Orioles announce Minor League rosters

The Orioles’ Minor League affiliates announced their Break Camp rosters for the 2021 season, meaning that these affiliates will play for the first time since 2019. Last year, the Minor League season was canceled because of COVID-19. A number of Baltimore's top prospects are among those announced with Break Camp rosters.

The Bowie Baysox, the Orioles’ Double-A affiliate, will feature catcher Adley Rutschman, the No. 1 pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, as well as left-hander DL Hall, the fourth-best prospect in the Orioles system, according to MLB Pipeline.

Rutschman, the team’s No. 1 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, has played 37 professional games, hitting .254 with four home runs and 26 RBIs.

Hall owns a 6-12 career Minor League record in 46 games with a 2.96 ERA, posting 228 strikeouts in 185 1/3 innings pitched. Hall spent the 2019 season with Class A Frederick. Upon the cancellation of the 2020 MiLB season, Hall spent time at the Orioles’ alternate site camp in Bowie, Md.

Triple-A Norfolk's roster will feature infielder Ryan Ripken, son of Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr., and outfielders Ryan McKenna and Stevie Wilkerson.

In 2019, Ripken hit a combined .276 with six home runs and 33 RBIs while playing for Class A Frederick and Double-A Bowie. McKenna and Wilkerson have big league experience. Wilkerson played 117 games for the Orioles in 2019, hitting .225/.286/.383. McKenna has had a cup of coffee with the big club this year, going 3-for-15 [.200] in 14 games.

The Delmarva Shorebirds, the O's Low-A affiliate, will feature infielder Gunnar Henderson on the roster. Henderson, the Orioles' fifth-best prospect according to MLB Pipeline, started his professional career with the GCL Orioles, slashing .259/.331/.370 with one home run and 11 RBIs.

Long impressed with Mullins
Orioles hitting coach Don Long said on Friday the most pleasant surprise on the team thus far has been center fielder Cedric Mullins. He has been the Orioles’ most consistent hitter, leading the team in batting average (.340), on-base percentage (.393) and OPS (.918) entering Friday’s series opener against the A's.

Long had a feeling that Mullins was going to have a productive season, stemming back to last season when Mullins said he wanted to focus on only being a left-handed hitter. He arrived at that decision at the end of last season after hitting .171 from the right side.

“I think his confidence level is very high,” Long said about Mullins. “I think the big part of that was him being the one to initiate [the hitting plans], rather than us telling him, 'we think you need to do this.' He has done a fantastic job. I’m very excited about him and what he has been able to do.”

But the Orioles need more lineup consistency beyond Mullins, currently ranking near the bottom in OPS (.645) and batting average (.224). The players must understand who they are as hitters and know what their strengths are, according to Long.

“You try and maximize what you are good at and, in the end, that will show up [in the stats],” Long said. “… We have some guys who are trying … to be better in the zone, trying to get a good pitch to hit, being able to put the ball in play hard and limiting chases outside of the zone. It’s a consistent day to day thing with many guys. That’s just the nature of hitting.”