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There isn’t a Grayson Rodriguez or a DL Hall in the Orioles’ minor league system. That’s now true for the major leagues, too.
For years, Rodriguez and Hall were touted as the future of Baltimore’s rotation. Both were among the 100 best prospects in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline, with Rodriguez even entering the 2022 season as the highest-ranked pitching prospect in the game.
What the Orioles lacked behind them, though, was depth. Dating back to 2019, when Mike Elias and company took the reins, all the way to 2023, Rodriguez and Hall were No. 1 and No. 2 in the org’s pitching prospect rankings.
The names behind them in ‘19 included Dean Kremer, now a fixture in the O’s rotation, and Keegan Akin, a solid reliever. In December of 2019, Baltimore added Kyle Bradish, who became their No. 21 prospect. At the time, Pipeline noted his “middle-of-the-rotation ceiling.” Fair to say Bradish expanded on that.
Along the way, there were plenty of arms that profiled as potential back-end starters. Bradish and Kremer, of course, panned out and exceeded expectations. But there were other names that didn’t, like Zac Lowther, Blaine Knight, Mike Baumann, Drew Rom, Cody Sedlock, Kevin Smith and others.
Of course, no farm system is going to have a 100 percent success rate on Top 30 prospects, especially in the pitching sphere, and especially on those who never profiled as aces to begin with. The Orioles have been widely regarded for their ability to develop their in-house talent, too, but that success has mostly come on the position player front.
Without a Rodriguez or a Hall in the system, a question looms over the current O’s farm: can this crop of pitching prospects, without a top 100 prospect, outperform the systems of the past?
At the top of the list there’s Esteban Mejia and Boston Bateman, both top-ten prospects according to Pipeline. While both have high upside, neither have advanced to Double-A. As such, assuming neither has a meteoric rise through the upper-levels of the minors, the jury will be out on their prospect payoff for a long time.
The group that is poised to define the next few years of O’s pitching prospect discourse is as follows: Michael Forret, Trey Gibson, Juaron Watts-Brown, Nestor German, Braxton Bragg, Levi Wells and Patrick Reilly. The first group is ranked, in order, from No. 11 to No. 15 in the O’s system, according to Pipeline, while Wells and Reilly come in at 22 and 23.
Gibson, the O’s 2025 Minor League Pitcher of the Year, is most likely the closest to MLB action. The 23-year-old started the season at High-A Aberdeen but rose through the ranks quickly. He dominated Double-A Chesapeake, to the tune of a 1.55 ERA in 10 games, before getting roughed up in seven games for Triple-A Norfolk.
A big factor in Gibson’s ascent was his added fastball velocity. At 6’5 and 240 pounds, the righty is a power pitcher with a fastball that routinely sat in the high-90’s towards the end of the season, according to Pipeline.
Just Baseball's Aram Leighton, in a conversation in late-August, called Gibson “one of the most underrated pitching prospects in Minor League Baseball,” and noted that in talking with some talented hitting prospects, many answered “Trey Gibson” when asked about their toughest at-bats in the minors.
Joining Gibson in Norfolk was Nestor German, who got a cup of coffee with the Tides to round out his 2025 campaign. Like Gibson, German started his year in Aberdeen and cruised for much of the year, posting a mid-3.00 ERA in both High-A and Double-A.
Wells worked his way up to Triple-A, too, posting a 4.79 ERA in five starts. Notably, the righty’s fastball has reached triple digits, leading many to believe that his floor could be a great relief option.
Down in Double-A, you’ll find Forret, Watts-Brown, Bragg and Reilly. The latter duo had their 2025 seasons cut short due to Tommy John surgery, a disappointing development for two arms that each had an ERA under 2.00 in 2025.
With the 21-year-old Forret, you’ll find really good stuff and some pitches you’ve barely heard of. In 19 games between High-A and Double-A, the right-hander posted a 1.88 ERA with an arsenal that includes a kick-changeup and a “death ball.”
Watts-Brown won’t overwhelm you with a fastball, but has found a go-to pitch in his slider, a pitch that he didn’t even add until his freshman year of college. Like many young arms, the deadline acquisition has found improvement as his walk rate has diminished. With 18 starts and a 3.62 ERA in Double-A, a higher level could be just around the corner.
More than likely, none of these young arms will break camp with the team. With good minor league seasons, though, many have a chance of impacting the big league club in 2026. Regardless of their immediate impact, Baltimore will be counting on at least some of them becoming quality major league starters.
The Orioles would love to find a Bradish, Kremer or Akin among this group of arms. They could pave the way for the future of the O’s pitching plans.
