Orioles fastest rising prospect is making the minors look easy

Making the transition from college baseball to the minor leagues isn’t always smooth sailing for a lot of prospects. There can often be a steep learning curve that can obviously take some time to get used to. But every now and then, a player comes along and just makes it all look so easy. Joseph Dzierwa is proving to be that type of player.

Just two months into his minor league career, the towering lefty is already proving that he deserved to be the 58th overall pick in last year’s draft. In eight starts with the Frederick Keys in High-A ball, Dzierwa dazzled scouts with 50 strikeouts across 40.2 innings. Better yet, he surrendered just 23 hits while walking 10. 

On May 5, Dzierwa held the Jersey Shore BlueClaws hitless in five innings of work. In his next start against the BlueClaws five days later, Dzierwa struck out nine hitters in just 3.2 innings. Even that early in the season, it was clear that Dzierwa was destined for bigger and better things.   

After clearly overmatching his opposition, Dzierwa earned a promotion to Double-A with the Chesapeake Baysox. Despite facing stronger hitters, Dzierwa has continued his strong start to the 2026 season. The promising LHP has tallied another 23 Ks in 16.2 innings while excelling at keeping runners off the basepaths, posting a .900 WHIP. 

Dzierwa is quickly climbing up the prospect rankings 

Dzierwa’s impressive start to the season hasn’t gone unnoticed either. He was named the Baltimore Orioles Minor League Pitcher of the Month for his work in April. And after Baseball America listed Dzierwa as the organization's 17th best prospect in the preseason, the lefty has quickly climbed to 5th best following the publication’s May update.   

Although Dzierwa isn’t expected to join the Orioles in the big leagues any time soon, he will certainly be on the ballclub’s radar moving forward as one of their brightest pitching prospects. Only time will tell how quickly Dzierwa develops into a major league-ready pitcher. But no matter what, he has put himself in a good position.    

Listed at 6-8, Dzierwa is about as intimidating a match-up for hitters as you can get. But despite his size, the southpaw doesn’t rely on a blazing fastball. While his heater has been clocked in the mid 90s at times, Dzierwa has dominated batters using his highly-rated changeup. Sitting in the low 80s, Dzierwa’s change-up has become the perfect tool to keep hitters off balance and play up his fastball.  

For now, Baseball Savant’s scouting report on Dzierwa notes that he has “one of the highest floors in the Orioles system as an almost surefire starter.” According to scouts, Dzierwa will have to continue to develop both his slider and cutter if he’s going to be able to take that next step as a consistent starting pitcher. But at just 22 years old, Dzierwa will have plenty of time to work with the organization's pitching development in the minor league system. Just as long as they don't deal him too soon, as they did with Michael Forret.

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