How Orioles prospect César Prieto shed his contact-hitter reputation to lead the organization in home runs
Prieto, now on the injured list with a hamstring strain, came from Cuba with a reputation of a contact hitter who doesn't strike out. The Orioles' hitting plan has helped him unlock his power.
ABERDEEN — Last spring, the Orioles handed their domestic amateur scouts a pre-draft mandate to pay special attention to players on their coverage that have a knack for making contact and don’t strike out often.
The thinking went that those players have an innate bat-to-ball ability, and a hitting program designed to help players better target pitches they can drive for power could make them candidates to offer a more impactful offensive profile.
In Colton Cowser, Connor Norby, John Rhodes, and so many others in the resulting draft class that’s now playing in Aberdeen, the Orioles boast a productive group working through those adjustments with varying degrees of success. In César Prieto, a 22-year-old Cuban defector who signed in January for $650,000, they might have a teammate who is executing those developmental goals better than anyone.
Prieto left Friday’s Ironbirds game with an apparent hamstring injury after a home run and a double in his first two at-bats, and the prognosis is unclear for a return. No matter when he returns, expectations will be high based on the power that few expected to see this early.