Orioles minor league recap 5/30: Bradfield is heating up with Aberdeen

It was a rough night down on the farm, but there were still plenty of bright spots to be found.

Triple-A: Gwinnett Stripers (Braves) 5, Norfolk Tides 2

This game made some headlines because of Gwinnett’s starting pitcher, David Fletcher. The 29-year-old, who has seven years of big league experience between the Angels and Braves as an infielder, is now going to try his hand at being a two-way player. What’s more interesting is that on the bump he’s a knuckleballer. This game against Norfolk was his first professional start, and it went well for him.

Over five innings Fletcher held the Tides to two runs on three hits, a walk, and six strikeouts. Although some social media clowns were laughing at Jackson Holliday for striking out against Fletcher, they ignored the part where he had two of the team’s four total hits on the day. Billy Cook and Errol Robinson each doubled for the other two knocks. Cook and Heston Kjerstad worked a walk each.

Brandon Young made his Triple-A debut here as Norfolk’s starter. It was a solid outing as the big righty delivered four innings and allowed two runs on three hits, three walks, and six strikeouts. Jonathan Heasley continued to do well against minor league competition as he threw three scoreless frames and lowered his ERA at the level to 0.39. Kade Strowd had some trouble as he coughed up three runs in his lone inning. Bryan Baker was the final arm to work for the home team. He walked one and struck out one in the ninth.

Double-A: Somerset Patriots (Yankees) 2, Bowie Baysox 1

Bowie had plenty of traffic on the bases in this game (eight hits, six walks), but they went just 2-for-18 with runners in scoring position. Anthony Servideo’s two doubles were the team’s only extra-base knocks. Samuel Basallo accumulated three singles and two steals. Dylan Beavers had the lone RBI, a first-inning single to score Silas Ardoin. Donta’ Williams loaded up the box score with a a single, a walk, and a stolen base.

There was better news on the mound, where Seth Johnson allowed just one run over four innings. Carlos Tavera was even better in relief, throwing four scoreless frames in which he gave up just one hit and struck out four. Keagan Gillies was saddled with the loss as he came on for the ninth inning, but struggled with walks and eventually gave up a walk-off RBI single.

High-A: Hudson Valley Renegades (Yankees) 9, Aberdeen IronBirds 3

Enrique Bradfield Jr.’s bat continues to heat up atop the Aberdeen lineup. He had two more hits in this one, and then stole his 23rd base of the year. The 2023 first-round pick is hitting .375 over the last week. A handful of other players had one single each, and Carter Young managed the team’s only extra-base hit (a double). Young, Matthew Etzel and Elio Prado represented the three runs scored. Douglas Hodo III singled, walked, and swiped a bag.

There wasn’t much to be happy about on the pitching front. Levi Wells started and allowed five runs over four innings. Graham Firoved and Yaqui Rivera combined to give up four runs over the next three innings. Luis Sánchez was the only IronBirds pitcher to escape unscathed from his outing. He threw one scoreless inning and struck out one, but also walked two.

Low-A: Carolina Mudcats (Brewers) 10, Delmarva Shorebirds 8

It was a good day for the Delmarva bats. Every starter reached base at least once. Aneudis Mordán had the big swing with a third-inning grand slam that put the Shorebirds up 6-3 at the time. He wasn’t alone in his offensive attack. Aron Estrada, Leandro Arias, Noelberth Romero, and Stiven Acevedo each had a double. Romero, Cole Urman, and Anderson De Los Santos had a stolen base apiece.

But the pitching could not hold things together. The starter, Braxton Bragg, allowed four runs on seven hits, three walks, and three strikeouts over three innings. Grabiel Salazar and Issac Solano settled things with three scoreless innings between them. Bit things fell apart for Eris Rodríguez after that. He coughed up a run in the seventh and then was charged with four more in the eighth, which included a fielding error of his own, a hit by pitch, and two walks. Randy Berigüete came on in relief and allowed a grand slam to the first batter he faced.

Box Scores

Thursday’s Schedule

• Norfolk: vs Gwinnett, 12:05. SP: Tucker Davidson (1-0, 2.13 ERA)
• Bowie: at Somerset, 6:35. SP: Alex Pham (1-1, 6.87 ERA)
• Aberdeen: at Hudson Valley, 6:35. SP: TBD
• Delmarva: at Carolina, 6:30. SP: Jacob Cravey (0-2, 4.38 ERA)
• FCL: at Twins, 12:00, SP: TBD