Hall, Henderson keep O’s prospect list bright
As the Baltimore Orioles continue to add new players to an already highly ranked farm system through the MLB draft, the prospects among the ranks currently continue to perform. Baltimore has been in this position before, with its second first overall pick in four drafts under executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias.
In 2019, the Orioles chose catcher Adley Rutschman, and now he’s emerging at the major league level. On Sunday, Baltimore drafted shortstop Jackson Holliday, the son of seven-time MLB All-Star Matt Holliday, out of Stillwater High School in Oklahoma. It begins another cycle for the Orioles, rejuvenating a prospect corps in which several recent top draft picks are nearing the majors.
Entering the All-Star break, it was another strong week for Baltimore minor leaguers.
Each week, The Baltimore Sun will break down five of the top performers in the Orioles’ prospect ranks.
1. LHP DL Hall: As Baltimore’s firstround pick in 2017, Hall is hitting his stride with Triple-A Norfolk, and a promotion to the Orioles appears to be coming sooner rather than later. The 23-year-old southpaw dealt with pitch tipping in two starts in June, leading to nine earned runs against him in 7 ⅔ innings. But with that behind him, Hall has gone on a tear. In his past four starts, Hall has struck out 40 batters, walked eight, allowed eight hits and given up only one earned run. His two performances last week featured no earned runs on four hits, five walks and 18 strikeouts. There’s no denying his ability to cultivate swings and misses. Perhaps there’s still pause regarding the walk numbers, but he allowed just one free pass in five innings Sunday.
2. INF Gunnar Henderson: On top of playing in the MLB Futures Game in Los Angeles, Henderson had a strong week for Norfolk. In the Futures Game, he batted leadoff and scored two runs. He showed off his speed when he ran from home to first in 4.19 seconds, according to Statcast. Henderson, who ranks as the Orioles’ secondbest prospect, according to Baseball America, also knocked two triples as part of his three hits in three games for the Tides, bringing his season OPS to .889 since being promoted to Triple-A.
3. INF Joey Ortiz: Since the promotions of Jordan Westburg and Henderson to Norfolk, Ortiz has found himself more regular playing time at shortstop for Double-A Bowie. And beyond what he’s done in the field, Ortiz’s production at the plate has been especially impressive. The former fourth-round pick in 2019 out of New Mexico State recorded seven hits last week, including two home runs, to post a 1.283 OPS.
4. OF Colton Cowser: For the second straight week, Cowser finds himself in the minor league report, building on a strong July since his call-up from High-A Aberdeen to Double-A Bowie at the end of June. In five games last week, Cowser clubbed three home runs as part of five hits, and while his strikeout rate has been a concern, he struck out just twice in 19 at-bats. Cowser was Baltimore’s first-round pick in 2021, and he ranks as the sixthbest prospect in the organization. He’s starting to climb closer to the pinnacle.
5. RHP Ignacio Feliz: Feliz started the year as a reliever for High-A Aberdeen, but the 22-year-old from the Dominican Republic has more routinely been used as a starter since the end of May. He produced the best outing of his season last week, completing six innings for the first time while allowing just one hit with two walks and seven strikeouts. Feliz has bounced around, from the Cleveland Guardians to the San Diego Padres before the Orioles grabbed him off waivers. His development has been slow, but he looked strong last week.
Top prospect not featured so far: With Rutschman graduating from the prospect rankings and righthander Grayson Rodriguez rehabbing his right lat muscle injury in Florida, the top-ranked prospect yet to be discussed at length is Westburg, the infielder from Mississippi State who plays for Norfolk. By his standards, the No. 4 prospect had a quiet week: Westburg hit .211 with four singles and one walk with five strikeouts. But his overall performance has been better — he has a 0.903 OPS in 32 games with Norfolk.