Orioles minor league recap 5/2: Aloy, Figueroa homer for Frederick

Double-A: Erie (Tigers) 7, Chesapeake Baysox 4

Largely a stinker as far as the prospects on this roster are concerned, starting with my honorary hyphenated cousin Juaron Watts-Brown getting blasted for six runs, with three home runs allowed, in only four innings. It’s tough to come back from that and the Baysox did not. This was Watts-Brown’s first start at his proper level after starting his year on an injury rehab assignment. Chesapeake was efficient in its scoring, collecting its four runs on only four hits. Infielder Griff O’Ferrall hit a two-run homer, his second of the season, to bring things within save range in the ninth inning, but at that point Erie did not change pitchers to give anyone save opportunity. Syrup heir Brandon Butterworth (note: not actually a syrup heir) took an 0-for out of the leadoff spot. Ethan Anderson was also hitless. My guy Aron Estrada added one hit. So did early strong performer Anderson De Los Santos, still OPSing over 1.000 after 21 games. He is 22 and if he breaks out here at that age, that’s worth taking note. Box score.

High-A: Frederick Keys 5, Brooklyn (Mets) 2

Did Wehiwa Aloy homer again? He sure did! That’s his fifth for the season. This one expanded the Keys lead in the eighth. Aloy himself drove in the first Keys run with a sixth inning double, and he shortly scored when Victor Figueroa – one of the guys from last year’s Padres deal – also homered again, his seventh in 20 games played here. This Keys lineup has been strong. Nate George was 1-5, and Braylin Tavera added a hit and two walks. Figueroa is OPSing over 1.100, which is great. The other guys are holding around .750, less exciting but also less depressing than tracking Aberdeen box scores last year. The starter for Frederick was Twine Palmer. The modest trade return for Ramón Urías last July, Palmer was particularly terrible with his new organization after the deal, and he had a couple of tough games in April of this year. Still, after just one run allowed in 4.1 innings in this one, Palmer has the ERA down to 3.86 and High-A batters are only hitting .164 against him this year. It’s not nothing. Box score.

Low-A: Hill City (Guardians) 6, Delmarva Shorebirds 3

Although Delmarva outhit their opponent by an 8-6 margin and the Howlers committed four errors to the Shorebirds zero, the Orioles affiliate was not able to capitalize and turn this into a victory. One standout effort at the plate came from outfielder Stiven Martinez, an 18-year-old who had three hits out of the leadoff spot to raise his season OPS to .722. As the Shorebirds roster has been for the past several years, it’s a group in search of somebody who might break out into something interesting; the ones who do so, such as George last year, tend not to remain for long. Box score.

Saturday’s Scheduled Games

• Norfolk: at Nashville, 7:35. Starter: Cameron Weston
• Chesapeake: at Erie, 1:35. Starter: Juan Rojas
• Frederick: at Brooklyn, 2:00. Starter: Yeiber Cartaya
• Delmarva: vs. Hill City, 7:05. Starter: Kailen Hamson In addition, today is the beginning of the Florida Complex League Orioles season. We may check in on those players in our weekly recaps but will not be updating those box scores in the daily posts.