So how about those minor leagues, eh? 

Without much going the O’s way up in the big leagues, let’s take some time to highlight some prospects who are thriving down on the farm. 

Braxton Bragg

How about starting with a pitcher that isn’t even currently ranked in MLB Pipeline’s 30 best Orioles prospects?

Bragg has been utterly dominant in 2025, splitting time between High-A Aberdeen and Double-A Chesapeake. In his first seven games of the season, Bragg has a ridiculous 0.80 ERA with 47 strikeouts in just 33.2 innings. 

ATLANTA – The Nationals bullpen has been the most inconsistent and disappointing group to start the season. Entering yesterday’s finale against the Braves, Nats relievers owned the second-worst ERA in the majors.

The group is still trying to mesh together. A few relievers have landed on the injured list and two that started the season on the roster are no longer here, with an outside addition joining a couple of weeks ago.

But while the established veterans continue to get a majority of the high-leverage innings, there is a new young core forming in the Nationals bullpen.

Cole Henry, Jackson Rutledge, Brad Lord and Zach Brzykcy are starting to get more chances to prove themselves as reliable options to pass the ball to the back end of the ‘pen. And they are enjoying the opportunity together after coming up through the Nats system at the same time.

“I think it's been really cool just to have all these guys that we came up together,” Henry said on Wednesday at Truist Park. “We're pretty good friends with each other, and it's just been awesome to have those guys with me all every step of the way. We were actually just talking about it yesterday, how cool it is that a few years back we were all down in Florida together and just got drafted or signed. Just dreaming about the day that we would be here. And now it's here. It just seems surreal.

Ryan Mountcastle slowed for an instant yesterday as he prepared to pull into second base with a double, saw that Twins right fielder Kody Clemens bobbled the ball, and sped up to try for the triple. Clemens, playing his third position in four innings, fired to third baseman Royce Lewis for the out.

Mountcastle rose from the dirt, his uniform covered in it and headed back to the dugout. The Orioles were down three runs, and Mountcastle’s elevated production at the plate and spot in the lineup couldn’t give them a lift. But he tried.

Manager Brandon Hyde had Mountcastle second in the order in both games of Wednesday’s doubleheader and again yesterday, moving up one of the few hot bats on the team. Mountcastle has hit second 77 times in his career.

“I can’t remember the last time I did it (before Wednesday),” Mountcastle said. “I’ve done it before. I like it. I like batting second with a guy like Gunnar (Henderson) behind me and Jackson (Holliday) in front of me. It’s a good little spot to hit.”

Any spot is bound to work for Mountcastle when he’s cooking.

Cedric Mullins got the right break on the ball, with the proper angle and exceptional footspeed. He laid out for it, made the diving catch and held on through the crash landing. Tomoyuki Sugano waited for Mullins after the top of the second inning to give him a congratulatory pat, to thank him for the assist.

It was the last moment today that the Orioles really felt good about the game. As they keep discovering, adversity can strike quickly and with tremendous force.

No. 9 hitter DaShawn Keirsey Jr. gave the Twins a lead with a two-run shot in the third inning, Byron Buxton followed with his 10^th homer, and the Orioles were swept in another series after a 4-0 loss before an announced crowd of 30,926 at Camden Yards.

The Orioles (15-27) slipped to 12 games below .500 for the first time since the conclusion of the 110-loss 2021 season. The Twins (24-20) have won 11 in a row, six against the Orioles.

Having the opponent score first creates a mess for the Orioles, who are 4-19. Ryan Mountcastle doubled in the fourth and was thrown out trying for the triple. Chris Paddack hit Adley Rutschman to begin the fifth, Ryan O’Hearn singled and the next three batters were retired – two on strikeouts. Mullins doubled off reliever Louis Varland in the eighth and Heston Kjerstad was drilled on the right elbow with a 98.9 mph fastball with two outs, but Jackson Holliday popped up.

ATLANTA – After rallying to win last night, the Nationals were in position this afternoon to split this four-game series with the Braves. And given how the frustration mounted over the recent seven-game losing streak, that would have been considered a win in this first leg of a seven-game road trip.

The Nats were able to overcome some early mistakes Wednesday. Not a great recipe for success, but they did just enough to scratch out a win. Unfortunately, that was not the case in this matinee finale.

Facing a familiar deficit from last night by the middle innings, the Nationals dropped their third game at Truist Park 5-2 in front of an announced crowd of 34,074. And they can really only blame themselves.

Davey Martinez once again reconfigured his infield defense. With Luis García Jr. landing on the paternity list earlier this week, the manager moved José Tena from third base to second and inserted Amed Rosario at the hot corner for the previous two games.

That was costly a couple of nights ago when both infielders made mistakes on routine plays. So Martinez swapped them today, and at first, it paid dividends.

ATLANTA – It had been eight days since Kyle Finnegan took a mound in an actual game when he jogged out from the Nationals' bullpen in the ninth inning last night. And quite frankly, it was hard to know how it was going to go with him protecting a one-run lead.

Finnegan entered the tight ballgame with a 6.92 ERA in 27 career appearances, pitching on five-plus days of rest. The All-Star closer usually likes to pitch with more frequency, and when he doesn’t, he gets rusty.

So when the inning started with a leadoff single by Drake Baldwin on Finnegan’s second pitch, some dread probably sank into the hearts of Nats fans.

But the right-hander locked in and retired the next three batters on a scant 10 pitches, needing only 12 total to record his 13th save, which is now tied for second-most in the major leagues.

“You just try to stay ready,” Finnegan said Wednesday night. “We've had a lot of games that could have gone either way late. So I still felt like I was in that game mindset, which is good. But just pulling for the guys to go out there and perform. The ball wasn't bouncing our way, and that's why this one feels really good.”

ATLANTA – Well, the Nationals finally won one. Would two be too much to ask?

If the Nats can find a way to win this afternoon at Truist Park, they will earn a four-game series split, which they would happily accept after suffering through a seven-game losing streak.

The offense scored five runs last night, the most they’ve put on the board in a week. Today the Nats will try to continue their moment against AJ Smith-Shawver. The 22-year-old right-hander is 2-2 with a 2.76 ERA and 1.347 WHIP in six starts. He hasn’t given up more than three runs in an outing so far, and is only two starts removed from a dominant appearance against the Reds in which he pitched eight shutout innings of one-hit ball.

Meanwhile, Trevor Williams will try to help his team end this leg of the road trip on a high note. The right-hander enters his ninth start with a 2-4 record, 5.88 ERA and 1.573 WHIP. He has given up four or more runs in each of his last three starts, so he’ll need to be more effective against this tough Braves lineup.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Truist Park
Gametime: 12:15 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB Network (out-of-market only), MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 77 degrees, wind 12 mph in from right field

Jackson Holliday is batting leadoff again today, as the Orioles try to avoid another sweep against the Twins.

Holliday hit first in both games of yesterday’s doubleheader and went 1-for-10.

Ryan Mountcastle stays in the second spot in the order. Adley Rutschman is batting cleanup.

Emmanuel Rivera gets the start at third base after collecting two more hits yesterday in Game 2. Heston Kjerstad, who homered is in left field and batting ninth.

Ramón Laureano is on the bench. He’s struggled against secondary pitches this season, posting a .190 average against breaking balls and a .095 average against off-speed, but he’s hitting .265 with a .559 slugging percentage against fastballs.

The Orioles are down to nine players on the injured list, including outfielder Colton Cowser and pitchers Kyle Bradish, Grayson Rodriguez, Albert Suárez and Tyler Wells on the 60-day. This is the healthiest they’ve looked in a long time.

Infielder Ramón Urías was the latest player to escape it yesterday, and he did so without going on a rehab assignment. He can get a bundle of starts at third base and also sub at second if needed. Outfielder Tyler O’Neill and pitcher Zach Eflin were reinstated with the team in Anaheim. Pitcher Chayce McDermott was reinstated and optioned on May 4, and the Orioles used him yesterday as the 27^th man to start Game 2 before returning him to Triple-A Norfolk.

“It’s great for us,” Urías said. “It’s just what we need now, a full team together. We’re just ready to win some games.”

Reliever Andrew Kittredge is nearing his return, but a few more boxes need to be checked. He’s made four rehab appearances since undergoing surgery in March to repair cartilage in his left knee, and a fifth is coming over the weekend.

“All good news with how he’s throwing the baseball and how he feels,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “I think he throws again this weekend and then he’ll do a back-to-back and maybe another one. We’ll see how it goes.”

ATLANTA – When things don’t go your way, they really don’t go your way. And things had not gone the Nationals’ way for the better part of the last eight days.

In order to break an extended losing streak, the Nationals had to do almost everything right. And even though they made more mistakes than positive plays in the early parts of this game, the fact that they put together a late rally showed a lot about what this team has: Fight.

This 5-4 comeback victory may look like any ordinary win over the Braves, but it in fact snapped a seven-game losing streak and may have been the first sign that the Nats can finally turn this thing around.

“That win was great," manager Davey Martinez said after the first victory in over a week. "Put one on the board for the good guys, how's that? The boys played well. We're playing baseball. It's fun to watch these guys come out and compete. … It was a good team effort today.”

Down 4-3 in the eighth, the Nats finally put together the clutch at-bats they’ve been searching for over the past week.

ATLANTA – Looking for anything new to spark the Nationals' offense, manager Davey Martinez has shuffled his lineup a bit for the third of a four-game set against the Braves.

With the Braves starting right-hander AJ Smith-Shawver (2.76 ERA) for tomorrow’s noon getaway game, Martinez decided to get Keibert Ruiz off his feet today to play tomorrow and start Riley Adams behind the plate tonight against right-hander Bryce Elder (4.97 ERA).

Also, Amed Rosario has been bumped up to the No. 2 spot to split up leadoff hitter CJ Abrams and slugger James Wood and combat the two lefty relievers the Braves have in Aaron Bummer and Dylan Lee.

“We got a 12 o'clock game tomorrow,” Martinez explained during his pregame media session. “So Riley gets tonight, Keibert gets tomorrow. He's available to pinch-hit if we need him. Moved Rosario between the lefties. They have two good left-handed pitchers in the bullpen, so trying to break those lefties up. But yeah, trying to get everybody in there with the early day game tomorrow.”

Adams has been productive in limited playing time, collecting hits in five of his last six games including two doubles, two home runs and six RBIs.

The deficit grew to four runs, Charlie Morton kept warming in the bullpen and the Orioles were staring at a doubleheader sweep. Their own reflection was depressing – a team 10 games below .500 and getting worse.

What happened next was easy on the eyes. The Orioles sent 10 batters to the plate in the third, Cedric Mullins hit a grand slam to highlight a six-run inning, and a split was in the works.

Look again.

Yennier Cano was summoned in the eighth and Kody Clemens hit a three-run homer before the right-hander retired his first batter in the Twins’ 8-6 victory before an announced crowd of 10,169 at Camden Yards.

Morton allowed one run in three-plus innings of relief and was in line for his first Orioles win in eight decisions before the Twins rallied. Chayce McDermott, making his second major league start, allowed four runs and four hits with three walks and five strikeouts in three innings.

ATLANTA – While the Nationals were able to finally score first in last night’s game – swinging at strikes and accepting a few walks – they weren’t able to sustain that early success at the plate in their seventh straight loss.

The bats will have to try to get going against right-hander Bryce Elder. The 25-year-old is 2-2 with a 4.97 ERA and 1.289 WHIP in seven starts. But he has given up three or fewer runs in four straight outings, with three quality starts. He also struck out a season-high eight batters (while also giving up two home runs) in his last start against the Pirates.

Mitchell Parker will try to keep the Nats in the ballgame from the mound, something he has struggled with over his last three starts, in which he gave up a combined 15 earned runs and 11 walks. The left-hander hasn’t pitched past the fourth inning in either of his last two outings, so the Nats will also hope their starter can give some more length.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Truist Park
Gametime: 7:15 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 82 degrees, wind 9 mph in from right field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
3B Amed Rosario
LF James Wood
1B Nathaniel Lowe
RF Alex Call
DH Josh Bell
CF Dylan Crews
2B José Tena
C Riley Adams

The Orioles have made the following roster move:

• Added RHP Chayce McDermott from Triple-A Norfolk to serve as the 27^th man for today’s doubleheader. He will wear No. 59 and start game two.

Gunnar Henderson destroyed a curveball from Twins starter Bailey Ober in the third inning, held his pose as he watched the flight of the ball before beginning his trip around the bases, and slapped hands enthusiastically with teammates as he approached the dugout. The Orioles were riding a high, taking a three-run lead in Game 1 of a doubleheader.

They wouldn’t get another hit until Henderson’s two-out single in the seventh. The momentum died as quickly as his ball had reached the flag court.

Henderson homered after Ryan Mountcastle’s RBI double, but the Twins homered twice against Dean Kremer in a four-run fourth and pulled away late in a 6-3 win at Camden Yards.

Center fielder Byron Buxton charged Ryan O’Hearn’s sinking line drive and made a diving catch to end the seventh after Mountcastle reached on an error and Henderson singled. The Orioles finished with four hits, failed in their attempt to win back-to-back games for a third time, and fell to 15-25.

The Twins committed four errors but won their ninth game in a row, including a sweep of the Orioles last week at Target Field. They scored twice against Keegan Akin in the ninth on Trevor Larnach’s RBI double and a wild pitch. Larnach had advanced to third base on right fielder Tyler O’Neill’s error.

Earlier today, the Orioles presented the All Faiths Food Bank with a donation of the proceeds from the 2025 Spring Training 50/50 Raffle at Ed Smith Stadium. In total, over $47,000 was raised for All Faiths, the only food bank, and largest hunger relief organization in Sarasota and DeSoto counties. All Faiths provides millions of meals each year in collaboration with more than 300 agencies and programs throughout the community.

Following the aftermath of Hurricane Milton in October 2024, the Orioles expanded their commitment to All Faiths, as part of the club’s ongoing efforts to support Sarasota and its surrounding communities. In addition to supporting All Faiths, and in direct response to the hurricane, the Orioles also helped raise more than $1.2 million to benefit the Community Foundation of Sarasota County’s Season of Sharing.

Chayce McDermott is in Baltimore as the 27^th man for today’s doubleheader against the Twins and could start Game 2.

The Orioles put McDermott on the taxi squad this morning. He’s made three starts in the minors after reporting to spring training with a strained lat, allowing one run in 1 2/3 innings with Double-A Chesapeake on an injury rehab assignment and one run and three hits in eight innings with Triple-A Norfolk.

McDermott, 26, made his major league debut July 24 in Miami, allowed three runs in four innings and was optioned.

Today’s Game 2 starter “is still undecided,” said manager Brandon Hyde, but all signs point to McDermott.

“We’re bringing McDermott up here as the 27^th man. There’s a chance he starts that game,” Hyde said. “He’s not fully stretched out, starting-wise from that standpoint, so we’re gonna kind of get through Game 1 and then figure out the starter for Game 2.”

The Orioles have made the following roster moves:

• Reinstated INF Ramón Urías (right hamstring strain) from the 10-day Injured List.
• Optioned OF Dylan Carlson to Triple-A Norfolk after yesterday’s postponed game.

ATLANTA – When the Nationals walked into the visiting clubhouse for the first time on Monday, Michael Soroka was greeted with some familiar faces. The longtime Brave already knew some of the clubhouse managers from his first six seasons in the major leagues, all spent in Atlanta.

Hugs were exchanged. Questions about life and family were asked. Smiles were shared.

Then when the Nats returned Tuesday afternoon for the second of a four-game set against the Braves, Soroka was focused on his 20th start at Truist Park, the first as a visitor.

“I was excited,” Soroka said last night after his third start in a Nationals uniform. “Obviously, it's been a while since we were over here. Took that mound. And yeah, there's not a ton of guys over there that I played with all those years back then. But still, certainly some that I came up with and made good memories with. But I definitely wanted to give them my best tonight and felt like we did that.”

Due to a high pitch count of 81, Soroka finished only four innings, giving up four hits, two runs, one walk and four strikeouts, in his first outing against his former team. And while doing so, he did something he had not previously done over the course of his career.

The Orioles will play their second doubleheader of the season today, with a third pending against the Blue Jays on July 29 at Camden Yards. To the benefit of everyone, the twin bill against the Twins that begins at 12:05 p.m. is the traditional single-admission type. None of this day-night nonsense.

Play Game 1, wait about 30 minutes and play Game 2.

Dean Kremer is starting the opener, but the Orioles list the second game as TBA. Cade Povich was supposed to pitch last night against his former team, but was called into manager Brandon Hyde’s office after the postponement.

Tomoyuki Sugano is supposed to start Thursday afternoon, but he’d be on regular rest today. Or maybe it turns out to be Povich anyway.

Povich faced the Twins in his last outing and allowed five runs in six innings at Target Field. All five runs scored in the third, including Carlos Correa’s 458-foot shot into the second deck in left field.