Sometimes, the old becomes new again. So it is with the Frederick Keys, who served as the High-A affiliate of the Orioles through the 2019 season. They were squeezed out for a few years after MLB decided to reduce the number of minor leagues, with the High-A affiliate transferring to Aberdeen instead. Now, Aberdeen is out and Frederick is back.
Perhaps the hitting prospects here will be happy. Aberdeen, for whatever reason, seemed to be a curse for many batters. They don’t have to worry about whatever it was in that place any more. This is a plus since three of the team’s top five prospects are hitters at Frederick to start the 2026 season. Like every other full-season Orioles affiliate, Aberdeen had a rough go of it last season, finishing with a 57-72 record. Hopefully the group of players that feature here through this year can do better.
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Orioles top 30 prospects
Now that Samuel Basallo and Dylan Beavers have graduated out of prospect status, George is the guy in the system. He’s the only top 100 player on MLB Pipeline’s list as the season begins. Still just 19 years old until June, George played across three levels last year and dominated the first two of them, finishing off at High-A with solid numbers including a .380 OBP. If, and it’s a big if, George can put together a 2026 that looks like his 2025, he’ll be trending towards one of the elite prospects in the game.
George may not be the only top 100 prospect for long. Another list at Baseball America has put Irish in its latest top 100 on the strength of how he looked this spring. He and Aloy are the two remaining first round-ish draft picks from last year’s draft – the ones who didn’t get traded for Shane Baz. It’s going to be really important for these two guys, college-drafted bats each, to avoid the fate that befell the 2024 draft picks. If they hit like the Orioles think, maybe they’ll both be top 100-level talents too by year’s end. Yeaman, a fourth round pick, is probably more of a “success if he hits just enough to be a utility infielder” kind of player.
It’s not guaranteed that late first round picks turn into anything. Look no farther than Honeycutt for this reminder. There is potential and there are flaws. Some guys can’t overcome the flaws.
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Frederick’s pitching staff has its share of exciting names to begin the season as well. Dzierwa showed up big-time in the Spring Breakout prospect game and carried that over into his first regular season start on Friday, striking out nine guys over six shutout innings.
If Mike Elias can actually draft and sign a pitcher who becomes a real prospect, that would be fun. Seven and a half years into his tenure, this has not yet occurred. Quinn is another relatively high pick from last year’s draft. His first start of the year was not as overwhelmingly good as Dzierwa’s, but it showed his potential. Based on his college career, Quinn’s problem is going to be dealing with walks.
Last but not least is Bateman, the player who, if he turns out well, will probably make last year’s double O’Hearn/Laureano trade seem worthwhile, and if he doesn’t, it won’t. He is a 6’8” dude who, like many big pitchers before him, is probably going to have work to do on repeating his delivery to get his best command and control. Elias has had some pitching evaluation successes but he’s also had some real flops. They don’t all turn into Kyle Bradish. Sometimes they turn into Chayce McDermott.
Starting on the injured list
In contrast to the Chesapeake roster, which I covered back on Friday, there are no top Orioles prospects who would be assigned to Frederick if only they weren’t hurt. That’s a positive to begin the season.
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That’s not to say that Frederick’s injured list will be empty as the season begins. It’s just that you might be an Orioles prospect sicko if the fact that Chase Allsup (full season injured list), Teddy Sharkey (60-day injured list), and Yasmil Bucce (7-day injured list) are out of action makes you feel anything.
Others who may arrive later
Minor league rosters are not static, nor should they be. Players who’ve earned a promotion from this level can move up. So can players below who’ve earned a promotion. We can all hope that several of the above players find their way up to Chesapeake before season’s end, and that some players will find their way up from Low-A Delmarva (to be covered in more detail tomorrow) as well.
The one guy I’d most like to see play their way up to Frederick in the middle of the season is outfielder Jordan Sanchez. A signing out of Cuba, Sanchez has not been as aggressively assigned as some other Orioles international signings up to this point. He looked very good in rookie ball last summer and if his full season debut goes well, could start to move more quickly.
