The Baltimore Orioles system has fallen off very quickly due to a slew of promotions, one huge trade, and some high picks who haven’t developed as expected. They’re still in good shape at the top and have enough surplus in position-player prospects to swing another deal for a significant starting pitching addition, but to keep that rolling they’re going to have to find more successes later on in the draft now that they’re not drafting in the top five anymore.(Note: Tools are graded on a 20-80 scouting scale; ages as of July 1, 2025.)Height: 6-4 | Weight: 180 | Bats: L | Throws: R | Age: 20
Basallo might be hopelessly blocked at the moment by
Adley Rutschman, but he’s the best catching prospect in baseball right now, having produced at every level up through Double A before his 20th birthday while showing enough tools and athleticism to project as an above-average defender. Signed for a $1.3 million bonus in January 2021, Basallo has a fantastic swing that’s short to the ball but hard enough to produce plus power already, with more to come as he matures. He’s shown excellent plate discipline so far, and has hit left-handed pitching extremely well throughout his career, avoiding the platoon concerns that bedevil so many left-handed hitting prospects. Even in a tough debut in Triple A, where he really struggled to adjust to changeups, he still topped 110 mph (off a lefty!) and averaged 91 mph across all balls he put into play.He’s got at least a 70 arm and is athletic enough to become a 55 receiver and blocker, although right now he’s succeeding more on his pure physical ability and needs polish on the finer points of catching. Basallo will probably be ready for a big-league role by the end of 2025, which will present a big dilemma for the
Orioles, as they’re one of the only teams in baseball for whom he wouldn’t be a huge upgrade behind the plate — and if Rutschman is “just” a 3-4 WAR player, as he’s been the last two years, I’m not so sure that he’s the better option.
Height: 6-5 | Weight: 230 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 23
The Orioles went under-slot with their top pick in the abbreviated 2020 draft so they could go over slot for two players in the fourth and fifth rounds, and Mayo, the fourth-rounder, has more than justified their approach, as he’s already reached the majors at age 22 after hitting well at every stop in the minors. Mayo spent most of 2024 in Triple A, hitting .287/.364/.562 there with 22 homers in just 89 games around an IL stint (he broke a rib trying to catch a foul ball). His batted-ball data from that level was just as impressive — his exit velocity topped out at 114.9 mph, his 90th percentile EV was 107.2 mph, and his hard-hit rate was 41 percent, all of which would be above the major-league medians for those figures. His Barrel rate was over 12 percent, which would have ranked in the top 50 had he done it in the big leagues.He’s 6-5 and does have long levers so his swing can get big, some of which is the natural tradeoff for the kind of power he displays, but may also point to a longer adjustment period in the majors as pitchers exploit that length. He hasn’t swung and missed excessively in the minors, however, and he has made small adjustments to his approach and his mechanics as he’s moved up, so there’s every reason to think he’ll do so in the majors. He’s played third and first in pro ball and has made himself into a capable defender at the hot corner, but first base will always be the easiest option — or possibly right field, as he has plenty of arm and moves well enough for a corner outfield spot. His bat looks like it’ll play anywhere, with 30-35 homer upside and a good enough plan at the plate to eventually get to league-average or better OBPs.
Height: 6-1 | Weight: 170 | Bats: L | Throws: L | Age: 23
Bradfield’s full-season debut went pretty much as expected, as he continued to play elite defense in center and show 80 speed, but he hasn’t made any changes at the plate to try to drive the ball more consistently. He’s one of the best defensive center fielders in the minors, with huge range thanks to his speed and good reads off the bat, and that and his speed give him a pretty clear floor as a fourth outfielder. That’s buttressed by his high-contact approach; he whiffed only 15 percent of the time he swung last year, according to data from Synergy Sports, and chased pitches out of the zone only 17 percent of the time. He’s still got an overly complicated swing that results in a lot of groundballs, although the Orioles are working with him to try to get him to hit more line drives to the outfield, even just over the infielders’ heads, and let his legs do their thing.He’s slight and not likely to ever hit for more than below-average power, but he’s strong enough to ambush the occasional pitch and pull it out to right. He started 2024 slowly but improved as the season went on, finishing with a month in Double A where he hit .287/.395/.396, which I think is probably his best-case scenario in the majors. Add defense that could be +15 runs in a full season in center and you’ve got a 5-WAR player. He just has to keep progressing at the plate, mechanically and in production, to get there.
Height: 6-3 | Weight: 197 | Bats: L | Throws: R | Age: 26
McDermott reached the majors last year and should be part of the Orioles’ rotation in 2025, maybe from Opening Day; he certainly has nothing left to learn in Triple A. He throws five distinct pitches now, adding a sweeper because that’s just what you do, with a straight change that misses a lot of bats (45 percent in Triple A) and all three breaking pitches solid 50s. He did walk 60 in 100 innings in Triple A, but he wasn’t anywhere near that wild, missing a lot just around the edges of the zone, with more like 45 control. I think he’s a back-end starter but one who’s ready right now. I wonder if simplifying his pitch mix would help at all with the walks.
Height: 6-1 | Weight: 195 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 22
O’Ferrall can really play shortstop, and he can make a ton of contact, which should be enough to get him to the big leagues as a utility infielder at least. He tried to get too launch-angly last spring but doesn’t have the hard contact skills to go with it, so he lost 86 points of OBP from his sophomore to his junior year. Just restoring his old swing and having him spray the field with line drives would make him a better prospect. It’s low ceiling with high probability.
Height: 6-3 | Weight: 205 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 22
Honeycutt is a 70 or 80 defender in center with 70 power, which is why the Orioles took him in the first round in 2024. He also struck out 83 times in 302 PA at North Carolina, which I’m pretty sure is the most strikeouts ever for a first-round pick. After he signed, he struck out 13 times in 36 PA in Low A, then went up to High A and struck out 11 times in 20 PA. His swing has issues, and he doesn’t seem to recognize pitches — not so much pitch type but where pitches are going in (or out of) the zone. He’s raw like a high school player, with two elite tools and the ceiling of a true star, but it’s a 30 hit tool right now and he’s going to turn 22 in May, so he doesn’t have the five or six years of development time that a high school prospect has.
Height: 6-4 | Weight: 206 | Bats: L | Throws: R | Age: 23
Beavers is probably an extra outfielder at this point, capable of handling center with plus speed and average power but just lacking enough of a hit tool to play every day. He does get on base against lefties, but with no power, hitting all 15 of his homers with the platoon advantage against righties last year. He seems like he should be hitting for more average and hard contact; so far he hasn’t done that, not in his production or even in the batted-ball data. He’ll play at 23 this year, and I’d imagine there are teams willing to take a chance that they can get just a little more from the bat, as he’s not cracking that loaded Baltimore lineup any time soon.
8. Nestor German, RHP
Height: 6-3 | Weight: 225 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 23
German was Baltimore’s 2023 11th-round pick out of Seattle University, also known as Tarik Skubal University. German had a 5.97 ERA his draft year and allowed 17 homers in 78 innings — and that was his best season in college. But my god, did the Orioles find something here. He’s up to 97 and sits 93-94, with a fast arm that makes it look like he’s shooting aspirin tablets at the hitter, and his mid-80s slider looks like some kind of trick pitch. He has a splitter or split-change that doesn’t seem all that deceptive, and he didn’t use it as much as the fastball and slider last year. He destroyed Low A as a starter, then moved into long relief in High A to manage his innings and was even better, with 33 strikeouts and three walks in 25 1/3 innings. His arm is faster, his velocity is higher, and his delivery is smoother, although I wouldn’t call it smooth. If he can start, he could be really good. This isn’t fifth-starter stuff.
Height: 6-2 | Weight: 215 | Bats: S | Throws: R | Age: 21
I think Anderson can hit; I don’t know if he can catch, and that’s the big variable here, as he might not have another position he can play. As a hitter, he has excellent command of the strike zone and almost never misses on pitches in it, making a lot of medium-hard contact and hitting too many groundballs at Virginia. He did start getting the ball in the air a lot more in his short stint in the minors after he was drafted, a small sample but at least a good sign, as he’s much more likely to be an average/OBP hitter than a power hitter. He needs a lot of work behind the plate on his footwork and his receiving, and as for his throwing, well, he threw out one (1) of 28 runners in pro ball. He wasn’t the starting catcher at Virginia in his draft year, so the positive side is that you can say he doesn’t have as much experience there as many catchers drafted from college. He only turned 21 in September, making him young for a college draftee. I’m cautiously optimistic that the O’s can at least get him to backup-level defense.
Height: 6-3 | Weight: 168 | Bats: L | Throws: L | Age: 22
De León has a great arm and ripped through Low A across the end of 2023 and the start of 2024, but got crushed in his first taste of High A, giving up a lot of hard contact and walking 22.6 percent of batters he faced in 59 2/3 innings. He sits 94-96 with a 50 or 55 changeup and maybe an average slider that’s very hard and has tilt but that hitters don’t chase. There’s no deception in his delivery, and very little rhythm to it; he’s a thrower, and he’s not using his legs much to generate that power. I think it’s straight relief if he can throw enough strikes, although even there he’s going to have to find something he can use to get hitters to expand the zone.
Height: 6-4 | Weight: 199 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 24
Bright is a good poster child for the uselessness of won/lost records, as he went 0-11 for the Double-A Bowie (now Chesapeake) Baysox last year, but had a 4.18 ERA, and only completed the five innings required for the win in four of his 27 starts. He was a nondescript starter at Auburn when the Orioles took him in the fifth round in 2022, with an ERA over 6 as a Tiger, but he’s at a 3.98 ERA in the minors since he signed and has a plus curveball that’s 12/6 or nearly so and is effective against left- and right-handed batters. His arm action is pretty long in back and it may be that he can’t quite repeat it enough to get to average control; he walked 60 in 112 innings last year, a 12.3 percent walk rate that he has to bring down to be a starter. A little more consistency in how he finishes his pitches, especially his curve and changeup, would make him a potential No. 4.
Height: 6-1 | Weight: 155 | Bats: S | Throws: R | Age: 20
Arias didn’t do much in his full-season debut, hitting .213/.313/.291, but he was really undersized and just got physically overmatched by pitching there. It wasn’t a lack of skill, but a lack of strength, and he should get a lot stronger from here. He’s a switch-hitter with a great left-handed swing, showing quick hands and excellent bat speed, but obviously not much power at this point. More strength might also help him keep the bat in the zone longer to improve his contact quality. His hands and actions are good enough to project him to stay at shortstop, although the O’s have played him at second as well. They pushed him to High-A Aberdeen for 20 games at the end of the summer and he hit marginally better there, probably to prepare him to start 2025 at the higher level. I hope he either added a lot of strength this winter or that they’re prepared to give him a long runway there before introducing him to Double A. There’s more here than the stat line implies.
13. Trey Gibson, RHP
Height: 6-5 | Weight: 240 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 23
The Orioles signed Gibson as an undrafted free agent in 2023 off a summer on the Cape where he walked 21 in 29 innings, and he spent most of his first full season in the minors in High A, working mostly as a starter. He can really spin the ball, with an easy plus slider and an above-average curveball. He’s up to 95 with good sink on the two-seamer as well. I didn’t see a pitch for lefties — he had no platoon split last year, but his walk rate against lefties was much higher and there was some BABIP luck in there too — and I don’t think there’s enough command for him to start, but he could be really, really sharp out of the bullpen. And if I’m wrong and he does manage to start, he’ll miss a lot of bats there, too.
Height: 6-6 | Weight: 210 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 26
Young is a potential fifth starter with good feel for mixing his four pitches but lacking the out-pitch to be more than that — and there’s always the risk he doesn’t miss enough bats in the majors. He’s 6-6 but gets just moderate extension, and works 91-94 with a slider, curve, and change. The curve is slow in the 74-78 range but has a big 12/6 break and misses the most bats of his four offerings. He comes from a high three-quarters slot and doesn’t have anything that moves laterally to help him work east-west. It’s at least solid-average control, with his walk rate still under 10 percent in Triple A even with the ABS (automatic ball-strike system) in place. He might not be what the Orioles need as a fifth starter when they’re trying to win the division, but he could fill that role for someone right now.
Height: 6-0 | Weight: 175 | Bats: L | Throws: R | Age: 22
Overn had a lousy spring at USC, hitting .274/.349/.461 in a bad year in the Pac 12, but went to the Cape Cod League after his season ended and hit .314/.412/.535 for a month, so the Orioles took him in the third round as a buy-low opportunity. He’s a plus runner who can stick in center field and has enough power to get to 10 homers a year if he plays every day. He’s a left-handed hitter who didn’t show a platoon split anywhere last year; his bigger issue is expanding the zone, which got him into that hole in college early in the season. His ceiling is an everyday center fielder with a league-average OBP and added value on the bases; the most likely outcome is a good fourth outfielder who can fill in for extended periods because he hits lefties and righties equally well.
Height: 6-3 | Weight: 208 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 23
The Orioles acquired Reilly from the
Pirates in a swap of minor leaguers at the 2024 deadline, with org player
Billy Cook heading back to Pittsburgh. Reilly sits 93-95 with good riding life on his fastball, but relies too much on it and doesn’t command it well enough to get away with that approach. He’s got an average slider and cutter to go with it, and could be pretty effective in relief, where he’d probably be up to 97-98 again as he was at Vanderbilt and would get more power to the two breaking balls. I doubt he’ll ever have the control to start — he walked 12 percent of batters he faced last year, consistent with his tenure in college — let alone the command.
17. Michael Forret, RHP
Height: 6-3 | Weight: 190 | Bats: L | Throws: R | Age: 21
Forret was Baltimore’s 14th-round pick in 2023 out of a Florida junior college, advancing to High A in his first full pro season. He comes flying off the rubber with no momentum to the delivery, working 92-94 with a plus changeup and an average to above-average slider. I don’t see how he’s ever going to command anything with the delivery, but the two offspeed pitches are major-league caliber and he’s going to miss more bats — he struck out 28.8 percent of batters he faced last year. It’s got to be relief unless the delivery changes.
Height: 5-11 | Weight: 225 | Bats: L | Throws: R | Age: 22
Willems has a shot to be a quality backup catcher if he keeps himself in shape, as he has above-average power and can handle the position, albeit with 45 receiving and a 45 arm. He’s a mistake hitter who’s hit 17 homers in each of the last two seasons. He doesn’t strike out a ton but does make some weak contact, hitting way too many pop-ups and other soft flyballs. He’s heavy for the position already at 21 and will have to maintain his conditioning to stay there.
Height: 6-1 | Weight: 185 | Bats: S | Throws: R | Age: 18
Layton was Baltimore’s sixth-round pick in 2024 and the only high schooler they took in the top 11 rounds. He’s a plus runner who put on a lot of muscle in the year leading up to the draft. His hit tool lags behind the rest of his game and he may have to move to second base or center field in the long run. He has a strong arm to stick at short or handle the outfield, and may just need more reps or coaching at short to stay there; he’s going to stay somewhere up the middle. The bat will be the key; he has quick hands but his swing plane is pretty flat and it’s going to be a lot of groundballs unless he can lift the ball a little more. He stands out in this system as one of the few true upside plays given his age and athleticism.
Height: 5-8 | Weight: 142 | Bats: S | Throws: R | Age: 20
Estrada is a high-contact middle infielder who’s listed at 5-8, 142 — definitely small, even if those numbers aren’t completely accurate. He can put the ball in play and can at least handle second or third, so he could get there as a utility infielder. Whether he has the power or at least strength to keep his batting average up against better pitching is an open question. He had eight homers in Low A but most of his balls in play were hit on the ground.
Others of note
Outfielder
Stiven Martinez is extremely young, signing for $950,000 last January and turning 17 in August, and already shows above-average power with the potential for 25+ homer upside. It’s a good swing and lets him drive the ball to all fields, although right now it’s more power than hit, something that’s reflected in his 30 percent strikeout rate in the DSL. He mostly played center in the Dominican but is going to end up in right field, as he has the arm strength for it. … Right-hander
Kiefer Lord had Tommy John surgery in July and probably won’t be back until 2026. He had huge stuff, good enough to be the Orioles’ third-round pick in 2023, but he threw just two innings that summer and none last year before the injury. … Outfielder
Jud Fabian repeated Double A and hit .233/.326/.432 with a 30 percent strikeout rate. The Orioles bumped him to Triple A for the last month of the season and he hit .159/.232/.257 with a 41 percent strikeout rate. He’s a plus defender in center and he has power, but he still has huge holes on fastballs up and sliders down that he hasn’t closed or even shrunk with adjustments. He might play some in the big leagues because of the power and defense but I don’t see a path for anything more than up/down duty. … Cuban outfielder
Jordan Sanchez raked in the DSL last summer but was old for the league, as it was his professional debut after he was cleared to sign the previous offseason. He’s a corner outfielder with strength and power, so we’ll need to see him at a more age-appropriate level this year.
2025 impact
McDermott should get starts in the big leagues this year. I assume Mayo will play somewhere, at some point, although right now he’s sort of blocked at any position he might play by some sort of incumbent, even though I’d rather have him in the lineup than, say,
Ryan Mountcastle. Basallo could play in the majors right now if the need arose.
The fallen
The Orioles gave
Carter Baumler $1.5 million in the 2020 draft, going way over slot in the fifth round, to sign the Iowa high school right-hander away from a commitment to TCU. He needed Tommy John surgery right away and has had intermittent shoulder issues as well. He threw 20 1/3 innings total in 2024, and that was a career high.
Sleeper
It’s German, if you couldn’t tell from my giddy description.
Additional top prospect coverage
