Analysis: Baltimore Orioles expected to call up Xavier Avery

With outfielders Endy Chavez and Nolan Reimold out with injuries, the Baltimore Orioles are expected to promote 22-year-old outfield prospect Xavier Avery. If they do promote Avery, then expect the team to designate spot-starter Dana Eveland for assignment.

If Avery is called up, he will likely play at left field and will be making his MLB debut. He has a .378 OBP at AAA with five home runs and eight steals so far this year. The top ten Orioles prospect has the upside to start in center field, but he seems more like a platoon back-up outfielder, because he has very little power and just cannot hit left-handed pitching. He has terrific speed and solid defense with a lot of raw athleticism, but he’s a poor hitter overall with below-average contact.

FanSided’s minor league site Seedlings to Stars graded Xavier Avery as a C-level Prospect, and here’s what writer Nathaniel Stoltz wrote about him.

"At age 21, Avery hit .259 in Double-A. He also stole 36 bases, and he’s a solid defensive center fielder. Unfortunately, he’s not much of a prospect–he put up a 156/49 K/BB in 138 games, along with a meager .084 ISO. Thus, he’s sort of the anti-Bernadina–he’s got speed, defense, and BABIP all working for him, but a poor approach and no power. His athleticism might allow him to fill a Dewayne Wise kind of role, bouncing around for a few years as a fifth outfielder/defensive replacement, but the holes in Avery’s game seem just too wide to meaningfully close."

It’s good to see the Orioles giving an opportunity to one of their top ten prospects, even if he will most likely end up being a backup outfielder. They need to see what they have in him and how his athleticism, defense, and speed pan out in the Majors.

The problem is that high BABIP totals have fueled his numbers, and he struck out a quarter of the time in his first year in AA. Avery has only had a wRC+ over 100 twice, and his wRC+ last year (.352 BABIP) was 89. I love his speed and defense, but that can only take you so far.

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