Camden Chat\u2019s #7 prospect<\/a>), Jud Fabian, Jhonkensy Noel, Will Robertson, Reed Trimble<\/p>\nNorfolk\u2019s best position-player prospect is in the outfield, where Bradfield will hope to improve upon his 10-for-56 performance in a 15-game sample at Triple-A last year. The 24-year-old\u2019s blazing speed and elite defense are MLB-ready right now, but he\u2019ll need to show a little more on offense before the O\u2019s are comfortable subjecting him to major league pitching. Bradfield figures to make his Orioles debut at some point this season, but whether it\u2019s as a regular starter or as a defensive replacement off the bench will hinge on how he performs at Norfolk.<\/p>\n
Another intriguing name here is Trimble, a former top-30 O\u2019s prospect whose career has been sidetracked by injuries. Between left shoulder surgery in 2021 and a hamstring injury in 2024, he has never played more than 90 games in any of his four professional seasons. He is incredibly good at one thing, though: stealing bases. Trimble is a perfect 61-for-61 in stolen base attempts in his minor league career. The Orioles added him to the 40-man roster this past winter to protect him from the Rule 5 draft, so they must think the 25-year-old still has some promise.<\/p>\n
A fellow former top-30 prospect, Fabian, has all but stalled out at Triple-A, posting a .628 OPS since arriving in Norfolk in 2024. The second round of the 2022 draft, in which the Orioles selected both Fabian and the since-released Max Wagner, was not one of Mike Elias\u2019s finest efforts. Rounding out the Tides\u2019 outfield group is Noel, a.k.a. \u201cBig Christmas,\u201d who hits prodigious dingers every so often but doesn\u2019t do much else.<\/p>\n
RHP Jose Espada, RHP Cameron Foster, RHP Nestor German (#11 prospect), RHP Trey Gibson (#5 prospect), RHP Jackson Kowar, RHP Dean Kremer, LHP Andrew Magno, RHP Chayce McDermott, RHP Enoli Paredes, LHP Cade Povich, RHP Albert Su\u00e1rez, LHP Josh Walker, RHP Levi Wells (#16 prospect), RHP Cameron Weston, RHP Brandon Young<\/p>\n
Oh yeah, here\u2019s the good stuff. In a stark contrast to last year, the Norfolk rotation is stacked with prospects. Gibson, German, and Wells make for a stellar trio of homegrown right-handers, all drafted (or in Gibson\u2019s case, signed as an undrafted free agent) and developed by the Orioles. We\u2019ve been waiting for a Mike Elias-drafted starting pitcher to make it to the majors, and it will likely happen this year. Gibson is the closest to MLB ready, though his eight-game debut at Triple-A last year was a struggle (8.90 ERA). Trey will take the mound for the Tides\u2019 opener tonight.<\/p>\n
I still can\u2019t believe that Dean Kremer is back in Triple-A. I mean, I understand why it happened, but it\u2019s just weird. Other than rehab stints, it\u2019s his first time in the minors since 2021. His stay is expected to be short, as he\u2019ll probably be back in the majors once the O\u2019s need to give extra rest to their other starters, or if one of them gets hurt. It speaks to the Birds\u2019 improved rotation depth that they didn\u2019t have room for an essentially MLB-average starter like Kremer. And Povich and Young, who combined for 32 mostly unimpressive starts for the Orioles last year, will also serve as depth if needed.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, if there\u2019s any hope for former top pitching prospect Chayce McDermott, he\u2019s running out of chances to show it. The O\u2019s converted him to relief last season and he performed well at Triple-A, only to cough up eight runs in just two appearances in the majors. He\u2019s been passed on the bullpen depth chart by guys like Espada and Foster, who were part of the Birds\u2019 bullpen competition in spring training, as well as Kowar, the hard-throwing righty who cleared waivers yesterday. The veteran Su\u00e1rez returned to the O\u2019s on a minor league deal and will likely be one of the first up when the Orioles need another arm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s a brave new world for the Orioles\u2019 farm system. After years of the Orioles\u2019 position player prospects…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":548496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[244392,363,99],"class_list":["post-548495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-baltimore-orioles-prospects","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/548496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}