Orioles minor league recap 8/7: Holliday goes yard, Voth and Givens rehab, De Los Santos throws 5 perfect

First, some prospect promotions. On Sunday, Bowie’s Joseph Rosa got the news that he’s moving up a level to Triple-A Norfolk. Same for Aberdeen’s Max Wagner and Max Costes, who are headed to Double-A Bowie. (So will Collin Burns, who returns to Bowie after having finished a rehab assignment.) Delmarva infielder Carter Young will report to High-A Aberdeen. It’s been a fast climb for the former Terp Costes, who was just promoted to Aberdeen on May 1^st. Congratulations to these guys.

Triple-A: Charlotte Knights (CWS) 4, Norfolk Tides 2

Bruce Zimmermann took a tough-luck loss on Sunday, giving up just one run on a walk, throwing error, wild pitch, and infield hit. Sounds frustrating. However, and more importantly, he struck out five batters in three innings and his Triple-A ERA sits at a tidy 3.13. After Zimm, five Tides pitchers threw an inning-plus apiece: Austin Voth and Mychal Givens, who each tossed one hitless, scoreless inning as their rehabs progress. Ofreidy Gómez allowed a run, so did T.J. McFarland (2.0 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 1R, 2.93 ERA) and so did Logan Gillaspie.

Despite Norfolk’s only scoring two runs, a few Tides hitters had solid days. Connor Norby (O’s #9 prospect in CC’s composite list) doubled and drove in a run with a sac fly. Joey Ortiz (#7) went 2-for-4 and scored a run. Kyle Stowers tripled. He, Ortiz, and Heston Kjerstad (#10, 0-for-4 on Sunday) are all OPS’ing above .900 right now. Shayne Fontana doubled, and Josh Lester and Lewin Díaz had a single apiece.

Box Score

Double-A: Portland Sea Dogs (BOS) 11, Bowie Baysox 2

Not a beautiful day for Bowie in the box score. But let’s focus on the positive: the Baysox’s two runs came a pair of home runs from top prospects. With one of those and two walks, 19-year-old Jackson Holliday (#3) pushes his average/OPS at Bowie to an unreal .396/1.090 and continues to make Double-A pitchers look like they’re back in Stillwater High.

Meanwhile, outfielder John Rhodes (#23) is also finding his power stroke, with his 10^th home run of the year, equaling his 2022 output in about half the at-bats:

As for the rest, well, Dylan Beavers and the rehabbing Cedric Mullins both went 0-for-4. Starter Ryan Long allowed five runs in four innings. He’s struggling at this level, with a 7.78 ERA in five games since getting called up. Jean Pinto rode the Struggle Bus, too, allowing six runs in three innings, four of them on home runs. Nick Richmond pitched two scoreless innings.

Box Score

High-A: Hickory Crawdads (TEX) 7, Aberdeen IronBirds 1

The IronBirds continue to stumble through a brutal stretch of baseball, losing their 11^th in a row. Hey, at least the defense only committed two errors on Sunday—half of Saturday’s four, which is half again of Friday’s eight. Starter Juan Núñez allowed two runs in 3.1 innings on three walks and two hits, including a home run. Jake Lyons threw 2.2 scoreless. Jared Beck gave up four runs in two innings. Reese Sharp allowed a seventh run to come home in the ninth.

The IronBirds’ lone run came on a solo home run off the bat of DH Tim Susnara, also the team’s only extra-base hit on Sunday. Frederick Bencosme finished 1-for-2 with a walk, catcher Creed Willems went 1-for-3 and Elío Prado was 2-for-3. Samuel Basallo took an 0-fer in his sixth High-A Game.

Box Score

Low-A: Delmarva Shorebirds 4, Lynchburg Hillcats (CLE) 2

Have yourself a day, Juan De Los Santos! The 21-year-old right hander threw five perfect innings with three strikeouts. It was De Los Santos’ (1-7, 4.09 ERA) twelfth start for Delmarva this season, and his best one yet. Luis De León vultured the win, allowing two runs in two innings. And Alfred Vega pitched a scoreless final two innings.

Stiven Acevedo was working overtime on Sunday. He hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning and homered again in the seventh. He also walked and stole a base for good measure. Anderson De Los Santos finished 1-for-3 and drove in a run. In hopefully his last game as a Shorebird, Carter Young went 1-for-3 with a walk.

Box Score

Tuesday’s Schedule

• Norfolk @ Jacksonville, 7:05. Starter: TBD
• Bowie @ Richmond, 6:35. Starter: TBD
• Aberdeen @ Brooklyn, 7:00. Starter: TBD
• Delmarva @ Carolina, 7:00. Starter: TBD