Orioles Proving Ground

Ain’t nobody got time for an in depth minor league recap this week, so let’s get right to it.

Weekly Summary

Norfolk (AAA): 3-5 (W-L), 29 RS, 33 RA

Bowie (AA): 2-5, 28 RS, 45 RA

Frederick (High-A): 4-3, 36 RS, 29 RA

The Good:

Hitters

Norfolk (AAA): OF Julio Borbon– 7/23 (H/AB), 2 3B’s, 1 HR, 2 BB’s, 4 SO’s

The speedster showed some unusual power this week, hitting 2 triples and a home run. How unusual is it to hit 2 triples in one week? I don’t know, you shouldn’t depend on me to figure everything out for you.

Bowie (AA): 2B Niuman Romero – 7/24, 3 2B’s, 1 HR’s, 4 BB’s, 5 SO’s

Romero is having a much better season than I originally thought he was, and I’ve been quasi-following the Orioles’ minor league system all year. Amazingly, he has 37 walks compared to 21 strikeouts as of this writing. He’s also 29 years old, so no one should consider him a prospect. Did you know he’s from Barcelona, Venezuela? Did you know there is a Barcelona in Venezuela? I didn’t.

Frederick (High-A): SS Adrian Marin – 9/21, 7 2B’s, 1 HR, 1 BB, 6 SO’s

Have yourself a week Adrian Marin! Usually a contender for worst hitting performance of the week in Frederick, Marin exploded last week with 8 of his 9 hits going for extra bases.

Pitchers

Norfolk (AAA): RHP Kevin Gausman – 4.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 7 SO’s, 2 BB, 1 HR

A great minor league start for Gausman as usual (aside from the innings pitched, not really his fault).  Even though he’s currently in the minors (and hasn’t performed well starting in the majors), he could be Baltimore’s best starting pitching option right now.

Bowie (AA): LHP Eduardo Rodriguez – 5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 5 SO’s, 2 BB’s

Welcome back Eduardo!  We missed you.

Frederick (High-A):  RHP Parker Bridwell – 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 9 SO’s

Bridwell has pitched extremely well the past couple of weeks, which included his almost no hitter on May 13, but he’s been narrowly outmatched (in my view) by his teammates.  Bridwell finally gets bragging rights this week.

The Bad:

Hitters

Norfolk (AAA): 2B Cord Phelps – 1/20, 1 2B, 3 SO’s

Phelps was an easy choice this week, even though he did hit a double.  I can’t say much though, since I haven’t hit a double yet this year.  Of course, I haven’t accumulated 20 at bats this year either.

Bowie (AA): 3B David Adams – 2/16, 2 BB’s, 6 SO’s

Another very easy choice.  As bad as Adams performed during his time this year in AAA (70 AB’s), he’s been even worse in AA (76 AB’s)

Frederick (High-A):  3B Jason Esposito – 2/26, 10 SO’s

Again, Esposito was the choice this week, and it wasn’t particularly close.

Pitchers

Norfolk (AAA): LHP Kelvin De La Cruz – 3.1 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 1 SO, 1 BB

Two of De La Cruz’s runs were unearned.  It’s the same number of “spaces” in the middle of his last name.  I know that wasn’t funny or clever, but…whatever.  Did I mention I ain’t got time for an in depth minor league recap this week?  That’s right, I did.

Bowie (AA): RHP Fabio Castillo – 1.1 IP, 0 H, 5 R, 1 SO’s, 6 BB’s

All of Castillo’s runs were unearned, so there were obviously worse pitchers this week in the good old ERA department.  But 6 walks in 1.1 innings?!?!  He was basically daring me to not pick him.

Frederick (High-A):  RHP Matt Hauser – 2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 0 SO’s, 0 BB’s, 0 HR

This could have been an unlucky week for Hauser.  No walks (good!), but not strikeouts either (bad!).  That’s putting yourself at the mercy of the luck dragon…unless you’re throwing meatballs.

Transactions

This entry was posted on June 4, 2014 at 10:00 am and is filed under Minor Leagues, Offense, Pitching, Prospects with tags Adrian Marin, Cord Phelps, David Adams, Eduardo Rodriguez, Fabio Castillo, Jason Esposito, Julio Borbon, Kelvin De La Cruz, Kevin Gausman, Matt Hauser, Minor League Recap, Niuman Romero, Parker Bridwell. 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.