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Orioles Prospect Profile: Steve Wilkerson

By Hunter Firestone

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When a scout is looking at a baseball player, one of the first questions they will ask is if he can hit. Then he might ask whether he plays good defense. If the player is able to play both aspects of the game with poise, we say he’s a decent baseball player.

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    • Orioles prospect Steve Wilkerson has at least the batting portion of the game figured out. Wilkerson, who was drafted in the eighth round of the 2014 MLB Draft by the Baltimore Orioles, has been having a very good season on the Orioles Class A team, the Delmarva Shorebirds. The 6′ 1″, 195 pound shortstop is currently batting a .307 average going into this week. In his last 10 games, Wilkerson is batting .300, with 12 hits and three RBI’s.

    Wilkerson hasn’t had many issues at the plate thus far. The only issue that Wilkerson has had so far this season is striking out. In the 244 at bats Wilkerson has had, he has struck out 53 times. So when we look at the .307 batting average, which he is leading the team in, by the way, we see the potential at the higher levels in the Orioles organization, at least as a batter. Wilkerson needs to work on not searching for first pitch strikes, but going deep into hitters counts, which is something Wilkerson has not done a lot so far this season.

    Another issue that Wilkerson needs to improve on is his defense. At his position at shortstop, Wilkerson has committed 12 errors this season, which is tied for second most on the team. Many of the errors that he commit are going for double plays. On the bright side, its good to see Wilkerson being aggressive on defense, but this trait has lead to a lot more errors than fans would like to see.

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    Wilkerson started his Minor League career with the Aberdeen Ironbirds, the Orioles short-season affiliate. In the 60 games Wilkerson appeared in for the Ironbirds, Wilkerson batted a .190 average, with 40 hits, 15 RBI, and two home runs. Wikerson was called up to the Shorebirds during the 2014-2015 offseason, and as we see his numbers, he has the potential to move up in the organization, and maybe even be a Oriole one day.

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