Good morning, Camden Chatters.<\/p>\n
The Orioles, after their first day off, are back in action this afternoon for an exhibition game against Team Netherlands, tuning up for the World Baseball Classic. The Netherlands roster includes notable current and former big leaguers Xander Bogaerts, Ozzie Albies, Jurickson Profar, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Didi Gregorius, along with former O\u2019s catcher Chadwick Tromp and former Orioles minor leaguer (and brother of Jonathan) Sharlon Schoop. Sadly, this game, which sounds like the most interesting of the Orioles\u2019 entire spring, won\u2019t be televised anywhere.<\/p>\n
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In other news, MLB.com became the latest major prospect publication to unveil its ranking of the top 30 Orioles prospects<\/a>. Like all the other lists published so far, Samuel Basallo is at the top, and like almost all of the others, Dylan Beavers and Nate George are right behind him. Among other prospects, Enrique Bradfield Jr. has slipped in the Orioles\u2019 ranking, dropping from fourth place on MLB\u2019s list last season to 10th this year, but his speed remains tantalizing enough to earn the maximum 80 grade on the 20-80 scouting scale. This just in: he\u2019s fast.<\/p>\n What strikes me about this top-30 list is just how much pitching is on it. While there are only three pitchers ranked in the top 10 (Luis De Le\u00f3n at #4, Trey Gibson #5, and Esteban Mejia #8), it\u2019s extremely pitcher heavy after that, with hurlers ranking at every spot from #11 to #17. That\u2019s an interesting change from the recent past. In previous seasons, even when the Orioles regularly had one of the best farm systems in baseball, position players far outweighed pitchers in their rankings. In MLB\u2019s list two years ago, the O\u2019s didn\u2019t have any pitchers ranked among their top eight. In both 2023 and 2024, they had only three pitchers among their top 15 prospects.<\/p>\n It\u2019s no secret that the Orioles haven\u2019t been great at developing pitching in the Mike Elias era, but things could be starting to change. Last year\u2019s trade-deadline selloff infused the organization with young pitching talent, including Boston Bateman (#11), Juaron Watts-Brown (#16), and Tyson Neighbors (#17). A pair of 2025-drafted pitchers also show up on this list in Joseph Dzierwa (#14) and JT Quinn (#21).<\/p>\n The Orioles, of course, still have to nurture and develop these young arms into capable big league-ready pitchers, which is no easy feat. Just witness the rocky arrivals of their previous two top pitching prospects, Cade Povich and Chayce McDermott. Not all of these pitching prospects are going to amount to something. But the Orioles have got more pitching depth than they\u2019ve had in years, so the odds are that some of these guys will break through even if others falter.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Dare we say it? The Orioles might finally be ready to grow the arms.<\/p>\n Links<\/p>\n Orioles reliever Rico Garcia\u2019s Puerto Rican pride leads him to World Baseball Classic \u2013 The Baltimore Banner<\/a><\/p>\n I\u2019ll be rooting for Rico in the WBC. And I\u2019ll be rooting especially for him not to get hurt.<\/p>\n