Bowie Baysox: Mike Yastrzemski Update

Mike Yastrzemski has made the most progress out of any player in the Orioles Farm System thus far this season. Starting the year out in Single-A Delmarva, he batted .306 with 12 stolen bases and 34 extra-base hits. After 63 games played with the Shorebirds, he was promoted to the Frederick Keys.

After just a month with the Keys where he batted .312 with 19 RBIs, he was promoted yet again. This time he packed his bags and moved north to play for the Double-A Bowie Baysox. He was the first Orioles 2013 Draft Pick to make it to the Double-A level.

After having a hot start with the ball club, Yastrzemski has, in a sense, hit his first “bump in the road” during the 2014 season. So far, he is batting .263 with a .314 on-base percentage. In the past ten games alone, he has batted .222 with only 10 hits in his last 45 at-bats.

In 37 games played with the Baysox, Yaz has yet to have a stolen base. He is currently 0-2 when stealing bases at the moment. However, his speed has been on display in other regards.

For example, he has three triples with Bowie (15 on the year). He is also a force to be reckoned with in the field. Flagging down fly balls in center field , Yaz displays exceptional awareness while in the field and has tremendous depth perception when it comes to hard hit, low line drives. The young player also shows above average arm strength when in the field and seems very comfortable in center field even though if he made it up to Baltimore, he will more than likely play one of the corner outfielders as Adam Jones has center field pretty locked up.

Coming into the 2014 season, Yastrzemski was anticipated to be nothing more than a high-level Minor Leaguer. However, with his outstanding performance throughout the year (even with a slight hiccup in Bowie), Yaz might be considered to make a move up to 333 West Camden Street to play for the Baltimore Orioles.