Orioles Proving Ground

Welcome to the second and final installment of the Minor League Recap for the 2013 season, coming to you a day later than normal to include the final game, which was played on September 2.  None of these teams advanced to their respective league’s playoffs, so their seasons are no over.  Maybe next week I’ll attempt to do a full season minor league recap for Norfolk, Bowie, and Frederick, but then again, maybe I won’t.  As always, the following is based on performance only, and is not to be considered a list of prospects.

Weekly Summary

Norfolk (AAA): 6-3 (W-L), 34 RS, 27 RA

Bowie (AA): 4-5, 51 RS, 33 RA

Frederick (High-A): 4-5, 40 RS, 52 RA

The Good:

Hitters

Norfolk (AAA): IF Jonathan Schoop – 10/33 (H/AB), 2 2B’s, 1 HR, 1 BB, 5 SO’s

Schoop is one of the top prospects in Baltimore’s system (#3 Orioles prospect according to Baseball Prospectus preseason rankings), but struggled this year.  It shouldn’t cause any concern though, as he’s been moved aggressively through the system and spent all year at AAA as a 21 year old.  Additionally, he spent an extended amount of time on the DL with a back injury, which didn’t help.  He was called up to the major league club when rosters expanded, and will make his major league debut as soon as he is put in the game.

Bowie (AA): IF Buck Britton – 14/30, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR’s, 1 BB, 1 SO

From worst to first.  After being the Bowie candidate for the worst hitter last week, Britton turned it around and had himself quite a week at the dish, earning himself a promotion to AAA for the last few games.  With the team scoring 51 runs this past week, there were a couple of candidates, however Buck was the best of the bunch.

Frederick (High-A):  IF Michael Mosby – 10/31, 2 2B’s, 4 HR’s, 7 BB’s, 9 SO’s

Pitchers

Norfolk (AAA): LHP Zach Britton – 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 8 SO’s, 0 BB’s

Seems like Britton has been around for a while, as he’s been up in the big leagues and back down in the minors over the last couple of years.  One of his issues has always been trouble with his command, so it’s nice to see him toss 7 innings without giving up a free pass.  Britton was called up to the big club on Monday.

Bowie (AA): LHP Eduardo Rodriguez – 14 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 11 SO’s, 1 BB

Another top prospect that had a good week (#4 Orioles prospect according to Baseball Prospectus preseason rankings).  Rodriguez was stellar in 2 starts last week striking out 11 batters in 14 innings, without giving up a run.  I’ve seen some people asking if he would be a September call-up, but that is doubtful as he’s only 20 years old and has probably reached his innings limit.

Frederick (High-A):  LHP Tim Berry – 11.2 IP, 10 H, 4 R, 6 SO’s, 3 BB’s

The Bad:

Hitters

Norfolk (AAA): OF Jason Pridie – 6/31, 1 3B, 2 BB’s, 11 SO’s

Bowie (AA): OF Dariel Alvarez – 6/31, 1 HR, 1 BB, 9 SO’s

The recently signed import from Cuba struggled badly in the last week of the season, and really the entire time he has been in Bowie (though he tore up Frederick).  His time spent in Frederick and Bowie did not go longer than 10 games each, so don’t look too much into his stat line at either level.  I have yet to see him play, but I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on him next year.

Frederick (High-A):  IF Jason Esposito – 6/32, 1 2B, 2 BB’s, 13 SO’s

Esposito has had a really bad year, and this past week was no different.  Baltimore’s second round 2011 draft pick was known for his sharp fielding skills and a lackluster bat.  The bat hasn’t come along and based on the errors committed this year (.926 fielding percentage), it looks like his glove has taken a step back as well.

Pitchers

Norfolk (AAA): RHP Eddie Gamboa – 1.1 IP, 4 H, 8 R, 1 SO, 6 BB’s

The converted knuckle-baller had a tough week.  Since his conversion from a traditional pitcher to a knuckleballer is a work in progress, he’ll have some weeks that look excellent and some weeks that don’t.  Joe Reisel at Camden Depot recently wrote about Gamboa if you would like more information.

Bowie (AA): RHP Tim Bascom – 5 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 3 SO’s, 4 BB’s

Frederick (High-A):  RHP Brady Wager – 3.2 IP, 11 H, 9 R, 1 HR, 3 SO’s, 3 BB’s

14 baserunners allowed in less than 4 innings.  Yikes.

This entry was posted on September 5, 2013 at 10:00 am and is filed under Minor Leagues, Offense, Pitching, Prospects with tags Brady Wager, Buck Britton, Dariel Alvarez, Eddie Gamboa, Eduardo Rodriguez, Jason Esposito, Jason Pridie, Jonathan Schoop, Michael Mosby, Minor League Recap, Tim Bascom, Tim Berry, Zach Britton. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.