Baltimore Orioles infield propsect Brandon Butterworth joins the show!

Baltimore Orioles infield propsect Brandon Butterworth joins the show!

The Orioles brought in a lot of new young talent into the system at this year’s trade deadline. One of them was infielder Brandon Butterworth. We’ll hear from him coming up on this episode of the Locked on Orioles podcast. You are Locked On or your daily Baltimore Orioles podcast, part of the Locked On Network. your team every day. Hey there, Orioles fans. Today is Wednesday, November 26th, 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 have an Orioles minor leager joining the show. And that is Brandon Butterworth, the 23-year-old shortstop who the Orioles acquired as one of the six players that came over from the Padres’s in the trade for Raone Lauraniano and Ryan O’Harn at this year’s trade deadline. We’ll talk with Brandon about what it’s like to get traded in just your second year of pro ball, the differences between the Orioles and the Padres’s system and kind of what he looks to get better at this off season as he did get to double A by the end of last year. But before we get to that, we’re going to talk a little about kind of the state of the current Orioles minor league system. But that’s all coming up on this episode of the Locked Ono podcast, which is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Just download the FanDuel app today. So before we get to our interview with Brandon Butterworth, I did just want to take kind of some stock of the oral system at this moment. I am recording this here on Monday, November 24th, just because the holiday week here. Gonna still gonna get you five episodes this week, but kind of banking some episodes. Hopefully you enjoyed the Ryan Mount Castle talk on Monday. The crossover talk more about the Taylor Ward Grace Rodriguez trade with the host of Locked on Angels. That was on Tuesday. We’ll still even get you a Thanksgiving episode. If really big news breaks, I’ll kind of jump in with an episode. But just banking some shows to make it easier on a holiday week, but you still have something to listen to maybe as you’re traveling for the holiday season. But I I wanted to take stock of the system because although the Orioles, you know, all indications are they’re going to spend some more money, maybe actually spend for some free agents this off season, that doesn’t take them out of the running to maybe trade for some big names or trade for a big-time pitcher. And to do that, you’re going to have to use some of your minor league system. And the Orioles really did up the depth in that system in the middle of the season. Not only did they have a great draft with a lot of good players and a lot of good picks, they also received a bunch of prospects back when they essentially became sellers at the deadline. They got six players back in that Padres’s deal that included Brandon Butterworth. So, a system that was, you know, starting to tail off a little bit. I think was reinvigorated with some talent. I mean, they added over 30 players to the system between the draft and the deadline in July. And I really just wanted to talk about kind of what I would say maybe the biggest strength and the biggest weakness of this system right now, at least in terms of what you can see. And if you’ve been listening to this podcast or watching this show for a while, you know that I’m in on the best I can what’s going on in the minor league system. But I generally just pay more attention to what is happening in double A and AAA because those are the guys who you can actually start to see coming together is what they’ll be as a prospect, but more importantly what they would be if they get to the major leagues and are starting to knock on the door of getting to the big leagues. If you’re looking for players in the DSL, in the FCL, in Delm Marva, in you know, Frederick now instead of Aberdine, as I always say, Orioles on the verge, great minor league podcast to take stock of kind of every part of this system. But as you’re looking more at the upper levels and you’re thinking about who the Orioles could trade, especially guys who will have serious value to other teams, this is kind of the the full look at this system right now. I would say the biggest strength in that area is the upper level starting pitching. And that is really the first time since Mike Elias took over in November of 2018 that we’ve been able to say this that a strength for the Orioles is upper level minor league starting pitching. I mean they’ve got three starters in the high minors who are in the top nine of the current Fan Graphs list of Orioles prospects. Right. Trey Gibson who got to AAA at the end of last year. Fanraphs has him as the number 54 overall prospect in baseball. Put up some incredible numbers in DA. continued to pitch well when he got to Triple A. Gibson has a legitimate shot to to start for the Orioles in 2026. Like, this is a real prospect who was an undrafted free agent for the Orioles a couple of years ago. Then you have Netor Hermman, a former what 10th round pick, 11th round pick who made it to TripleA at the end of last season. He’s in that top 10 at Fan Graphs. And then you have Braxton Bragg, who unfortunately did get Tommy John surgery this year, so we’re probably not going to see him for most of the 2026 season. Maybe he’ll come back by the end, but he was tracking towards being the Orioles number one pitching prospect before he got that surgery. He was just dominating DA. Was one of the best pitchers in DA in all of minor league baseball. And so when he comes back, as long as everything’s okay and maybe to the level that it was previously, that’s why he’s still a top 10 prospect in this system and maybe hopefully we’ll see him by the end of 26. But also in the Fan Grass top 20, you’ve got Zack Fruit, who I think will be in Triple A as a reliever at some point in 2026. You’ve got Luis Deleó, the left-hander who Eric Logenhagen at Fangrass did a prospect chat last week and you know he was asked about a sleeper in the Orio system and he called Deleó a slam dunk future top 100 prospects. So maybe when the new top 100 list comes out in the spring, we should expect not just Gibson, but also Deleó. And for the Orioles to have two top 100 pitchers, like yeah, they had that for a little while with Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall, but those were two first round picks. To do it with an international signing and an undrafted free agent, that is a different level that the Orioles are at in terms of their pitching development right now. And then also there’s Juan Nunees who you know they lost in the rule five draft then got back from the Padres’s last year suffered an injury but is still in the Fanraft’s top 20 as is Cameron Weston who spent the entire year last year in the AAA norfol rotation. Now he did not get protected from the rule five draft so he could be selected by another organization in a couple of weeks but he is there too as pitching development in Triple A. And if the Orioles do what they need to do this off seasonason, which I think is add two starting pitchers, you will begin the year most likely with both Kade Povich and Brandon Young in Triple A Norfol. They will both be in the Tides rotation. Whereas both of them played a huge role in the Orioles rotation in 2025. And that’s nothing against Young and Povich. They both definitely still have some developing and some growing to do before we can say they are definitely major league quality starters. We certainly have seen flashes from both of them over the past two seasons. But if they do what they should do, Young and Povich should be in Triple A, which means if those two are down there and if Cameron Weston does not get selected in the rule five draft, I mean, you could open up the AAA season with a rotation of Kovich, Brandon Young, Trey Gibson, Cameron Weston, Nester Hermman, and Levi Wells. And Levi Wells is one guy we haven’t even mentioned yet, but has huge stuff. I think he’s kind of a polarizing pitching prospect right now. I think most people believe he’ll probably be a reliever long term and a good reliever, but a reliever. So maybe that’s why he’s not listed as high at most places, but the Orioles are still using him as a starter. Those are six guys who if you told me any of those six guys started a game for the 2026 Baltimore Orioles, it would not shock me because they all have the talent and of course with Povich and Young already have the experience to be able to do that. And the Orioles really have not been able to say that in a long while. Like yes, you had guys who did pitch in the big leagues, right? You had some rotations that included the Zack Lawers and Alex Wells and Keegan Akens of the world in Triple A. And yes, all of those guys did pitch in the big leagues, but Akens now an okay reliever and Lother and Wells are long gone. Like these are not guys with staying power to be legitimate big-time pitching prospects. It is different now what the Orioles have in the high minor leagues. And it’s so crazy to say, but they have enough depth to trade from, right? If they dealt a Hermman, if they dealt a Wells or a Povich or a Trey Gibson, it’s not like even after also dealing Grayson Rodriguez, it’s not like that would crumble their upper level pitching depth because they have so much more of it than they have before. Now, I will say a weakness in this system right now is upper level hitters. Fan Graphs has Samuel Bisio at number one and Dylan Beavers at number three in the Orioles system. Both of those guys are still technically prospects, but both of them debuted in August last year. Both should be on the Orioles opening day roster and both will graduate from prospect status fairly early in the 2026 season. So, you can kind of remove both of those guys off the list. In terms of hitters in the system, Fangrass does have infielder Elvian Garcia as number two, but he’s still in rookie ball. He’s a long way away. You could argue that Enrique Bradfield Jr., Orio’s first round pick in 2023 who is in AAA. He was in the Arizona Fall League this year. He could debut some point late in 2026. That is possible. So, you kind of put him on this list. But otherwise, if you look at the FanGrass prospect list and you know, you have Bradfield up there fairly high. You have to go all the way down to number 42 on the Orioles list to find Jud Fabian, who is the next hitter in the system who could realistically play in the big leagues in 2026. And Fabian, they just left unprotected in the rule five draft. And I think there’s a legitimate chance another team scoops him up and he’s out of the system. I think the Orioles kind of decided that Reed Trimble, who they did protect to the 40man roster, is better. So, you can kind of you can kind of interchange Trimble and Fabian being another option there. But either way, if you have all three of those guys, they’re all outfielders. And really, the big weakness is upper level infielders. Like, if you want an infielder, there’s not really a legit infield prospect kind of sitting there in AAA who’d be ready to go. Oh, the Orioles have had that for so so long, you know, with Gunnar and Westber and Norby and Holiday and Ortiz. And the list goes on and on of the guys they had there. They just don’t have it anymore. Now, they did add to that depth a little bit with the Alex Jackson trade on Friday, getting the infielder Payton Eels in Triple A from the Twins in that deal. He’ll probably begin the year in Norfol. And, you know, he would be a guy who’d certainly be ready to come up to the big leagues next season if the Orioles need him. So, that’s nice. And you of course have Jeremiah Jackson here who is going to be competing for an opening day roster spot. But if the Orioles upgrade at utility guy, you could certainly see Jackson beginning the year in AAA which would give you another option and make things feel a little bit better. But Eels and Jackson are both guys that joined the system last year while they were already in the high miners and really are prospects I guess somewhat. I mean Jeremiah Jackson not anymore but kind of a different level than anyone the Orioles developed to that point. And that’s why I think they’ll almost certainly grab another, you know, AAA infielder or two on either a minor league deal or a waiver claim and a guy who they can stash in Norfolk just to have the depth there that they really kind of don’t have. And there’s certainly infield talent in the lower minors. I mentioned Elvin Garcia. You’ve got Viva Aloy in Lowey. You’ve got Griffo Ferrell in double A. You’ve got Wily de la Cruz in the Dominican Summer League. And you also have a guy like Brandon Butterworth sitting in double A as well. He is someone who if he has a good 2026 would see himself get to AAA Norfolk and start to help that weakness of upper level infield depth. So let’s talk to Brandon Butterworth, right? Who he is as a player, what it was like to get traded from the Padres’s to the Orioles and much much more. That interview with Brandon is coming up right after this. But first, this episode of the Lockedone Orioles podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA is back and there is no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you miss the start of the game or want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team is making that late push. And right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So head to fanduel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. All righty. So, we are joined on the show today by Orioles minor league infielder and some outfield as well, which we’ll get to in Brandon Butterworth who joined the system at the trade deadline this year. And Brandon, first of all, thank you so much for joining the show. Yeah, of course. I appreciate it. So, Brandon, you came over in well along with many other young players at the deadline this year. The Orioles didn’t have the season they wanted, won only 75 games, and became sellers at the trade deadline. in that they uh sold away a lot of their big league talent and brought in a really new crop of minor league talent which included yourself. I think the first thing I want to ask is you rarely see a deal at the deadline. You might see teams acrew you know six prospects at the deadline, six minor league players. You rarely see a deal where in one trade a team gets six minor league players back. So beyond just the feeling of getting traded, what was it like to see that, hey, not only am I going to Baltimore, but five of my fellow Padres’s minor leaguers are going in the same deal. Yeah, that was that was probably the craziest thing about it cuz when I first got told I was traded, like I didn’t I had no it wasn’t posted on media anywhere and I had no idea that anybody else was. So I was kind of like, damn, like I’m going by myself. Like you know, it’s been fun with the Padres’s, but I’m going by myself. And then once my manager, you know, was told the whole details and told me that everybody was going, you know, all my buddies who I was, it was in my draft class. Um, you know, I was kind of more more relieved as well, just going somewhere new with people that I know. Um, definitely made it a lot easier. And, you know, Tyson Neighbors ended up being my roommate in DoubleA, which made it, you know, like I said, a lot easier. Made it easier to get acclimated, I can say. Yeah, it’s awesome. Yeah. The trade was Ryan O’Harn and Raone Lauraniano to the Padres’s. It was you along with Boston Baitman, Cobb High Totower, Tyson Neighbors, Victor Figareroa, and Tanner Smith. You mentioned rooming with Tyson, and it was pretty clear the Orioles uh loved the 2024 draft class for the San Diego Padres’s. That became very, very clear. Um had there been some of those guys that you know before the trade being in the or you played with some of them already that you were already close to that you could at least reach out to and be like, “Hey, at least we’re both going the same place?” Yeah, definitely. Victor Figareroa. Uh Tanner Smith I got a little bit close to. Um but me and Tyson pretty much me and Tyson were you know probably the closest. I got to talk to Tyson a lot and you know him me and him getting called at DA at the same time. He was in double A with the Padres’s. Um so once we both got you know to Buoie it was you know it was it was fun. Like I said we’ve known each other for a good bit of time and you know once we became roommates it like like I said it became easier to get accurate everything and you know it felt like we were more comfortable. Is Tyson’s stuff as nasty as everybody says? 100% 110%. Yeah, that’s uh that’s exciting. That is a double A arm that I think everyone’s pretty much assuming we’ll see in AAA to begin the year. And uh good good thing for Tyson. The Orioles bullpen has uh tons of openings going into this year and if that stuff is is just as good. But I I want to talk about just the general feeling of being traded, especially, you know, I’m sure you hear from plenty of minor leaguers, hey, you know, if you’re on a team that is good in the big leagues right now, you could be traded as they try and make that big league team better. For it to happen, you know, a year after the draft, basically, you know, you probably started to settle into the system, but there’s still so much that, you know, you’re probably looking forward to with San Diego. What What is that hit like when when you get that news? Is it something you’re thinking about at all leading into the trade deadline? No, I you know they you know there there’s always gonna be rumors about it like on Twitter there’s going to be you know fake trade proposals that people bring up and post but you know even if I was posting I think I was posting you know two or three of them. I didn’t even believe for a second that that was going to happen. You know that was so off my mind. Um especially the fact that it was during the season you know we were still playing and the day that I got traded I was we were just getting ready for a normal game like it was just like any other day. And the day before we traded Leo Deere who was you know our number one prospect. So once that happened, you know, being me being an infielder, you know, I kind of thought, you know, if he they traded him, like maybe they’re going to keep some other infielders. But once they traded me and Cobb, it was kind of like a wow, like those those are pretty much just, you know, all the infielders pretty much that system has. Um, so it was it was a shock, I can say. Definitely a shock. What’s the uh what’s the logistics look like from that, especially because not only were you getting traded, but you pretty much you get the immediate bump. The Orioles are like, “We know you’re in high A. We’re putting you in double A as well.” So, what did that those couple of days, that week look like? Like, how how long did it take for you to join the Bay Socks after the trade? What’s that kind of look like from a player? Yeah, it was the best word to put it is just hectic. It was just hectic. Um, I feel like once I was able to really settle down and like breathe and, you know, think about the situation, it ended up being good and positive. But when it first happened, you know, I was kind of thrown off and honestly like a little upset about it just cuz, you know, at first, like I said, like these are all my all my boys that I grew up or not really grew up, but you know, got drafted with, you know, got acclimated to proball with, started playing with, you know, went through draft camps, went through strength camps with, you know, all that. So, you know, I was kind of bummed um because I didn’t know it was a good thing at first. You know, I’ve never been traded. I’ve never dealt with a trade before. But, you know, once I was, you know, told that it’s a good thing, you know, the Orioles, you know, wanted me, they traded for me and stuff like that, like that, you know, I figured out that that was a really good thing. And, um, that made the whole process of realizing what happened a lot better just cuz I was able to, you know, sit back and breathe. Yeah. And so, at what point do you feel like you you settled in? Right. It’s it’s basically two months with Chesapeake until that season ends. Like, how long do you think it felt like, all right, I can sit down. I feel like I’m in the Orioles organization now and kind of this is where my baseball future is. Honestly, probably within the first week, you know, they the guys in in Buoie were amazing. You know, Alberto, all them, the all the coaching staff there are awesome. Um, I got really really comfortable really quickly there, which is awesome. You know, they all the players, you know, I got really close with Enrique Bradfield and Doug Hodo. Those are kind of like my guys who, you know, I kind of kind of were locker roommates with them. So, you know, I kind of got to talk to them a lot. Um, which, you know, made that a lot easier. Um, but I never I never had a situation where I felt, you know, not like kind of uncomfortable. You know, there was as soon as I got there, you know, I felt like I was, you know, it was home, which is good. So, you got drafted as an infielder. We saw you play a ton of second base and shortstop in the Padre system, but I know at least a little bit the Padres’s were trying you out in the outfield. You played some center field. You played a little more outfield when you got over to Buoie this year. Is that something you had done in high school, in college? Is that was that brand new to you? What what was that? It’s not a full transition because I think you’re still seen as an infielder, but going out there look like? No, 100%. Um I was It’s actually funny. This conversation got brought up to me when I was in IA because I was having a really good month of July. Um and you know, I usually was playing five days a week out of the six and having one off day. But they wanted to keep me in the lineup the one extra day. Um and they were like, “Well, do we DH you? Do we put you in the outfield?” So my manager came up to me. And he was like, “When’s the last time you played outfield?” And I was like, “I think I was like eight.” He’s like, “Well, you’re playing center field tomorrow.” And I was like, “Oh, okay.” Like, you know, I was I wasn’t really thrown off about it, you know. I thought it was I thought it was awesome. Just cuz during BP and stuff, if you know, the infield, you know, is wet or something like that, we’ll go in the outfield, you know, mess around out there. And, you know, I thought it was I think it’s so fun. You know, I love the outfield. I love tracking down balls. I love trying to throw people out. Um, so, you know, I kind of, you know, I got the I feel like the transition was easier for me. Um, but other than that, like I loved it. Keeping my bat in the lineup and being able to play an extra day was, you know, awesome. Did you have an outfield glove? Did they get you? No. No. When I got to double in Buoie, I had to use Aaronas and Tavian. Tavian Joenberger. Well, yeah, Tavian’s got pretty much every glove, I’m sure, in his bag. That was probably helpful. He could probably you one as well. Um, but uh you you getting your own outfield glove this offseason or I think so. I think I got to. Yep. 100%. Yeah, there you go. we know you as an infielder. Um, start with with defense. It’s been a lot of of up the middle. I think that’s where pretty much everybody projects you to play as you continue through the minors and hopefully up to the majors. Uh, you know, where where does the the comfort defensively come from? I you hear a lot of people talk that watch you play in college, watch you play in San Diego, the the first look is towards your defense. Where’s that work come from? you know, dating back to maybe high school or before to kind of get to where, you know, you’re seen as a sure-handed whether you’re at second or shortstop and field defender. Yeah, it definitely started before high school um in middle school. You know, I was, you know, very undersized going growing up um unfortunately. But for me, that was a positive a way to look positively towards defense because, you know, my bat, you know, was just was just lacked behind a little bit when I was younger. you know, when we moved up to the, you know, the full, you know, 350 ft fences, like it was a struggle to me for me to put the ball over the infield, honestly. So, you know, my biggest thing was, you know, if I could work on defense, you know, that’s something that will never leave my game, if that makes sense. You know, you’re always going to struggle offensively, you know, with stuff like that. So, with me and the coaches that I had, you know, we worked on defense a lot when I was growing up. And, um, especially with me being infielder, I feel like it helped me a lot with, like I said, playing in the outfield as well. Um, so I feel the be the biggest thing for me in my game is, you know, I can be put anywhere, you know, all four infield spots and all three outfield spots and, you know, be very comfortable playing every single one of them. Is it is it something you’d be, you know, maybe willing is not the right word, but but if I told you, Brandon, you know, in the next couple of years, you’re going to debut in the big leagues and you’re going to be pencled into left field in the starting lineup. It’s probably not something you would have thought a couple years ago, but but would that be an okay debut for you? I I think I would say yes before he even got the last word out of the sentence. I I wouldn’t mind if he told me to go behind the catch, I wouldn’t mind. That’s uh Yeah, I mean the the Orioles just made a trade for Taylor Ward who started as a catcher. Now he’s out in left field who said make the uh can’t make the opposite transition. I do want to talk about because you know the Padres’s and you can see by what happened at the deadline last year. They’re able to trade away six good players including yourself in a deal with the Orioles make other deals and still have a lot of good players in that system because it seems like they’re doing a lot of things right over there and and the Orioles the same way have kind of been built on this minor league system under Michaelas that has allowed this team to get back to to being competitive. So what did you see as similarities, differences? cuz I I I’m sure the biggest difference for you coming over was jumping up to the double A level, but outside of just a level you’re playing at. What did you see either similar or differences between, you know, either coaching or just how the system works between San Diego and Baltimore? The the similarities I’m going to say the similarities and differences both stem from I I feel the coaching staffs and all that. You know, the similarities is of course they all want the best for you guys. You know, they’re they’re so supportive. you know, they’re more younger in age, which is something that I was thrown off with when I first got to Pro Bowl because, you know, at NC State, I had Elliot Aan who’s, you know, he’s almost 70 years old and he’s coaching for a very long time. Um, and you know, he’s a very old school coach. You know, Coach Hart, um, Bo Rob, they’re all a little bit on the older side and, you know, they teach baseball, you know, how they’ve known it growing up in the 80s and 90s. Um, so getting in the Pro Bowl, I kind of figured it was going to be the same, you know, a little bit, but all my managers and coaches have been towards the younger side, towards my age almost, which for me, it felt like I helped build a relationship quicker because I was able, you know, connect with them a little bit better. Um, so I feel like for that, you know, they they supported us. They wanted the best for us. Um, but also in the differences with, you know, the Orioles was the managerial side. Um, Berto was absolutely awesome. He was, you know, very engaged. He was out there hitting Funos with us. He was every single time that a player did something wrong or you know correct it was shown the next day on camera and talked about it not in a bad way as in you know you you know this can’t happen again. It was more you know teaching side which I felt helped a lot because I feel the Orioles are very good with teaching and you know hands-on coaching which I feel like I need. So were there were there adjustments you made when working with I mean you kind of look at just the the stat line. I think the biggest thing that jumps out is you up the walk rate. I mean, you you you cut the strikeouts way down, especially impressive, which is jumping up a level and cutting the strikeouts. You don’t generally see that from a lot of guys, especially in their first jump to a level. Was there adjustments there or was it just change of scenery, different pitchers facing different level? Um, yeah, it was definitely the adjustments made. you know, we taught the Orioles are big on, you know, swing decision, swing decision, um, you know, that’s this thing called swing decision points, which is like an AI generated system that gives you plus and minus points for, you know, good swing decisions. Um, so they were big on that. U, my first couple games, you know, I think I was like minus 20, which now like it’s bad, but I wasn’t, they weren’t paying attention, you know, they weren’t bringing up to me because it was my first couple games. But once they did, um, you know, after about a week of me settling in, they brought it up to me and I was like, “Oh, wow.” Like I didn’t think they were that bad. Um, so we talked about it a lot. we worked on in the cage a lot and it helped me, the best way I can say it is it helped me cut down my strikeouts a lot, but it helped me feel more comfortable in the box, you know, not swinging at pitches that I needed to be swinging at. And um for me, I never really worked on it in high. I never really needed to. Um but once those pitchers got a lot better, they were, you know, finding out my weaknesses and just going straight at that. There was no mistakes being made, nothing, especially in double A. So I feel like that helped a lot. Yeah. Double A, you get to the point where, you know, you could be facing a dude who’s going to be in the big leagues next week. That’s kind of the first time you do that. So, what what does that jump look like just for facing, you know, not only you doing the jump, you’re changing organizations and doing the jump, you’re making adjustments a little bit to your approach and you’re really starting to face double A pitchers. Even there sometimes in double A, you know, you’ll face pitchers that are in their, you know, late 20s, early 30s who are trying to like get themselves back to the big league. So, I’m sure it’s a very different uh group of pitchers you’re you’re facing in double A. Yeah, 100%. Um, I think in high the only time we faced a big leager was Chase Burns. We faced Chase Burns in the Dayton Dragons and you know he he’s in the big leagues now. But in DoubleA, I felt like every other arm that we saw was either, you know, oh, he’s been in the big leagues or he’s rehabbing from in the big leagues. And it’s like those guys are, you could tell the difference. You can you can, you know, legitimately tell the difference of how they go about their business, how they work, how they execute things. And it’s, you know, there’s, like I said, there’s no mistakes. Um, so you have to be, you know, more locked in, more I wouldn’t say perfect because nobody’s going to be perfect, but you just have to be you have to cut down your mistakes against that. So what’s the what’s on the agenda for this off seasonason? You know, you get your kind of feet under you in DA, you get your feet under you in a in a new organization. You’ll be in Sarasota for the first time in spring training uh coming up in 2026. So between your own personal goals from the chat with the the coaches in the O system, what are the the goals for this offseason before you do get to Sarasota in the spring? Yeah, after talking with all of them, um just mainly working, you know, on small things here and there. Uh we had our big Zoom meeting with, you know, the hitting coordinators Brink and Dalton Herd and I was talking to them and I was pretty much just asking like what do I need to work on and they they pretty much were straight up about, you know, there’s not a lot they really need for me to work on. You know, they love they really like my swing. They really like my approach. um and double A. I you know my expected stats if you like if they don’t really they follow those a lot which I had really good expected stats in DA um which you know it’s not the I’m not going to sit there and worry about it that much but you know for me it was a good thing to hear that I didn’t need to work on a lot of things you know they didn’t need a big swing change this year like I did last offseason last offseason was a big swing change for me um so I feel like it was it’s just tinkering small things you know still working on the strike zone hammering you know fast balls with VO that’s a thing that I struggle with a little bit is just like higher VO pitches so just working on and then, you know, day in and day out just getting stronger. I will say, uh, we got to end here with with college baseball stuff because listeners of this show know I’m a huge college baseball fan. I worked when I was at the University of Maryland in the college baseball space, traveled with the team for a couple years there, you know, going from, I mean, Western Carolina to going to NC State to playing in the College World Series. Like, as you get higher up in the minor leagues, do you feel like, you know, any of that prepared you? like you know you you’re still at the point where playing in the College World Series is the biggest stage you’ve played on. I mean that’s a nally televised event that everybody’s got their eyes on. What was that experience like? I know you guys didn’t have the the ending you wanted that year and it but I’m I’m sure it still stings a little bit the way you guys went out those two close games, but what was that experience like for you? Yeah, it’s you know it’s it’s funny that I’m at I’m actually at NC State right now. I drove here uh yesterday cuz you know um Aan’s doing this thing with Trey Turner and Cars Rodon tomorrow and I get to I get to meet them and you know talk to them which is going to be completely awesome. Um but I feel like that definitely prepared me and you know just handling pressure you know going up there in the College World Series with you know 25 30,000 people watching you just scream in your name. I feel like there’s a lot of pressure built up with that you know even in the first inning. Um, so I feel like, you know, it helped me, you know, relieve and, you know, sit there and breathe and, um, take it all in because, you know, I thought that that was the most fun I’ve ever had playing baseball. You know, some guys were, you know, you could tell a little nervous, but for me, like I I took it as a good a good thing. You know, I wanted to do good in front of the fans. I wanted to show out and wanted to do good on TV. And I feel like that just makes it easier, you know, playing in, you know, double A and high A. You know, you got, you know, 4,000 people in the stands. And to me, that I can look at as, you know, that’s nothing compared to what I’ve played in before. So, you know, this is, you know, going into the bottom of the ninth inning with the runner on second base, you know, I don’t I’m not going to feel as much pressure, you know, as, you know, some would think I’d feel, which is good. You know, it’s it’s definitely it’s definitely let me, you know, breathe and, you know, handle the game a little bit differently. Short stop at NC State. Some speed, some power. I mean, have a good conversation with Trey Turner when Oh, trust me, I’m going to he’s been my favorite player ever since he’s gone to the bigs, you know, that’s one of the that’s one of my guys. Um, I used to watch NC State all the time growing up. It was one of my dream schools to go to and like I said, he was he’s always been one of my favorite players. So, I think it’s going to be awesome getting to meet him. Well, Brandon, thank you so much uh for joining us. It was great to chat with you. You know, good luck with uh Carlos Rodon and uh and Trey Turner. And I mean, if if the big league call comes sooner for you, I mean, Rodon’s in this division. You might get to to face him here in a couple of years. So, uh to start maybe talking to him about pitching, not knowing that uh maybe it’ll help you a couple of years down the road. But but last thing I’ll give you if you know there’s there’s anything you know you wanted Birdland Orioles fans to to know about Brandon Butterworth because there’s plenty of fans who listen to this show who love diving into the minor league system as well and and you know it was a one of the biggest influxes we’ve seen in a while between the draft and the deadline. So many new minor league players coming into the system. So anything that uh you might want Birdland to know about Brandon Butterworth as we go into 2026. Yeah, I mean I feel like I just you know I I play the game the right way. I feel like that’s just the the biggest thing for me is playing again the right way and I’m always going to play hard. um you know whether they see me in double AAA the big leagues um or if they see me in spring training playing on a back field you know I’m always going to play the game the right way and play the game at 100% no matter you know if I’m struggling or you know prevailing. Well thanks Brandon and uh good luck in spring training and next season. I appreciate it. Thank you so much. So our thanks again to Orioles infield prospect Brandon Butterworth for joining the show. That should be an exciting season for him. more than likely he’ll begin the year back at DA Chesapeake to start 2026 and then you know we’ll kind of see from there for Butterworth where whether it is you know he can have a good first half and and be in TripleA Norfol to be more of that infield depth for the Orioles in the second half would certainly be helpful. That’ll do it for today’s episode. We’re still going to have a Thanksgiving episode for you. As I mentioned, Thursday and Friday episodes are going to be banked here earlier in the week. Uh but still want to get you guys some content if you are traveling for the week and talk a little bit more about free agency, right? is once we get through Thanksgiving, we get into December next week and we get closer and closer to those winter meetings beginning on December 7th. Free agency and the moves are really going to start to pick up this off seasonason. So, I wanted to continue with the free agent wish list. We’re going to talk about on Thursday some left-handed relievers. Now, the Orioles do have Grant Wolf Ram and they do have Dietrich Ends and guys who they feel like they might be able to trust, but you know, with CNL Perez gone, there’s there’s not really that guy, you know, Gregory Sodto traded away as well, really not that guy who like this is our number one lock down lefty. So, I’m going to tell you about six free agents among left-handed relievers who could help the Orioles if they sign them this off seasonason. That’s coming up on tomorrow’s episode. Until then, make sure to like, comment, and subscribe to the Locked On Orioles YouTube channel. If you’re a listener, make sure to subscribe, follow the show, leave a fivestar rating and a review. It really helps us out, whether it’s Apple Podcast or Spotify. And of course, you can always leave Orioles questions, want to talk some ball, want to give some feedback on the show, you can email me, locked ongmail.com. I’ll be back tomorrow for a Thanksgiving Day episode. Until then, I’m Connor Nukem and this has been the Locked Ono podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.

Baltimore Orioles infield prospect Brandon Butterworth joins Host Connor Newcomb to discuss being traded to the Orioles from the San Diego Padres, learning the outfielder, improving as a hitter in Double-A, and much more!

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