Minor league notes on Burns, Armbruester and more

The high Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds have gotten off to a hot start, producing the best record of any minor league team in full-season ball. That covers 120 clubs. There are many reasons for that and just one is the play of shortstop Collin Burns.

With some more high-profile names on that IronBirds' roster, Burns can fly under the radar. But the 21-year-old lefty batter is hitting .333/.381/.422/ with an OPS of .803 in 24 games. Burns has six stolen bases, eighth doubles and 12 RBIs. He has low walk (5) and strikeout (15) totals.

A sixth-round pick out of Tulane from the 2021 draft, Burns has been solid for Aberdeen.

“He’s another guy that has had a lot of quality at-bats, is getting on base and hitting balls hard,” Orioles director of player development Matt Blood said in a recent interview. “And he’s playing quality defense. A nice pickup for the org. He plays shortstop and even some left field. We like to get guys moved around.”

Burns, 21, hit .305 in 24 games after the draft last season between the Florida Complex League O's and low Single-A Delmarva.

A pitcher off to a good start for Aberdeen is right-hander Justin Armbruester, a 12^th-round pick last summer from New Mexico. The 23-year-old made his latest start last night and threw well in Aberdeen's 2-1 loss to Rome. He went five innings, allowing two hits and one run with two walks and two strikeouts.

Through seven starts for the year, Armbruester is 1-0 with a 2.87 ERA. Over 31 1/3 innings, he has allowed 24 hits with just six walks and 35 strikeouts to go with a 0.96 WHIP.

In his past four starts he has thrown 19 2/3 innings, allowing just three runs for an ERA of 1.37.

“Really good stuff,” said Blood. “Big strong kid from the draft last year. He’s really taken to the work he’s doing with our staff there in Aberdeen. We are seeing it pay off. He’s got two above-average pitches and has been fun to watch.”

He is showing a fastball in the mid 90s with an, at times, plus breaking ball.

Meanwhile at Double-A Bowie, infielder Jordan Westburg has gotten off to a slow start even though his OPS was .779 before he took an 0-for-4 last night.

Over 32 games, Westburg is batting .208/.321/.433/.754 with nine doubles, six homers and 19 RBIs. Westburg, who posted an OPS of .868 in 112 games last season, has walked 20 times and struck out 41 times. His K rate is up a bit to 29 percent.

“You have some stretches where you are doing well and some where you're trying to find it a little bit," Blood said of the player ranked No. 6 in the O's top 30 by MLBPipeline.com.

"What is nice about Jordan is if he doesn’t feel like he’s playing well, he is still producing enough to have a respectable OPS. And that is how you have a great season in my opinion. Even in the bad times you are being productive and the good times you are really productive. Helps keep your numbers up. I think the world of Jordan and he’s in a normal development situation in my opinion."

Triple-A Norfolk beat Charlotte 8-7 last night as Adley Rutschman homered for the second game in a row. He and Jacob Nottingham hit two-run homers and Robert Neustrom hit a grand slam for the Tides. 

Gunnar Henderson hit his third homer in two days as Bowie lost 6-3 to Hartford. Henderson's seventh homer came as Bowie lost its sixth game in a row.

Aberdeen lost 2-1 to Rome as its five-game winning streak ended. But the IronBirds are still 15-3 their last 18 games and 25-8 on the year.

Delmarva beat Fredericksburg 5-3 for its third win in a row. Winning pitcher Conor Grady allowed two unearned runs over six innings and Daniel Lloyd gave up one run in the last three innings to get a save. 

About last night: The Orioles lost to the Yankees by one run for the second night in a row, falling 3-2 at Camden Yards. They gave up all three runs in the first inning with two scoring on a wild-pitch and an error on catcher Anthony Bemboom on the same play.

Austin Hays went 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI, but the Orioles (14-24) lost their sixth in a row. They are now 9-10 at home, 4-11 versus the AL East and 2-7 against New York. The Orioles have scored just 15 runs their past eight games. 

Lefty Bruce Zimmermann (2-2, 2.72 ERA) pitches this afternoon in the series finale with the Yankees at 12:35 p.m. at Oriole Park.