Bradfield highlights Arizona Fall League for O's prospects

A .652 OPS isn’t the most impressive on the back of a baseball card. 

In 2025, major leaguers averaged a .719 OPS, aided by a slugging percentage over .400. Power numbers go a long way in putting runs on the board, but are only half of the equation for the most commonly used metric in hitting evaluation.

A .341 on-base percentage, on the other hand, is on par with some of the best in the game. 

In 2025, just 53 qualified players reached that mark. High-quality hitters like Brent Rooker, Manny Machado and Cody Bellinger fell short. 

That’s all to say that when you’re evaluating Enrique Bradfield Jr.’s Arizona Fall League, or just his game in general, you can’t just look at his .652 OPS. Instead, look towards where Bradfield excels: a .341 OBP paired with 17 stolen bases in just 20 games, plus a .974 fielding percentage with 37 putouts.

Bradfield’s defensive consistency, paired with some highlight-worthy snags in center field, earned him the league’s Defensive Player of the Year award. 

A high on-base terror on the bases with elite defensive ability: that’s Bradfield’s blueprint, one that he hopes to show can play at higher levels in 2026. 

The Vanderbilt product wasn’t the only Orioles prospect to shine in the league. 

Luis De León, the O’s No. 21 prospect on MLB Pipeline, flashed his swing-and-miss stuff with over 12 punchouts per nine innings en route to a 2.76 ERA in five starts in Arizona. 

Evaluators have often been bullish on the young lefty’s upside at 6 '3, but his game still needs polish. De León surrendered just ten hits in his 16 innings but walked a dozen batters. That walk number will need improvement as the 22-year-old rises through the ranks. 

After three starts in Double-A Chesapeake last season, his 2026 will most likely start there. 

More than likely, he’ll be tossing some starts to catcher Ethan Anderson. In his 19 games in the Fall League, the Virginia product, a switch-hitting catcher, hit .300 with an OBP close to .400. 

Anderson struggled to tap into his power last season with just four home runs in 90 games but continued to improve as the season went along. With a plethora of catchers in the system, he’ll need to continue trending upwards. 

Thomas Sosa was the third O’s hitting prospect in Arizona, joining Bradfield and Anderson, but didn’t find the same success. At only 20-years-old, the outfielder didn’t find a groove at the dish in his 13 games. 

Facing older competition has never been a problem for Sosa, though. In a 2025 in which he advanced as high as Double-A, the former international signing had just 21 at-bats against pitchers younger than him. 

Back to the pitching side, four unranked O’s arms joined De León in Arizona. 

The Orioles were able to get more of a look at Tanner Smith, one of the prospects acquired in the deal that sent Ryan O’Hearn and Ramón Laureano to San Diego. Smith appeared in seven games as a reliever for Peoria, posting a 3.52 ERA with a whopping 15.3 K’s per nine. 

The 6 '6 righty didn’t allow a run in four games in High-A last season, and his first full year in the organization should begin in a Frederick Keys uniform. 

The three other O’s pitchers that appeared in Arizona will all likely find themselves in Low-A to start 2026. 

Sayer Diederich, late to affiliated ball, put up an impressive 2.35 ERA. Carson Dorsey, a seventh-rounder in 2024, has mostly started for Baltimore’s affiliates but was used in a variety of roles in Arizona en route to a 3.68 ERA. Finally, Brandon Downer, a 14th-round-pick in ‘24, surrendered just one run in nine innings of work. 

All in all, an Arizona Fall League that includes some hardware for Bradfield and impressive stretches from other well-regarded prospects can be considered a successful one. The top prospects showed their upside, while relatively unknown names like Smith flashed too. 

One step closer to spring.