Shortly after completing a 3-game sweep over the Seattle Mariners with a 9-2 victory Wednesday night, the news broke that BOTH Oriole super prospects Manny Machado and Dylan Bundy have received call ups. Machado got the call to the big league club from Double A Bowie after the O’s placed Brian Roberts on the 60-day DL to free up a roster spot. Dylan will take Machado’s roster spot in Bowie where he will join his older brother Bobby.
In one of the rarest of baseball’s feats, Orioles #2 prospect Manny Machado hit for the cycle in a game for Bowie on Saturday night. Apparently it was late in the game and he was a home run away from the cycle when Machado sent a blast deep over the left field wall that actually ended up being the game winning homer. Obviously this is pretty cool because not often does a guy hit for the cycle at the professional level and it’s especially exciting because it is one of our top prospects. Manny was also just named the Eastern League player of the week due to his fantastic overall week which was no doubt capped off by this performance.
Now that the second month of the baseball season is in the books it’s a good time to check back in on the prospects and their progress so far. Listed below I have the top 10 Oriole prospects according to MLB.com and the numbers they have put up so far this season. Based on those numbers and my observations I’ll award each player a letter grade for his play in May. The numbers in parenthesis indicate each statistics change since my April Report Card…
1. Manny Machado, SS, Bowie Baysox (AA)
With a quarter of the 2012 season already in the books it’s time to give some recognition to the baby birds that have excelled under the radar so far this year. Since I’ve already checked in on how the top Oriole prospects have done (and will be checking in on them again soon with my May report card) I’d like to heap praise on some of the lesser known young Oriole talent. Here’s my top 6 diamonds in the rough so far this year (in no particular order)…
1. Eduardo Rodriguez, LHP, Delmarva Shorebirds
19-year old phenom Dylan Bundy has officially pitched his last game with the Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds as it was announced Wednesday that he will be promoted to the High-A Frederick Keys. Bundy will end his time in the South Atlantic league without surrendering a single earned run in 8 starts (30 IP). The level of dominance he was able to display against professional hitters straight out of high school has been nothing short of astonishing and has gained him national notoriety just 11 months after being drafted 4th overall in the 2011 amateur player draft. His South Atlantic league foes batted .053 against him, recording just 5 hits (all singles) in 94 at bats, while striking out 40 times and drawing just 2 walks. He was so impressive that there was some speculation he may be promoted directly to the Double-A Bowie Baysox (joining his brother Bobby), but Orioles brass opted to bump him up just one level for now. Bundy will make his Frederick debut on Saturday night at Harry Grove Stadium against the Salem Red Sox.
Last night in Delmarva, 2011 4th overall pick and Baseball America’s 10th ranked prospect Dylan Bundy continued the amazing start to his pro career going a career high 5 innings. Over his 5 innings he gave up just 2 hits and 1 unearned run while striking out 3 and walking none. By his incredibly high standards this was actually his worst start so far, allowing multiple hits for the first time and a run for just the 2nd time, but that just goes to show how great he’s been. Bundy gave up a single to Lakewood’s lead off hitter Gauntlett Eldemire (yes that’s his real name) to start the game and after a steal, a fielders choice, and a passed ball, Eldemire touched home for the only run against Bundy. The 19 year old went on to retire 12 of the next 13 batters (hit a batter in the 2nd inning) until allowing a lead off single in 5th, but he never allowed that base runner to advance past 1st base (PO, FO, K). For the season now, Bundy has gone 25 innings, allowed just 4 hits (all singles), no earned runs, and has an insane 18/1 K/BB ratio with 36 strikeouts against just 2 walks. As bright as things are looking for the big league Orioles right now (22-14 T-1st in AL East), the future outlook may be even brighter with kids like Dylan Bundy and Manny Machado (both just 19 years old) on the horizon.
© 2012-2013 The Beltway Sports Blog All Rights Reserved -- Copyright notice by Blog Copyright