioles. A very up and down 2025 for him so far. They will face off in game one of four tonight. And I’ll be back tomorrow to recap that game, get you some Orioles injury updates, and get you ready for the rest of that O’s Yankee series. The Orioles try and play spoilers to one of their rivals even though they’re out of it here at the end of this season. That’s coming up tomorrow. Until then, I’m Connor Nukem and this has been the Lockdown Orioles podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day.

The Baltimore Orioles have not been a good team this year, but they certainly aren’t as bad as the Chicago White Sox, as the O’s completed the sweep with a 3-1 victory on Wednesday afternoon. Host Connor Newcomb recaps the final game of the series and highlights performances from Tyler Wells, Dylan Beavers, and Gunnar Henderson.

Then, Connor highlights three pitchers and three hitters from the Orioles system who broke out onto the scene this season.

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