Meet June's Orioles minor league All-Stars, as chosen by me
Many familiar names populate the position player list, but the pitchers' diverse paths to the Orioles shows they can find interesting arms away from the top of the draft.
June typically represents a good moving period around baseball, with many major league-ready prospects finally deemed ready for their debuts and those at the lower ranks of the minors checking off their final development boxes before a promotion.
The month fit that bill and then some for the Orioles, with many of the top prospects remaining on the farm getting bumped a level in June and growing one step closer to the big leagues.
That group doubles as the core of a list of players that comprise their top performers for the month in an exercise that, with the beginning of complex league ball, has gotten a bit more complicated than April and May.
(If anyone knows an easy way to filter monthly complex-league stats to make this more representative in July and August, please let me know. And if you work for the Orioles and want to put together a report for me, that works too.)
The standards remain the same for inclusion, as listed below in the previous two editions.
Adjusting for age or level as a tiebreaker seems complicated, so I went with the raw numbers for the most part, with a few criteria: mainly, a player had to appear in over half his team’s games, and was only eligible in the position he played most in this season.
These types of exercises can get onerous to consume, so let’s put a 100-word cap on each player capsule and really try to get what’s important covered and move on. That seemed like a good rule going into it, and as a postscript felt a bit light, but maybe we’ll adjust going forward.
Halfway through the season with no adjustments. I sure can stick to a formula. Here are the June Orioles minor league All-Stars, as chosen by me.
Catcher: Cody Roberts
There aren’t many holdovers from the previous front office’s drafts still kicking around the Orioles’ farm system, but the 2018 11th-round pick Roberts is. He had a .969 OPS in June, mostly in Bowie but with a two-game cameo in Norfolk, to edge out teammate Maverick Handley for the position’s honors in this illustrious exercise.
First baseman: Andrew Daschbach
The Orioles’ unique band of first base prospects has had an up-and-down year, but Daschbach got his summer back on track with an .843 OPS and 10 extra-base hits in June. Expectations were high after Daschbach hit eight home runs in 30 games for Bowie to end last season, then tore up spring training, but there’s plenty of time yet for him to end where he wants to be.
Second base: Terrin Vavra
Once Vavra came off rehab assignment and rejoined the Tides, he had a .907 OPS in 17 games to show the kind of on-base/power threat he can be at either second base or in center field. Now that he’s healthy and performing again, it will be fascinating to see whether Vavra gets the nod next time an Orioles infielder goes down. He certainly fits the offensive profile for what the team wants now, even if he might be stretched on the left side of the infield.
Shortstop: Jordan Westburg
Playing most of the month at Triple-A, Westburg smacked seven home runs as his efforts to pull the ball more frequently started to pay off. I will say this: he is the notable exception in the highest tiers of the Orioles’ farm system who is a right-handed batter and whose pull-side power will be impacted by the new wall in left field at Camden Yards. His 1.040 OPS in June was that of someone who won’t be bothered by it, but it’s looming, for sure.
Third base: Gunnar Henderson
I’ve used up all the good Gunnar Henderson nuggets I had. He’s had an incredible season, and in June had a 1.095 OPS while playing all but a handful of games as a 20-year-old in Triple-A. He hit for the cycle the day before he turned 21. And while he can certainly physically handle shortstop, nothing happens on the Orioles farm by accident, and we’re now halfway through a minor league season where he’s played more at third than short.
Outfield: Heston Kjerstad
How great must this feel for literally everyone involved? Kjerstad had a 1.089 OPS from his debut in mid-June to the end of the month, with hits in all but one of his 15 games last month and, stretching into July, a 14-game hitting streak. In the two-plus years since the Orioles drafted him second overall, Kjerstad has probably been aching for the opportunity to show he was worth that much-scrutinized pick. If he ends this season in Bowie, which I bet he can do, it would look pretty good for both him and the Orioles.
Outfield: Colton Cowser
When I caught up with Cowser at the beginning of June, he seemed confident he was nearing a breakthrough. A .962 OPS with 13 extra-base hits and 16 walks against 21 strikeouts over two levels is much more the kind of production the Orioles were expecting compared to the struggles of the previous two months. Even if he’s not doing it by tapping into his pull power, there’s plenty of time for that. Cowser will be much better off knowing he has the ability to handle these challenges than wondering if a new approach will pay off.
Outfield: Kyle Stowers
The perils of being in Triple-A. Yes, Stowers made his major league debut as a COVID replacement this month, but at no level on the Orioles’ farm can one have a .947 OPS with four home runs and not get a more permanent reward for it than Triple-A. Stowers ended June with an .894 OPS, and credit to him for cutting down on his strikeouts (32.3% to 23%) and swinging strike rate (15.9% to 14.6%) from 2021 to 2022 while still producing at a level to make his for-good promotion imminent.
Utility: Rylan Bannon
Speaking of guys who are blocked, Bannon, who has played mostly third base this season, is doing what he’s supposed to in between major league appearances and hitting well at Norfolk. In June, he had a .996 OPS with five home runs in 17 games on either side of a few games with the Orioles. Bannon had a bit of a head start above the more highly-touted Orioles infield prospects he now shares time with from the Tides, but he’d better take advantage of it while he still can.
Pitcher: Right-hander Noah Denoyer
It’s too simple to say the Orioles don’t draft pitching anymore, but considering Denoyer was an undrafted free agent in 2019 and is vaulting onto the radar this summer, it’s fair to note this outcome with a pitcher who wasn’t actually drafted. Denoyer pitched 21 1/3 innings in June with 28 strikeouts and just one walk of a 0.367 WHIP and a 0.84 ERA. It’s my second-half goal to learn more about him. It’s good to have goals.
Pitcher: Right-hander Zach Peek
Peek wasn’t drafted by the Orioles, either, but he might as well have been considering the Angels traded many of their 2019 draftee pitchers here. Peek is one of several impressive ones, and pitched to a 1.08 ERA with 21 strikeouts and a 0.840 WHIP in 25 June innings. If it’s anything like it was last year, and I assume it is, Peek is an interesting prospect with three advanced pitches who is part of a large group of mid-minors pitchers with weapons on the Orioles’ farm.
Pitcher: Right-hander Peter Van Loon
A tall 16th-round right-hander from last year’s draft, Van Loon has spent all season at Aberdeen and combined on June 18 for a no-hitter with teammates Daniel Lloyd and Xavier Moore. It was part of a month in which Van Loon struck out 32 in 28 innings with a 0.96 ERA and a 1.000 WHIP. He’s leading the climb through the minors for a group of pitchers from the 2021 draft that the Orioles feel good about, and his success at this stage means he may not be in Aberdeen for long.
Pitcher: Right-hander Conner Loeprich
Acquired at the end of the 2020 season for international bonus pool money from Pittsburg, Loeprich is pitching as well as he has since in a swing role for Bowie. He had a 0.51 ERA and a 0.838 WHIP with 19 strikeouts in 17 2/3 innings for the Baysox this month as that staff continues to piece things together with bulk pitchers like Loeprich. Having entered the month with a 10.38 ERA and a 1.94 WHIP, Loeprich enjoyed quite the turnaround.
Pitcher: Right-hander Ryan Conroy
Another 2018 draftee who has hung around through this regime change and come out on the other side, Conroy began the season as a reliable reliever in Bowie and performed well in Norfolk in June. He pitched 11 innings with a 0.82 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP with eight strikeouts against three walks. There’s a lot to be said for letting pitchers develop at their own pace, and Conroy serves as an example of how close one can get to the majors with the right instruction and plan.
One request: can you please include the level at which these guys are playing? I don’t follow the minors on a day to day basis, and for some of these guys, I’ve never heard of them, much less know what level to which they are assigned. Similarly, including age would be great. Henderson’s performance at 20 in AAA means something very different to Daschbach’s in AA at 24.
A bit surprised not to see Basallo included with his strong start in the FCL. Then again, he hasn’t played too many games yet