Orioles Pitching Prospect Most Likely To Break Out This Season
The Baltimore Orioles have a minor-league system that most consider to be one of the best in baseball. The fruits of that system are already matriculating in the Majors, including reigning Rookie of the Year Gunnar Henderson and catcher Adley Rutschman.
But the system has plenty of prospects who are just waiting for their chance to get on the radar of the Major League team. For one prospect, MLB.com believes that a breakout season in 2024 is in order.
If you haven’t heard of Chayce McDermott, that may change soon.
McDermott isn’t a home-grown Orioles prospect. He was drafted in the fourth round by the Houston Astros in 2021 out of Ball State. After flashing a 2.09 ERA in his first short season in the Astros’ system in 2021, he went 6-1 in 19 starts at the Astros’ High-A affiliate in Asheville in 2022.
When it came trade deadline time, the Astros came to the Orioles to swing a deal for a bat. The O’s sent the Astros Trey Mancini. The Astros sent the O’s McDermott.
After eight starts to get acclimated to the Orioles’ system, he made a statement in 2023, as he went 8-8 with a 3.10 ERA with 152 strikeouts in 119 innings. Batters hit .167 against him. That was the best in the minors.
It was good enough to get him a promotion to Triple-A Norfolk, where he went 3-2 with a 2.49 ERA in 10 games, nine of which were starts.
Now, the Orioles have a starting rotation on paper led by Kyle Bradish and youngster Grayson Rodriguez. But, there’s a chance that McDermott could be knocking on the door in 2024, if any of the Orioles’ projected starters get hurt or suffer a slump.
It looks like McDermott may be ready for his first cup of coffee.
