Orioles second base prospect cracks MLB Pipeline top 10

Ahead of spring training next month, the crew at MLB Pipeline is releasing their top 10 prospects at each position. After Samuel Basallo ranked high on their list of catching prospects, they started this week off with their top 10 second base prospects, and Connor Norby has cracked the list.

Orioles infield prospect Connor Norby makes top 10 second base prospects list

This is certainly well-deserved for Norby, ranked the seventh best prospect in the Orioles system and just outside MLB Pipeline's top 100 in baseball. In a jam-packed infield prospect pool in the upper minors, Norby has done his best to stand out, and the results showed in 2023.

After joining Triple A Norfolk late in 2022, Norby spent the whole year with the Tides in 2023 and produced strong numbers. He had a .290/.359/.483 slash line, bashing 40 doubles and 21 home runs while driving in 92 runs over 138 games with the Tides. If he continues to impress at Triple A to start 2024, he could force the Orioles hand and prompt a call-up to the majors.

Norby also added the outfield to his defensive repertoire in 2023, playing their a little more often. While the lion's share of his games did come at second base, he was in left field for 27 games and right field for five, even starting a game at shortstop once.

If Norby does get called up to the majors in the coming season, his role will probably be similar, a second-base first player who can draw starts in the outfield when necessary and can mash with the bat.

Norby is the only AL East second base prospect to crack the top 10 list and the fourth in the AL as a whole. With the season he had last year with the Tides, it's certainly deserving. Hopefully a trip to Baltimore is in the cards in 2024.