Baltimore Orioles Top Prospect Off to Dominant Start for High-A Aberdeen

A Baltimore Orioles top prospect is blowing opponents away on the mound in the early going of the season.

Providence's Michael Forret (11) pitches during their game at Roberson on May 27, 2022. The Providence Panthers defeated the Roberson Rams 3-0. | Maya Carter/Asheville Citizen Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

The biggest Achilles heel for the Baltimore Orioles in the early going of the 2025 MLB regular season has been their pitching staff.

They are battling injuries to key contributors, with the top two arms in their rotation, Grayson Rodriguez and Zach Eflin, both being on the injured list.

Trevor Rogers, Chayce McDermott, Albert Suarez, Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells are all injured as well, giving the Orioles a rotation that could compete at the Major League level currently sidelined.

Finding replacements for that much talent is easier said than done. Manager Brandon Hyde has his work cut out for him to find a way to eat up innings, especially with veterans such as Charlie Morton and Dean Kremer struggling to the extent that they have.

While the team certainly needs help now, and could find some on the trade market if they are willing to package up some of their young positional players, the team has to be excited about what the future holds on the mound.

Aid isn’t coming to the Major League roster right now from the lower levels of the minor leagues, but there are some talented arms emerging in the early going who could help the team down the road.

One of the players to keep an eye on is Michael Forret, who is currently dealing for the High-A Aberdeen Ironbirds.

A 14th round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft out of State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota, he was solid in 26 appearances across Single-A Delmarva and High-A with a 3.88 ERA across 99.2 innings.

He showed some dynamic stuff with 124 strikeouts, struggling a little bit at times to hone it with a 4.0 BB/9 ratio.

But, more often than not, Forret got the job done.

He put in the work to continue honing that craft this offseason, starting out the year in Aberdeen and setting himself up for an early promotion.

His first three starts of the campaign have been truly dominant.

Michael Forret's (@Orioles No. 8 prospect) start to 2025 for the High-A @IronBirds:

April 5: 4.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 5 K
April 12: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 5 K
Thursday: 5 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 9 K pic.twitter.com/DKypcmomxn

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 18, 2025

Forret has thrown 14.2 innings with 19 strikeouts, recording at least five in each start. He has cut down on the walks with a 3.7 BB/9 ratio and opponents are struggling to even make contact with his pitches.

Only three hits have been recorded against him to go along with six walks and one hit batter, resulting in only one earned run being scored.

The No. 8 prospect in the organization, Forret is worth keeping an eye on as a call-up to Double-A could be in the near future.