As the season moves along, the Orioles continue to push their successful minor leaguers up the ladder towards the majors. On Tuesday, the O's bumped up another pair of players from Frederick to Bowie, according to MASN's Steve Melewski:
The Orioles are moving OFs Glynn Davis and Michael Burgess from Frederick to AA Bowie. Davis/Burgess expected to play 4 Baysox tonight.
— Steve Melewski (@masnSteve) July 22, 2014
Though Burgess was batting .315/.366/.579 at Frederick, it's probably not worth getting too excited about him because he is a 25-year-old who was playing in High-A ball. The 5'11" lefty was drafted in the first round by the Nationals all the way back in 2007 and will now be hitting Double-A for the fourth time. Better luck this time, Michael.
Glynn Davis is a much more interesting name since he actually has some prospect juice. He also has a great origin story, in that he was playing baseball for CCBC-Catonsville, went undrafted, because honestly, why would anyone bother to scout CCBC-Catonsville? The Orioles area scout offered him $100,000 to play pro ball, mostly on the strength of his speed. Everyone loves a local kid, and it's great if the Orioles could find a player hidden right in their own back yard.
The right-handed Davis, 22, had been in his second full season at High-A, still on the young side for the level. So far this season, he's batted .295/.363/.386, by far his best OPS in professional baseball. What he has shown this year that he hasn't before is the ability to hit for average, as well as doubles power, already hitting 21 in 89 games. Last season and the year before he had only 17 doubles in 97 and 123 games, respectively. He's also stolen 20 bases so far this year, though he's been caught stealing eight times.
Burgess and Davis will join the recently-promoted Mike Yastrzemski in the Bowie outfield. Are either one of them going to be up to the challenge? If so, that would be great news for the Orioles. Double-A isn't so far from the majors when you get down to it.