Baltimore Orioles Top 10 Prospects
| Player | Pos. | LVL | Age on opening day | Acquired | FV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Ike Irish | C/OF | A | 22.3 | 2025 draft, round 1, 19th Ovr, Auburn | 50 |
| 2. Enrique Bradfield Jr | OF | AAA | 24.3 | 2023 draft, round 1, 17th Ovr, Vanderbilt | 50 |
| 3. Boston Bateman | LHP | A+ | 20.5 | Via trade (SD), 2024 draft, round 2, 52nd Ovr, Camarillo HS (CA) | 45 |
| 4. Trey Gibson | RHP | AAA | 23.8 | 2023 Un-drafted free agent, Liberty | 45 |
| 5. Nate George | OF | A+ | 19.8 | 2024 draft, round 16, 489th Ovr, Minooka HS (IL) | 45 |
| 6. Wehiwa Aloy | SS | A | 22.1 | 2025 draft, round 1, 31st Ovr, Arkansas | 45 |
| 7. Esteban Mejia | RHP | A | 19 | 2024 international signing class, Dominican Republic | 45 |
| 8. Juaron Watts-Brown | RHP | AA | 24 | Via trade (TOR), 2023 draft, round 3, 89th Ovr, Oklahoma State | 45 |
| 9. Joseph Dzierwa | LHP | CPX | 21.9 | 2025 draft, round 2, 58th Ovr, Michigan State | 40 |
| 10. Vance Honeycutt | OF | A+ | 22.8 | 2024 draft, round 1, 22nd Ovr, North Carolina | 40 |
1. Ike Irish
Coming out of the 2025 draft, Irish possessed arguably the most polished offensive package among the college bats in the class. He put it to test in an 81 plate appearance sample at Low-A Delmarva where he struggled, but there shouldn’t be too much stock put in a small sample size after a layoff following college season in which Irish’s Auburn Tigers played deep into the postseason. The 6’2”, 200 pound left-handed hitter does a good job of making a lot of contact while consistently getting to higher exit velocities and pull-side pop. He posted a 99th percentile average exit velocity and a 94th percentile EV90 at the college level a year ago while also getting to a 64th percentile AirPull%. He got beat in-zone by fastballs at times, but also did a good job of hitting spin. He also deploys a pretty disciplined approach. Defensively, Irish still has the tools to be able to handle the catcher position, but he primarily played the outfield in his final season at Auburn.
2. Enrique Bradfield Jr
For the 5’11”, 170 pound left-handed hitting center fielder, the package starts with the elite glove. It’s comfortably one of the best in all of the minors and there’s little doubt that he can plug in on a big league field right now and immediately accrue value via the defense. His plus-plus speed helps him cover an immense amount of ground and he also makes the right reads and jumps in order to make the speed count. The arm strength is fringy, but you can trade that off given what he already provides. The speed plays just as much on the bases where he posts high stolen base totals on an annual basis. He stole 36 in 76 games in 2025 and 74 in 108 games a year prior. The sticking point for Bradfield Jr has been and will continue to be the bat. As is the case with a lot of speed/defense specialists, there is little to no juice in the bat as he has left the yard only seven times in his career. That’s not too concerning if there’s a solid hit tool in his bag, but that’s still to be seen for Bradfield. He posted sub-20% strikeout rates in the lower levels of the minors, but his contact skills backed up in the upper minors last year as he struck out 21.2% of the time. He does draw a healthy amount of walks, consistently getting to >10% walk totals, so there’s some evidence he can adjust at some point in order to make the most of his speed. Regardless of the questions concerning the offensive profile, Bradfield Jr is a player that at the very least will be a valuable pinch runner/defensive specialist. It’s more likely he finds an everyday or a platoon role and accrues WAR via the glove.
3. Boston Bateman
A 2024 second round pick by the Padres, the big left-handed Bateman came over to Baltimore in the Ryan O’Hearn trade at the latest trade deadline. At 6’8” and 240 pounds, Bateman has the physical attributes of a big league starter that can handle a big workload. He threw 87 innings across 20 starts in 2025, his first professional season. His results were a bit up and down between Low-A Lake Elsinore with San Diego and Low-A and High-A Frederick with Baltimore, but he managed to punch out 24.7% of the hitters he faced. He primarily worked off of his fastball and his slider while also mixing in a changeup. The fastball sits in the mid-90s, topping out at 98 mph and plays up more due to his release traits rather than its movement profile. His slider sits in the mid-80s with two-plane action and is his main secondary. He has flashed a curveball at times but struggles at getting depth on it. He doesn’t work the changeup in often as he struggles to command it well which will be a development to follow, although it has shown some good depth and fade. Bateman’s command is average but you may be able to project on it being above-average due to his efficiency getting down the mound and his easy, repeatable delivery. At only 20 years old, he has a lot of runway to become a productive big league pitcher.
4. Trey Gibson
Due to the fact that he was suspended in his draft year at Liberty in 2023, Gibson took the un-drafted free agent route and signed with the Orioles following the draft. Since then, the 6’5”, 240 pound right-hander has been one of the more productive starting pitchers in the system and no Orioles Minor League arm recorded more strikeouts than he did in 2025. He opened the season at High-A before advancing as high as Triple-A Norfolk where he made seven starts to close out his season. His numbers backed up in his short Triple-A stint, but prior to that, Gibson consistently posted strikeout rates north of 30% while also keeping his walk totals at a manageable level. Gibson doesn’t have an overpowering arsenal, but rather a deep pitch mix with great breaking stuff. He throws a mid-90s fastball without really any interesting traits, so he’s better off throwing his low-90s depthy sinker with arm-side run as his fastball of choice. He mixed in four more pitches, all thrown over 10% of the time, making it hard for hitters to sit on anything. His slider and sweeper are his best secondaries. The slider is a true gyro shape working in the mid to high-80s while the sweeper sits a few ticks slower but with some lift and plenty of glove-side movement. His curveball sits in the low-80s with a lot of downer break while his cutter has true cutter traits but lacks both movement and velocity separation off of the slider. Gibson has great feel for his arsenal and has the ability to command it well. There’s very little reliever risk here but also a lack of ceiling as he’s probably at best a third starter in a mid-tier rotation.
5. Nate George
The Orioles took a flyer on the 6’0”, 200 pound, right-handed hitting Nate George in the 16th round of the 2024 draft with an over-slot deal. They’ve received some early returns on that deal as George was one of just two position players under the age of 20 to play at High-A for Baltimore in 2025. Coming from the high school ranks, George was a multi-sport athlete, so this past season was his first in which he focused solely on baseball. George is a premier athlete, featuring plus speed that earned him 50 steals in 2025. It plays in center field where it’s believed he can stick long-term, but is in need of some refinement at the position. At the plate, the package is still very raw, but he managed to piece together a 158 wRC+ in 370 plate appearances across three levels in his first pro season. He had above-average contact rates and popped some above-average exit velocities but the mechanics and swing decisions will likely have to improve for the offense to hold up at the upper levels of the minors. A strong, twitchy athlete, there’s some legitimate power projection but it may be difficult for him to get to it given the needed improvements. This is a high-variance profile so it’s tough to project what George may become, but there is a decent floor considering the athletic upside.
6. Wehiwa Aloy
After helping lead Arkansas to an Omaha appearance in 2025, Aloy won the Golden Spikes Award, an award given to the best player in college baseball every year. A premier shortstop and bat in the college ranks, it was those tools that led the Orioles to select Aloy with their third of four first round picks in last year’s draft. Following the draft, the 6’2”, 200 pound right-handed hitting Aloy looked the part of a former Golden Spikes Award winner as he posted an .856 OPS and a 147 wRC+ in a 20 game cup of coffee at Low-A. Aloy’s bat features plus power, as he was north of 90th percentile at the college level last year in average exit velocity, EV90, barrel%, and xwOBA. He does have to trade off some contact skills to get to his power though as it’s a longer, lofty, and sometimes un-adjustable swing. He had a 17th percentile in-zone whiff rate and a 22nd percentile chase rate, so the approach doesn’t do him much favors either. Defensively, Aloy has the tools to stick at shortstop as he really improved his defensive package at Arkansas during his draft year. It’s a plus arm and solid range despite fringy speed for a shortstop. A good defensive shortstop with plus power upside is going to have a path to the big leagues regardless of hit tool concerns, however, those tools will only take him so far once he gets there.
7. Esteban Mejia
Although it has primarily been in short-season leagues, the right-hander Mejia already has two pro seasons under his belt and will start his third after freshly turning 19. He started three games in Low-A at the end of 2025, making him one of just 25 pitchers 18 years old or younger in the minors to see time at full-season ball. The package for Mejia starts with the velocity. Although not very big coming in at 6’3” and 175 pounds, Mejia has a lot of arm talent, consistently pumping his fastball in the upper-90s and has been as high as 102 mph. It’s a loud operation on the mound, featuring cross-body action with a big arm swing before exploding down the mound, almost in a Fernando Rodney-esque fashion for those into niche comps. With that being said, it’s a reliever look right now until he can refine his game. Off of the fastball, it’s a low-90s slider with an inconsistent shape and a lack of command of the pitch. He has flashed a changeup as well, but it too lacks consistency and control. He can get by with the raw arsenal at the lower levels of the minors, but presents himself as quite the pitching project moving forward. He has arguably the most upside of any Orioles pitching prospect, so this could be an up arrow name if things fall into place.
8. Juaron Watts-Brown
Originally a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, the Orioles acquired Watts-Brown via trade in the Seranthony Dominguez deal at the last trade deadline. Coming off of his second pro season, the 6’3”, 190 pound right-hander advanced as high as Double-A New Hampshire before coming over to Baltimore where he would finish his season at Double-A. Between his two Double-A stints and time spent at High-A Vancouver with Toronto, Watts-Brown struck out 30.7% of the batters he faced in 124.1 innings of work while walking 9.7% of hitters. He’s thrown over 100 innings in each of his pro seasons thus far, so there’s little doubt that he can’t handle a big league workload. Sitting in the low-90s without any legitimate traits, his fastball is below-average and lacks effectiveness. He works from a higher slot as well which makes the fastball steep and hit-able. On the other hand, he has excellent feel for two different breaking balls that he can really spin, a low-80s slider and an upper-70s downer curve. Both register high whiff rates and are a big reason for his high strikeout totals. He throws a changeup as well which can be just as effective as his breaking pitches. While he showed improved command in 2025, he does have a history of fringy command which could come back to bite him in the upper levels, especially if he has to remain dependent on his secondaries. The development of the fastball or a different variation of it will be the difference in him being a legitimate mid to back-end starter or a bulk reliever.
9. Joseph Dzierwa
The 6’8”, 200 pound left-handed Dzierwa has yet to make his professional debut, but was drafted by the Orioles in the second round for good reason. A standout at Michigan State for three years, Dzierwa has projection and current polish, giving him a considerably high floor as a starter. It starts with the command for the southpaw. He never walked more than 7.5% of the batters he faced in college, even dating back to his days as a freshman. He’s going to pound the zone with his low-90s fastball and he’s going to be precise at the bottom of the zone with his plus changeup. He works from a lower three-quarters slot as well, adding deception to his pitch mix, and allowing his fastball to play up from its velocity. He mixes in a slider and a cutter, but neither are very effective due to his inability to really spin them. Assuming he’s going to add some velocity in the pro ranks, he might find a way get more out of his breaking pitches, but even if it’s just his fastball that gains effectiveness, he’s still in a solid spot to be able to move through the minors because of the plus command.
10. Vance Honeycutt
Due to the fringy hit tool, it has been a rocky start to the professional career of Vance Honeycutt. In a 56 plate appearance sample between Low-A and High-A following the draft in 2024, he struck out 42.9% of the time before striking out 40.8% of the time over the course of a full-season at High-A in 2025. He did manage to start fine tuning the approach a bit as he walked over 12% of the time, but still had problems in-zone against fastballs and secondaries. The good news for Honeycutt is that he still has plenty of power upside, but his real value comes from the athletic upside. Honeycutt is a premier defender in center field where he has excellent range and a strong arm. The athleticism shows up on the bases as well where he stole 32 bases in 2025. Coming out of college, there was hope that he could turn into a multi-tool talent, but it’s looking more likely that he is going to have to lean into the glove-first profile, regardless of how the hit tool improves as it’s likely always going to be below-average. If he can find regular time in the show one day, the glove and speed will set a reasonable floor of production.
