Unsung Orioles prospect is not going to remain a hidden gem for much longer

Once Samuel Basallo and Dylan Beavers graduate from prospect status in the next couple of weeks, the Orioles' best position player prospect in the upper minors will be Aron Estrada. Over the past several years, Orioles fans have grown accustomed to their top prospects in the upper minors being highly touted, well-known guys. Estrada is not that; he's been underrated ever since the Orioles signed him, but if he keeps playing the way he has over the past calendar year, that won't be the case much longer.

A major reason Estrada is underrated is his size. As a result of the great measuring of 2026, he's now listed at 5'11, but for a long time he was listed as being 5'8 and 142 pounds. Everyone loves seeing an undersized player find success; that's part of why Jose Altuve was so popular early in his career, but when scouts forecast a prospect's career, they don't factor in how inspiring the player's story would be. Scouts like tools, like size and strength. The teenagers who get ridiculous million-dollar contracts are always ginormous for their ages.

So if you're teenage Aron Estrada and you're built like a jockey, that puts you at a big disadvantage when it comes to getting evaluators to buy in on you. At that size, you have to prove the doubters wrong at every level before they'll start giving you the benefit of the doubt.

Aron Estrada may be small but he plays like a giant

That's exactly what Estrada has done so far in his career. After signing his modest signing bonus, he went on to dominate the Dominican Summer League, a league full of highly touted prospects who got million-dollar signing bonuses. Last season, Estrada made it to double-A at 20 years old and slashed .300/.355/.500 across 27 games. The slugging percentage is especially noteworthy; he wasn't just slapping the ball around and BABIPing his way to success. Estrada got to double-A and started hammering the ball.

Following his success in Double-A, the Orioles invited Estrada to join the major league team for spring training. He was the youngest and least experienced player in big league camp, so he didn't play a ton, but when he did, he held his own, hitting .286 and popping multiple 100+ mph exit velos, including a max exit velo of 111 mph. That's elite, no matter what size you are.

For Estrada, there is still a lot of work to do to prove the doubters wrong. At every step, he's going to be ranked lower than guys who perform worse but are bigger than him. However, if he keeps putting up the numbers he's been putting up while showing how versatile he can be in the field, he's going to start getting the attention he deserves.