Orioles Proving Ground

Last week’s Minor League Recap never got completed, so this “week’s” version will combine the last two weeks of baseball. Think of it as “two for the price of one”! Although, I don’t think that’s accurate because it’s still only one post. “Double for your money” is probably a better assessment of this installment of the recap. So not only are two weeks rolled into one post, but it’s also arriving a day later than usual because I had some podcast duties on Monday night for Camden Depot. If you’re reading this because you like the Orioles minor league baseball, then check out the podcast (it’s linked in the previous post on this website) because we talk to Camden Depot’s Joe Reisel, who is our man down at Norfolk. He sees anywhere from 30-40 games per year and has great insight on the AAA squad.

Weekly Summary

Norfolk (AAA): 5-8 (W-L), 33 Runs Scored, 40 Runs Against

Bowie (AA): 8-4, 61 RS, 37 RA

Frederick (High-A): 6-7, 49 RS, 67 RA

The Good:

Hitters

Norfolk (AAA): IF Chris Parmelee – 13/45 (H/AB), 2 2B’s, 8 BB’s, 8 SO’s

Parmalee gets the nod here for the second week (ok, “installment”, since I haven’t actually done this weekly yet) of this series in a row. This time he does it with less power, but better plate discipline with more walks and less strikeouts. No one really stood out at Norfolk over the last 2 weeks, as you could probably tell by the fact that they only scored 33 runs in 2 weeks (average of 2.5 per game).

Bowie (AA): C Chris O’Brien – 14/37, 2 2B’s, 3 HR’s, 2 BB’s, 3 SO’s

This new guy has some power, brah. Three home runs over two weeks isn’t anything phenomenal, but it’s at least two more than anyone else hit. Typically I’d want to see more than 2 walks (especially over two weeks instead of one), but he kept his strikeouts down too, so…bravo.

Frederick (High-A): 3B Drew Dosch – 16/48, 3 2B’s, 2 3B’s, 1 HR, 5 BB’s, 9 SO’s

I picked Dosch this week because he had a very pleasant looking 3-2-1 when it came to doubles/triples/HR’s. He was also the best overall performer on the Frederick Keys over the last two weeks, but that’s just a coincidence.

Pitchers

Norfolk (AAA): RHP Mike Wright – 16.0 IP, 14 H, 5 R, 17 SO’s, 2 BB’s, 2 HR’s

Mike Wright with another good week, as he been pretty impressive so far this year (Joe had some comments about him on the podcast yesterday…seriously, you should check it out). It’s early, but he’s been striking more guys out and walking less than at any time in his career, so he’s definitely someone to keep an eye on.

Bowie (AA): RHP Terry Doyle – 11.0 IP, 10 H, 2 R, 13 SO’s, 0 BB’s

(O’) Doyle rules! Nice week by the red-haired hurler (I’m assuming). Thirteen strikeouts to zero walks will win this spot every day of the week and twice on Sunday’s, which is a phrase that doesn’t make any sense at all in the context of this article.

Frederick (High-A): LHP Cody Wheeler – 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 9 SO’s, 1 BB

A lot of pitchers contributed to the 67 runs the Keys allowed over the last 2 weeks. Wheeler was one of them, but he kept it to a minimum.

The Bad:

Hitters

Norfolk (AAA): OF Henry Urrutia – 7/42, 1 2B, 4 BB’s, 7 SO’s

There have been worse two week stretches in the history of baseball, and there were even some close contenders on Urrutia’s own team. But the fact that Urrutia “produced” this line in more than 40 PA’s and plays mostly “hitter” in the field (i.e., he doesn’t play in the field), helped make him this “week’s” choice. “Quotes”.

Bowie (AA): SS Ozzie Martinez – 9/38, 1 2B, 2 BB’s, 6 SO’s

If this his Martinez’s worst two week stretch of the season, then it will be a successful one. But I’m willing to bet that it won’t be. Unfortunately, we may never know if I actually do this weekly.

Frederick (High-A): OF Gregory Lorenzo – 5/42, 0 BB’s, 12 SO’s

Remember in Henry Urrutia’s section when I said that there have been worse two week stretches in baseball? Yeah, Lorenzo’s two weeks were a lot worse.

Pitchers

Norfolk (AAA): LHP T.J. McFarland – 15.2 IP, 14 H, 7 R, 7 SO’s, 6 BB’s, 1 HR

McFarland didn’t give up a ton of runs over the last two weeks, but the nearly 1:1 strikeout to walk ratio is a little bit of a concern. After spending a good chunk of time in the majors in 2013 and 2014, he could be feeling a little bit down due to starting the season in AAA. He’ll probably contribute to the big league club at some point this year, but

Bowie (AA): LHP Tim Berry – 12.1 IP, 15 H, 9 R, 9 SO’s, 3 BB’s, 1 HR’s

What is wrong with Tim Berry? It’s the second time in a row he has taken this dubious honor for Bowie, and he even needed an 8-inning, 2-earned run performance on May 1^st to make his last two weeks look even THIS good, so it could have been a lot worse. He is getting BABIP’d (.345) and LOB percentaged (57.4%) to death so far, but he isn’t helping himself by walking a batter every other inning.

Frederick (High-A): LHP Luis Gonzalez – 12.0 IP, 18 H, 11 R, 10 SO’s, 12 BB’s

I don’t really know anything about Luis Gonzalez, but based on his line from the last two weeks I would say that he’s probably got decent stuff (the 10 strikeouts in 12 IP), but he has no idea where it’s going, which means it’s either ending up middle-middle (the 18 hits) or nowhere near the strikezone (the 12 walks).

Transactions

This entry was posted on May 6, 2015 at 10:00 am and is filed under Minor Leagues, Offense, Pitching, Prospects with tags Chris O'Brien, Chris Parmelee, Cody Wheeler, Drew Dosch, Gregory Lorenzo, Henry Urrutia, Luis Gonzalez, Mike Wright, Minor League Recap, Ozzie Martinez, T.J. McFarland, Terry Doyle, Tim Berry. 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.