Orioles minor league weekly recap: Aloy mashes 5 HRs, German and Dzierwa shine

Double-A Chesapeake Baysox

• Last week: 3-3 vs. Altoona Curve (Pirates)
• Coming week: at Akron RubberDucks (Guardians)
• Season record: 14-18, fifth place (11.0 GB) in Eastern League Southwest Chesapeake’s offensive numbers were boosted by a 19-4 win on Wednesday, a game in which they bashed five home runs and collected 15 hits. They didn’t top five runs in any of their other games. Catcher **Ethan Anderson** was their hitting star, collecting a team-high seven hits and three homers for the week. Part of a problematic 2024 draft class in which the Orioles’ top three picks (Vance Honeycutt, Griff O’Ferrall, and Anderson) all had lousy pro debuts, Anderson is the one who’s taken a step forward this year. He’s hitting .289/.407/.456 in 25 games for the Baysox and is trying to put himself back on the prospect map. No such luck for **Griff O’Ferrall**, who is batting .156 with a .606 OPS. Two 21-year-old hitting prospects, **Aron Estrada** (#13) and **Thomas Sosa** (#18), are scuffling at Double-A. Estrada is slashing .231/.274/.346 and Sosa .219/.274/.381. Each had just four hits this week. Neither is ready to join Samuel Basallo on the Orioles’ list of successful international signings, at least not yet. Two familiar Orioles, **Jackson Holliday** and **Heston Kjerstad**, began rehab assignments with Chesapeake this week. This is Kjerstad’s first field action since suffering a right hamstring strain in spring training. He’s 1-for-6 so far. Holliday, meanwhile, is taking his third crack at rehab after his first one was cut short on April 12 and his next one halted after three games. He went 0-for-6 with four walks this week and, notably, played third base for just the third time in his professional career. I’m not sure Holliday has the arm for third, but the O’s clearly are desperate for a non-Coby Mayo alternative at the hot corner. Chesapeake’s rotation had a fine week, ERA-wise, with their six hurlers combining for a 2.42 mark. But lefty **Sebastian Gongora** was the only one to work six innings, delivering a quality, one-run, seven-strikeout performance. **Evan Yates** held Altoona to one run and one hit in 5.1 frames, while the other four didn’t make it through five. Righty **Juaron Watts-Brown** (#15) gave up just one run and two hits in 4.1 innings, but walked four. Chesapeake season stats

High-A Frederick Keys

• Last week: 5-1 vs. Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies)
• Coming week: at Hudson Valley Renegades (Yankees)
• Season record: 19-13, second place (1.5 GB) in South Atlantic League North I don’t want to jinx anything, but do the Orioles have a minor league team that’s actually good? Their High-A affiliate, in their first year back in Frederick, is six games over .500 and just completed a dominant series in which they scored 56 runs in six games, including three straight 11-run performances from Wednesday to Friday. They hit 18 home runs! Shortstop **Wehiwa Aloy** (#6) went absolutely bonkers. He blasted five dingers, leading all South Atlantic League hitters for the week, and went 11-for-22 with nine RBIs. The 2025 competitive balance draft pick, selected #31 overall, is hitting .306 with a .985 OPS and 10 homers in 27 games. He’s been outstanding so far. It should be mentioned that he’s struck out in 29% of his PAs, with 35 Ks and 10 walks, which he’ll probably need to address as he moves up the organizational ladder. At High-A, though, it’s not stopping him from having success. First round pick **Ike Irish** (#4) hit pretty well himself, even if he was upstaged by Aloy. Irish had two homers and a double and scored seven runs. Two other Keys had three-homer weeks: shortstop **Elis Cuevas** and the rehabbing outfielder **Reed Trimble**. I think Trimble’s about ready to return to Triple-A. It’s always a good week when **Joseph Dzierwa** (#14) makes two starts, and he did not disappoint. In 8.2 innings, he allowed only one run and racked up 15 strikeouts, walking just two. His first start, in which he threw five scoreless, hitless innings, was particularly dominant. He had to leave his second start after 3.2 innings following a freak play in which a bad-hop overthrow cut him above the eye. Ouch. The injury doesn’t figure to keep him sidelined, fortunately. Among other Keys pitchers, let’s give some praise to starter **Yeiber Cartaya**, who tossed five shutout innings with one hit and six strikeouts. The 23-year-old righty is doing excellent things so far this year, posting a 0.68 ERA (two earned runs in 26.2 innings) with a 0.79 WHIP, a .110 batting average against, and 12.15 K/9. Cartaya has put up middling to bad numbers every year of his pro career until now, so maybe something has clicked for him. The Athletic’s Keith Law, for one, was impressed by what he saw from Cartaya this week. Frederick season stats

Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds

• Last week: 3-3 at Salem RidgeYaks (Red Sox)
• Coming week: vs. Fayetteville Woodpeckers (Astros)
• Season record: 13-20, tied for last place (10.0 GB) in Carolina League North The only top-20 Orioles prospect on the Shorebirds roster, **Esteban Mejia** (#8), continued to struggle with his control. In his lone start this week, he walked six batters, though he at least limited the damage to one run. That came three starts after an eight-walk performance on April 17. Mejia has issued 22 walks in 18.2 innings this year. It’s not what you want. The award for Strangest Pitching Line goes to righty **Brayan Orrantia**, who worked 5.1 innings and gave up 10 runs — but only three were earned. Two Delmarva errors cost him a couple of runs in his first outing of the week, and another two miscues led to five more unearned runs in his second start. He certainly didn’t pitch well, but he didn’t get much help from his teammates, either. The only quality start from a Shorebird this week was righty **Christian Rodriguez** (six innings, one run). The team’s best hitter of the week was outfielder **Braylon Whitaker**, a 19th-round pick in 2024, who reached base 14 times on six hits and eight walks. Whitaker is batting .305 this season and has more walks (19) than strikeouts (16), albeit with no power. Shortstop **DJ Layton** has been off to a good start in 2026 but was 5-for-20 with nine strikeouts this week. Delmarva season stats \\ In the glorious return of the Player of the Week poll last week, Ike Irish was the winner with 63% of the vote. This week there were so many standout performances that five guys who hit three home runs each — Creed Willems, Jose Barrero, Ethan Anderson, Elis Cuevas, and Reed Trimble — didn’t even make the cut, nor did Joseph Dzierwa. Instead it’s a two-man race. Who gets your vote?