by Richard Douglas
The Orioles had a season that no one saw coming. Last year the team was expected to finish at the bottom of the division, and the farm was in disarray. A year later, the team is respected, and has a chance to repeat their success last year if they can keep making a few key moves to bolster the roster The farm system though still lacks depth, in part because 2 of their top ten from last year made the jump to the majors to play big roles ( Manny Machado, Ryan Flaherty). They debuted their top prospect Dylan Bundy late last season at the major league level, where he pitched 2 innings worth of work and allowed just a single hit. Bundy has four potential plus pitches, something rare for such a young prospect His fastball lives in the low to mid 90s when starting, and is a four seam offering. He also developed a two seamer that has much greater movement on it. He also offers a good changeup and a down curveball that he needs to find more consistency with to make it effective. He has a cutter that he also throws that lives in the upper 80s, but the Orioles limited his use of it to develop the curveball. Bundy was unhittable at the Low A level, and didn't allow an average against higher than .233 and walked only 28 batters in his first year. Bundy started the year at AA but has had a lingering elbow issue that has since shut him down.
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Nick Delmonico was drafted in the 6th round in 2011, but has become one of the farm;s top prospects (in part because of the lack of depth). Delmonico was named the Low A All Star Game MVP, Delmonico has a good swing that can long at times, but should be able to hit for at least average power after hitting 11 home runs and 22 doubles. He still needs to learn patience at the plate after striking out 21.5% of the time, but has shown signs of that maturity in is approach (a 13.9% walk rate.) His position is far from set, since he played a lot of time at first and second, but his arm strength profiles more to third base. He doesn't have the hands though to man the hot corner, but the team might ask him try it this next year.
Xavier Avery is an athletic center fielder who was drafted out of high school in Georgia. He had a scholarship to play football at Georgia, but turned it down for a $900,000 bonus. Avery has good bat speed, but has struggled to recognize pitches and work counts consistently(26% strike out rate in the minors). Part of this can be attributed to his super aggressive promotion through the Orioles system. Avery's best asset is his speed, where at AAA Norfolk last year he stole 22 bases to just 7 failed attempts. His arm isn't great, but that speed lets him make all the plays in center field. He'll start the year at the AAA level.
Mike Wright is a righ handed pitcher that has his fastball move from the high 80s to the mid 90s. He also possesses an inconsistent slider and a changeup that is a plus pitch. He has good control, posting just a 2,01 BB/9 rate, and tossed just a 3.95 FIP last year. Jonathan Schoop is a middle infielder that has a strong pop to his bat with 32 home runs in his 4 minor league seasons, and 73 doubles. He had a .337 wOBA, and should be ready to advance to the majors next year.
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