Minor League Baseball

Baltimore Orioles Minor Leaguer Makes Franchise History Upon Major League Call-Up

Maverick Handley is officially a big-leaguer after spending parts of six seasons in the minor leagues. He'll wear No. 98, something that has never been done in team history.
Brady Farkas|
Baltimore Orioles hat and glove sits in the dugout during the ninth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium in 2024.
Baltimore Orioles hat and glove sits in the dugout during the ninth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium in 2024. | William Purnell-Imagn Images

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Baltimore Orioles

Just called up to the Baltimore Orioles, longtime minor league catcher Maverick Handley is making team history. According to the @NumbersMLB account on "X," Handley will be the first wearer of No. 98 that the O's have ever had.

Handley, 27, has spent parts of six years in the minor leagues, all with the O's organization. He was selected in the sixth round of the 2019 MLB Draft out of Stanford.

He's hitting .346 this season at Triple-A Norfolk. That is much better than his career average of .224. He has 25 career homers in the minors. His career-high is 11 with Double-A Bowie in 2022.

The Orioles have been one of the most disappointing teams in baseball this season, entering play on Tuesday at 11-17 overall and in last place in the American League East. Baltimore has made the playoffs in each of the last two seasons and has some of the best, young talent in the sport. Unfortunately, injuries to Grayson Rodriguez, Zach Eflin and Kyle Bradish have hurt the pitching staff, and additions like Charlie Morton have struggled too. Furthermore, the ownership group let Anthony Santander walk in free agency and hasn't spent meaningful dollars to improve the roster.

At the time of this posting, things continue to snowball for Baltimore, who trails the New York Yankees 5-0 in the second inning. O's pitcher Kyle Gibson, making his first start of the season, surrendered four home runs in the top of the first.

Handley is not in the lineup.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is the senior writer for “Minor League Baseball on SI’’ and the host of “The Payoff Pitch’’ podcast, which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. Follow Brady on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.

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