Watch LIVE: Gray-Rod, Adley vs. Liberatore, Gorman
Josh Jackson
@JoshJacksonMiLBThis is one you won't want to miss. Luckily, there's no reason you should have to.
Four of baseball's biggest prospects -- two of the biggest bats in the Minor Leagues, and two of the biggest arms in the Minor Leagues -- are clashing right now as Triple-A Norfolk (Orioles) hosts Triple-A Memphis (Cardinals) in the Pipeline Game of the Month. The action is streaming free on MLB.TV.
Once a month, a member of the MLB Pipeline crew will bring fans even closer to the MiLB.TV action for some of Minor League Baseball's premier matchups. This time, Pipeline reporter and analyst Sam Dykstra is on-hand in Norfolk, Virginia, for an International League matchup.
Additionally, select Minor League games featuring some of the game's top prospects will be available to stream for free on MLB.TV throughout the season. And if you like what you see there, all available Minor League games are streamed on MiLB.TV, and you can add that to an existing MLB.TV subscription for only $25.
The 24-year-old catcher began the year on the injured list with a right triceps strain, went 11-for-25 (.440) over a seven-game rehab stint between High-A Aberdeen and Double-A Bowie and returned to the Tides on Friday. He hit safely in each of his first three games back, walking twice and scoring a run.
Rodriguez, a 22-year-old right-hander, held opponents to a .159 batting average while striking out 161 over 103 innings and going 9-1 with a 2.36 ERA between Aberdeen and Bowie last year. So far in 2022, he's 2-1 with a 3.33 ERA and 38 strikeouts over 27 innings in his first taste of the Triple-A level.
But don't get the idea that this game should have the Redbirds' tailfeathers quivering.
Gorman's 12 home runs and .693 slugging percentage entering Tuesday night lead all of Triple-A ball, and his 1.053 OPS through 26 games is second in the IL. MLB's No. 31 prospect headlines a Memphis offense that has scored 163 runs in 30 games (fifth in the 20-team league).
Liberatore, MLB's No. 2 left-hander and No. 41 prospect overall, turned in back-to-back scoreless seven-inning starts on April 23 and April 29, combining for 16 strikeouts over the pair. On the season, he's 3-3 with a 4.24 ERA and 41 punchouts over 34 innings. Pitching for Memphis last year, the 2018 first-rounder was third in the league with 123 strikeouts and fifth with a 4.04 ERA.
Both teams, of course, are deeper than their top two names, but a quartet such as this makes this one a no-brainer for the Pipeline Game of the Month.