Baltimore Orioles: Hitting and Pitching Prospects of the Year

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BALTIMORE, MD – APRIL 29: Eutaw Street is seen empty as the Baltimore Orioles play the Chicago White Sox at an empty Oriole Park at Camden Yards on April 29, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland. Due to unrest in relation to the arrest and death of Freddie Gray, the two teams played in a stadium closed to the public. Gray, 25, was arrested for possessing a switch blade knife April 12 outside the Gilmor Houses housing project on Baltimore’s west side. According to his attorney, Gray died a week later in the hospital from a severe spinal cord injury he received while in police custody. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

Bowie Baysox LHP Zac Lowther is our Baltimore Orioles Minor Leauge Pitcher of the Year.

Zac Lowther (13-7, 2.55 ERA) led both the Baysox and the entire Orioles organization in wins in 2019. He also paced the organization in starts (26), innings pitched (148.0) and strikeouts (154).

The 2017 2nd Round (Competitive Balance B) draft pick out of Xavier University made fourteen quality starts (6.0 or more IP, 3 or less earned runs allowed) for the Baysox and proved to be a dependable member of the rotation.

Lowther averaged 5.2 innings per start for the Baysox with his longest outing being 7.2 innings (5/14 at Akron). Based on his shortest outing of 4.0 innings, Baysox manager Buck Britton knew he would get a solid start every time Lowther toed the rubber and he did. He also produced a four-game winning streak for the Baysox and lost consecutive games just twice during the season.

While not throwing particularly hard (low 90 mph fastball), Lowther uses his four-pitch mix (fastball, slider, curve and changeup) effectively to average slightly more than 9 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched; he reached double digits in strikeouts in a game once (10 vs Trenton on 8/6). On the flip side, he allowed less than four walks per nine innings pitched and just 0.5 home runs per nine innings pitched.

Lowther is currently ranked as the #10 prospect in the Baltimore organization by MLB Pipeline and surely will see that ranking rise once the end of season list is released. He was also named to both the Eastern League’s mid-season and end-of-season All-Star teams.

All of this adds up to Zac Lowther being named the Birds Watcher MiLB Pitcher of the Year. We must also note the seasons of LHP Alex Wells (8-6, 2.95 ERA, 1.07 WHIP) and RHP Michael Baumann (6-2, 2.31 ERA, 0.94 WHIP in AA) who both had noteworthy seasons on the farm.

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