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Baltimore Orioles: Predicting when the top 10 prospects will be called up

ByMarcus Bryant|
Jun 12, 2018; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles first round draft pick Grayson Rodriguez (18) waves to the crowd after being introduced during the game against the Boston Red Sox at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 12, 2018; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles first round draft pick Grayson Rodriguez (18) waves to the crowd after being introduced during the game against the Boston Red Sox at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

It is always a question of when a franchise such as the Baltimore Orioles will call up its top prospects. Will they make the Opening Day lineup? Will they be sitting in the minor leagues for a while to save their service time?

In this article, I will look at the top 10 prospects for the Baltimore Orioles based off of the MLB.com Top 30 prospect rankings. I will be using the Top-10 ranked prospects from that list, and predicting when I think they will be called up.

A look at the top 10 prospects for the Baltimore Orioles and when they could make their MLB debuts

  1. C Adley Rutschman — If he hadn’t sustained a triceps strain in an intrasquad game before the first games of spring training, there was a shot that Rutschman could have been the Orioles starting catcher come Opening Day. However, because of the injury, I suspect that Mike Elias and the Orioles will keep him in Norfolk so he can recover and he doesn’t lose a year of service time, then call him up in either late April or early May.
  2. RHP Grayson Rodriguez — Rodriguez had a decent spring, but he was only given one appearance before being sent down to minor league spring training. Grayson will be opening the season in Triple-A, and it would not surprise me at all if we saw Rodriguez called up close to the All-Star break, if he does well in Triple-A.
  3. SS/3B Gunnar Henderson — Henderson is an interesting case, as he was drafted in the same year as Rutschman, but is projected to be called up in 2023. He is only 20, so I agree with the projection of him being called up in 2023, probably around the All-Star break of next year, depending on how well he does in the minors.
  4. OF Colton Cowser — Cowser was Baltimore’s first-round pick of last year’s draft and had great production between the Florida Complex League and Single-A Delmarva. Cowser is another prospect projected to be called up in 2023, and I predict he will be called up during the September call-ups.
  5. LHP DL Hall — DL Hall had an outstanding Spring Training, although he was only given two opportunities to pitch, he pitched well. Hall will be staying in Sarasota for extended spring training, and then is expected to be sent to Double-A Bowie. I believe we will see Hall called up sometime after the All-Star break, maybe during September call-ups.
  6. SS Jordan Westburg — The duo of Westburg and Henderson will be extremely interesting in the future. Westburg had a great spring training, batting .500 (4-for-8) in four games. Westburg is another projected call-up in 2023, and I see him being called up at around the same time as Henderson. However, depending on how he does this year, he could possibly have a shot at being called up sooner.
  7. 3B Coby Mayo — Mayo is a very raw prospect and is projected to be called up in 2024. Mayo was a fourth-round pick in the 2020 draft and is still only 20 years old. It will be hard to predict when he is called up in 2024, but he could have a chance to be a part of the 2023 September call-ups.
  8. OF Kyle Stowers — Stowers is another very interesting prospect. He is projected to be called up this year at some point. However, the Orioles outfield is already full, with the possible exception of right field. Stowers being called up would raise a lot of questions about the lineup but, for right now, I project him being called up from Triple-A in late June or early July.
  9. OF Heston Kjerstad — Kjerstad has had a very unfortunate start to his career, being sidelines with Myocarditis for all of 2020, and some of 2021, and having a pulled hamstring sidelining him for at least eight to 12 weeks to start this season. He is another prospect that is projected to be called up in 2024, but predicting when he will be called up will be extremely tough because of how often he has been injured. If he is able to stay injury-free, I could see him being called up after the All-Star break in 2024.
  10. RHP Kyle Bradish — Bradish is starting in Triple-A Norfolk this season after he had a solid spring training (outside of his walk number being high with three walks in just four innings). Depending on how the Orioles do this season, he could be called up in either late June or during September call-ups, of which I predict the latter will happen.

Some of these prospects still have a year or two to go until we can see them in Orioles uniforms. However, the future is looking extremely bright for the Baltimore Orioles, especially if all of these prospects can pan out into what they are projected to become.

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