Orioles Director of Minor League Operations David Stockstill has said repeatedly that there is plenty of pitching depth throughout the organization while that is not the case when it comes to position players.
The statistics appear to bear that out as practically all of the Orioles? affiliates are among their respective league leaders in team ERA. At the same time, none of those same teams are hitting especially well.
For example, the Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds entered the week second out of 16 teams in the South Atlantic League with a 3.31 ERA and 15th in batting average at .235. Also, the Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds led the New York-Penn League with a 2.40 ERA while they were fifth out of 14 teams in batting at .244.
“There were a lot of years when we drafted a lot of pitchers and not so many position players and you can see that in our statistics,” Stockstill said. “It?s important to collect as much pitching as you can get, but you have to have good position players as well which we?ve started to do like last year when we drafted (catcher) Brandon Snyder and this year with (third baseman) Bill Rowell.”
OTTAWA LYNX
Pitcher Adam Loewen is 2-0 while allowing five hits, two walks and striking out 17 since being demoted from Baltimore June 28.
BOWIE BAYSOX
Outfielder Cory Keylor went 4-for-4 while tying a team record with eight RBI, including a grand slam in Bowie?s 10-7 win over Harrisburg Sunday ? Outfielder Noah Hall was added to the Eastern League All-Star team, joining Keylor and pitchers James Johnson and Marino Salas.
FREDERICK KEYS
Pitcher Radhames Liz retired both batters he faced, including teammate Nolan Reimold, on Sunday in the XM Futures game. Reimold flied to left in his only at bat, but was on the winning team as the U.S. Futures defeated the World Futures, 8-5.
DELMARVA SHOREBIRDS
Right-hander David Hernandez is 4-5 with a 3.69 ERA and was tied for second in the South Atlantic League with 101 strikeouts entering the week, including seven last Wednesday against Lakewood.
ABERDEEN IRONBIRDS
Through Tuesday, the IronBirds boasted the best home record in the New York-Penn League at 8-0 at Ripken Stadium.
BLUEFIELD ORIOLES
Pedro Florimon Jr. began Tuesday with a team-high .463 average and 10 runs scored, including one in a 2-1 win Monday over Greenville.
