Baltimore Orioles Fill Final Two Arizona Fall League Spots

The Baltimore Orioles have filled their final two Arizona Fall League spots with two guys looking to get more reps after injury-filled 2019 seasons.

In just less than three weeks, many of the more elite prospects in baseball will find their way to Arizona as they look to refine their game and continue their development in the Arizona Fall League. Commonly referred to as a “finishing school” for prospects, the Baltimore Orioles are sending a collection of minor leaguers out west to the AFL who will likely become contributors at the major league level in 2020.

The Orioles have already announced that RHP Dean Kremer, LHP Alex Wells, IF Rylan Bannon, RHP David Lebron, and IF Mason McCoy will represent the Orioles with the Surprise Saguaros.

Per MASN’s Roch Kubatko and The Baltimore Sun’s Nathan Ruiz, Baltimore will send outfielder Austin Hays and RHP Cody Carroll to the AFL, filling out their roster allotment for the 2019 season.

Hays was a candidate for a September callup, but after a season of injuries limited the 24-year-old to 86 games this year, Hays will get his opportunity for more at-bats in Arizona as he looks to compete for a starting job at the major league level in 2020.

In 58 games at the Triple-A level, Hays hit .255 with 10 home runs, 16 doubles, a .308 on-base percentage, and a 61/11 K/BB ratio. While his defense is ready for the bigs and has provided numerous jaw-dropping moments over the last few weeks, Hays is just now settling in at the plate and finding his groove (hitting .295 over his last 10 games). There’s a plan in place for all of these guys and while many fans may be disappointed that Hays won’t be putting on an Orioles uniform in the coming days, going to Arizona will still be a great experience and an opportunity to go up against MLB-quality arms.

Joining the party in Arizona is a name we haven’t heard this season, RHP Cody Carroll. As a refresher, Carroll was packaged with LHP Josh Rogers and RHP Dillon Tate in last season’s Zack Britton trade (technically the Zach Britton trade at the time). He logged 17 innings with the O’s after the trade, giving up 17 runs on 21 hits (six home runs) and walking 13.

At 6’5″ and 215 pounds, Carroll is tall righty who has potential to be a relief option for the O’s at the major league level. From MLB Pipeline,

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“After working in the low 90s as a college starter, Carroll now deals at 96-98 mph and touches higher with his fastball. Hitters can’t sit on his heater because he also can make it look bad with a mid-80s breaking ball that combines slider velocity and curveball depth. He also mixes in a mid-80s splitter against left-handers on occasion.”

Carroll has missed all of 2019 with a back injury, only recently throwing two innings in the Gulf Coast League, striking out five in his brief action. The AFL was where Carroll made a name for himself back in 2017. He returns in 2019 just looking for innings.

A healthy offseason and spring training could lead to an Opening Day roster spot in 2020 for Carroll, who would have been in the big leagues this year if he wasn’t injured.

The Arizona Fall League begins play on September 18th with the regular season ending on October 25th. The top two teams will compete in a championship game on October 26th.