On Wednesday I had the pleasure of heading to Bowie for the Baysox media day. I was privileged enough to talk to some of the Orioles young talent including Steve Johnson, Caleb Joseph, Zach Britton, Chorye Spoone and Brandon Waring.
Brief summaries of the guys below.
Steve Johnson – A spitting image of his father Dave, Steve and I discussed his adventurous spring between San Francisco and Baltimore. By now, every O’s fan is familiar with his story; picked up in the George Sherrill trade, selected by the Giants in the Rule 5 Draft, returned to the Orioles in March of this year. Johnson had a successfull season in 2009, he posted a 2.84 ERA in 38 innings with Bowie after posting an 8-4 record with 102 strikeouts in the Dodgers farm system earlier in the year.
Caleb Joseph – One of the most approachable guys in the Orioles farm system is catcher Caleb Joseph, we talked with him on our podcast before spring training. Last year he had a lot of pop in his bat in Frederick. He hit .284 with 12 homers and 60 RBI, but was reportedly tired in the later weeks of the season. Joseph addressed that in our interview as well as his experience catching Kam Mickolio against David Ortiz in spring training. It’s one of the best baseball stories I’ve heard and great for a laugh.
Chroye Spoone – Pasadena local Chorye Spoone is back at the AA level after rehabbing from right shoulder surgery in 2008. Spoone was eager to inform the media that he returned to spring training in shape, despite quotes from Dave Trembley that said otherwise, and that he’s eager to win at every level of play. Spoone discussed his dream of playing at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in our video interview.
Zach Britton – One of the most talented pitchers at Bowie this season is Zach Britton, who posted a 2.70 ERA and 131 strike outs last year with the Frederick Keys. He led the keys in wins, innings pitched, ERA and strike outs and was named to the Carolina League All Star game. Britton and I discussed his Spring with the Orioles and the mentors on the big club.
Brandon Waring – Acquired in the Ramon Hernandez trade, Brandon Waring may be the Orioles answer at third base in the future. Waring spent last year between Frederick and Bowie, was named the Carolina League MVP and earned the Brooks Robinson Award for being the O’s Minor League Player of the Year. He led the keys in homers with 26, RBI with 90 and double with 35. I asked Brandon about the Orioles need for a third baseman in the future and his thoughts about making the big club.
joseph i love seeing because i have gotten to talk with him and know him personally.
other guys like spoone. always love hearing about local guys getting a chance to play, like erbe too
waring looks good there too, waiting to see if he can get his slugging numbers a little up this year
I think Waring is going to be a household name in a couple years. He had major success last season, hopefully he can continue that at Bowie this year.
the issue is with our outfield now and the promise we have there. and that all goes back to the discussion on how painful it is to be loaded in the farm system lol. but maybe if he proves it and all works out with trades and stuff he could turn into the future left fielder. reimold is showing he cant do it and who knows what pie's future holds.
Really want to see Chorye rebound from his surgery. I work with his Uncle and sorta feel like I know him.
He sounded thrilled at the thought of playing at OPACY. I'd love to see that day.
he did impress me with his talk. the issue is when will the pen need it, because we definitely have the rotation down and the next guys in line to start too. i can see him in a couple years. next main guy in the bullpen though is luis lebron
Love the interviews of the Baysox players. Hope you keep track of the players progress. These guys are what baseball is all about. They are living the baseball dreams that are always in the the heads of little leaguers who aspire to reach the top. There needs to be more concentration on these future stars.
its a great subject, i follow a lot of it with oriolesprospects.com
great site, follow them on twitter too for really good stuff
WIthout a doubt. We'll be spending a lot of time covering the prospects here on BSR.
Awesome work Zach. Not only did you get to talk to some top prospects, but they are also very engaging and down to earth guys. Makes it easier to root for guys who don't have their heads in the clouds. Bowie and Norfolk should be strong teams this year.
indeed they should be strong. plus these are minor leaguers who've never been in mlb. once you get time in mlb and realize you will get asked stuff constantly, you start to just ignore most fans. i like tillman and andino but at norfolk not many guys will talk im sure
We hope to be doing interviews at Norfolk this season.
we have a good working relationship with Brandon Snyder. we have also worked with Kam Mickolio, Jake Arrieta, Brandon Erbe and Josh Bell. All were great to work with….
Thanks Jeff. It was a great day at Bowie. I really enjoyed myself and look forward to doing more video interviews with the O's prospects.
mickolio really likes me, i know that. i could help with bullpen. albers and dunn know me. ronnie deck too!
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