Baltimore Orioles: Power Ranking The O’s Top 10 Prospects By Excitement Level

MLB Pipeline provides fans with rankings based off skill, but which Baltimore Orioles prospects generate the most excitement.

With the MLB Draft in the books, the Baltimore Orioles farm system is ranked as the 13th best in baseball by Bleacher Report.

Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson and several other exciting young players the Orioles have added to a farm system that already has generated buzz among the fan base.

Bleacher Report, MLB Pipeline and other baseball sources gift fans with rating each team’s top 30 prospects based off skill and the highest potential. However, we pose the question which Orioles prospects should fans be most excited about?

Let’s rank the top 10 prospects in the Baltimore Orioles farm system based on excitement level.

#10. OF, Kyle Stowers 

The Orioles selected Stanford Outfielder Kyle Stowers with their Competitive Balance Round B selection (71st overall) in the 2019 draft.

At 21 years old, Stowers has the potential to make it to the majors quicker than most. At Stanford Stowers hit .303 with nine home runs as a junior in 2019. He proved to be an on-base machine as he posted a .369 OBP and ripped 19 doubles.

Any time there’s a prospect who’s on a fast track to the majors, he will generate a lot of buzz and have fans considering how he can fit into the big league teams plans. Stowers has the potential to do just that.

#9. LHP, Zac Lowther 

Rated as the Orioles 8th best prospect by MLB Pipeline, Zac Lowther has put together a dominant season for the Bowie Baysox (AA).

In 14 starts in Double-A Bowie this season Lowther has posted an outstanding 2.03 ERA as opposing batters are hitting just .183 against him.

Lowther was the Orioles second competitive balance round selection in 2017 after a dominant college carer at Xavier. Thus far his minor league carer has been just as dominant putting him on a fast path to the majors.

The left-hander is an arm that may just be atop of the Orioles starting rotation in the near future which should have fans excited for his eventual call-up to Baltimore.

#8. RHP, Hunter Harvey

It’s safe to say Hunter Harvey‘s development has taken far longer than the Orioles could have expected.

Harvey was the O’s first-round selection with the 22nd overall pick of the 2013 Draft. After a dominant start to his pro carer in Aberdeen, the Gulf Coast Leauge and Low-A Delmarva leading him to appear in the 2014 MLB Futures game Harvey’s journey to the majors came to a pause.

Elbow issues led to Tommy John Surgery holding him out of action until 2016. When he finally returned he was again dominant in the lower level of the minors but once called up to Double-A, Bowie began to struggle. 2019 has been a rough year for now 24-year-old as he’s posted a 5.19 ERA in 11 starts and three relief outings.

Despite the struggles, Harvey was a first-rounder, which means his ceiling is higher than nearly all prospects in the majors. Orioles fans should remain excited about his potential and hope he can find what went well in the beginning of his development.

#6. LHP, DL Hall

Rated as the Orioles third-best prospect by MLB Pipeline DL Hall will be one of two pitchers representing the O’s at the 2019 MLB Futures Game.

Hall was the O’s first-round selection with the 21st overall pick of the 2017 MLB Draft. After a rough five starts in rookie ball in 2017 Hall put together a stellar season for Low-A Delemavara in 2018 pitching to a .210 ERA in 20 starts and two relief outings.

In 2019 he has posted a 4.25 ERA in 12 starts and 13 outings for the High-A Fredrick Keys but has struck out an impressive 73 batters in just 48.2 innings of work.

The Orioles are counting on Hall to be a part of their rotation for several years to come; thus, he is a prospect that fans should be anxious to watch every time he takes the ball leading up to his eventual call-up to the pros in the next few years.

#5. OF, Yusniel Diaz

The only prospect who was not drafted by the Orioles to make the list is Orioles fourth-ranked prospect Yusniel Diaz. The outfielder is rated as baseball’s 90th ranked prospect and was the centerpiece of the trade that sent Manny Machado to the Dodgers.

In his first full year in the Orioles system, Diaz has impressed when healthy. After recovering from a hamstring injury, Diaz has had a red hot month of June. He earned the Eastern League’s Player of the Week with the Baysox earlier in the month showing the ability to both hit for power and drive in runs.

Whenever a player is the main piece of a prospect package, he’s going to be held to high standards by the fanbase acquiring him. That is exactly the case for Diaz who should be able to handle the pressure and become an everyday player for the Orioles in the future.

#4. RHP, Grayson Rodriguez

Joining DL Hall at the MLB Futures Game this July will be the Orioles top-ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline Grayson Rodriguez. Rodriguez was the Orioles first round selection with the 11th overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft.

Rated as the 53rd best prospect in all of baseball Rodriguez has had a dominant 2019 season at Low-A ball with the Shorebirds. He’s posted an ERA of 2.21 ERA in 11 starts posting a 7-1 record and has held opposing hitters to a .179 average against.

Rodriguez is the pitcher many hope will be the ace of the future for the Orioles. Though he will be knocked from the top prospect spot once Rutschman and Henderson are added there’s’ no pitcher in the Baltimore system that should generate more excitement.

Every time he takes the ball in the minors is already turning into must-see T.V., and the Orioles can only hope that will be the same with even more excitement when he reaches the major league level.

#3. 1B, Ryan Mountcastle

The reason why the Orioles second-ranked prospect Ryan Mountcastle jumps ahead of Rodriguez is on this list is due to the era of baseball he will play in.

Home Runs are being hit at an all-time high, and team’s around the majors are loading up on bats. Mountcastle should have no problem adjusting to this era of baseball. The Orioles first-round selection in the 2015 draft as tore his way through the minor leagues.

In 469 minor league games playing at every level of the minors, Mountcastle has hit 59 home runs with a .293 average and .325 on-base percentage. At Triple-A Norfolk this season Mountcastle has had many Orioles fans requesting he be called up to the majors.

He has slugged 14 home runs, driven in 49 RBI’s and has posted an excellent .312 batting average. The monster season will likely get him called up this season and once he does he has a great chance to stay and be the Orioles starting first basemen for a long time.

#2. INF, Gunnar Henderson

It’s hard to find a second round pick that has generated more excitement for a fan base than infielder Gunnar Henderson has.

Selected 42nd overall by the Orioles with the first pick of the second round of the 2019 draft many thought Henderson was a potentially risky choice. The reason he wasn’t taken in the first round was because he was unsure whether or not he was willing to pass up the opportunity to play college baseball at Auburn University or go pro.

After weeks of debate, Henderson signed with the Orioles leading to a rare press conference and a standing ovation from the Camden Yards crowd for the second round selection.

The 6’3 infielder from Alabama won the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s top prep baseball award after hitting .559 with 11 home runs and a .641 on-base percentage in his senior year of high school in 2019.

He has all the tools to be an outstanding infielder at the big league level. The next two to three years will be a lot of fun for Orioles fans to watch him develop into the player many think will be the star of the Orioles infield for a very long time.

#1. C, Adley Rutschman

The most exciting Baltimore Orioles prospect is undisputedly catcher Adley Rutschman. Baltimore selected the catcher from Oregon State with the first overall pick of this year’s draft, and many are calling him the most exciting prospect in baseball since Bryce Harper was drafted first overall by the Nationals in 2010.

Rutschman had two incredible college seasons for the Beavers in his three-year college carer. In 2018 he hit .408 with 83 RBI’s and nine home runs. In the 2018 College World Series, he recorded a remarkable 17 hits as he helped guide the Beavers to their third college world series championship.

In 2019 he showed even more power hitting 17 home runs and hit to an even higher average of .411. Opposing hitters feared Rutschman so much so that in the 2019 NCAA Tournament the Duke Blue Devils intentionally walked him with the bases loaded.

As great as he is at the plate, he also has an excellent arm and great instincts behind the plate.

Rutschman has the potential to be one of baseball’s top players once he reaches the majors. Every at-bat he has in the minors will be closely watched as fans count down the days until he reaches the majors.

Do you agree with this list? Comment the prospects who have you most excited for the future below.