Non-roster players keep getting chances with Orioles

The Orioles drafted a second baseman in the second round, Connor Norby of East Carolina University, but he isn't blocking Jahmai Jones.

I already saw and approved that joke on Twitter.

Norby is praised by scouts for his solid tools across the board. He's a career .392/.458/.596 hitter at East Carolina. He led the nation with 102 hits this year. But I'm betting that Jones beats him to the majors.

Any takers?

Jones is batting .279 with an .863 OPS after Tuesday night's single and triple and last night's single. The work continues to get him more acclimated to second base.

"I've been following, sounds like he's been swinging the bat pretty well and they're working hard defensively with him at second base every day and continuing to get reps over there just because he's so inexperienced at second," said manager Brandon Hyde.

"So, it's important for him to get the defensive reps and he's swinging the bat well."

In the meantime, the Orioles keep starting Domingo Leyba and Pat Valaika at second with Ramón Urías at shortstop. Leyba is going to get more time in the middle with Kelvin Gutierrez at third base.

Also in the meantime, supervisor of domestic scouting operations Brad Ciolek suggested that Norby was a steal in the second round.

"Norby has tremendous feel for the barrel," Ciolek said. "He has the ability to adjust well from the fastball to the breaking ball to off-speed stuff. It's a lightning-quick bat and he's shown that he can hit elite pitching.

"If you guys had the chance to tune into to the regional against Vanderbilt, he matched up very well against Kumar Rocker and (Jack) Leiter. We like what we're getting here in terms of the offensive potential. He's a very athletic kid, so we're excited we could get him in the second round."

The Orioles have used 47 players this season, 11 shy of the club record set in 2019. They've had 11 make their major league debuts, three short of their record set in 1955.

Who's got next?

I'd suggest that you keep an eye on Triple-A Norfolk reliever Dusten Knight, 30, who has allowed two runs with 21 strikeouts in 20 innings. The 11 walks are the only real blemish.

Knight isn't on the 40-man roster. The Orioles don't care. Neither were Jay Flaa, Mickey Jannis, Spenser Watkins, Konner Wade, Thomas Eshelman, Stevie Wilkerson and Austin Wynns. Conner Greene made it on the taxi squad.

The Orioles announced the signing of Knight to a minor league deal on Feb. 3 - the same night as Félix Hernandez and Wade LeBlanc. He was a bit overshadowed. So was Watkins.

Knight, 30, is a former Giants 28th-round draft pick who's known mainly for performing a backflip after every save. That alone has me rooting for the Orioles to select his contract and use him in the ninth inning. He pitched for the independent Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in 2019.

"Dusten Knight has pitched really well here," said Norfolk pitching coach Kennie Steenstra. "He's a guy who's shown the ability to be able to throw his curveball and changeup for strikes and work both righties and lefties well. He's done a really nice job.

"He's kind of been our closer down here. We haven't had a ton of those, but he's had a chance to close some games and done a really nice job. He's a guy who's held his own down here, so it's been fun to watch him."

The Orioles selected Eric Hanhold off waivers from the Mets in September 2019 and he still hasn't made it back to the majors. He going into tonight with a 3.31 ERA, 1.163 WHIP and 18 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings. He's walked seven.

The right-hander surrendered only one earned run in his last nine appearances.

Hanhold never made it out of the Orioles' alternate camp site last summer and whatever chance he had to make the opening day roster this year was ruined by the nine earned runs and 13 hits allowed in nine exhibition innings. He also walked five batters and hit one.

Then came a stop on the injured list before he was activated on May 26.

"Eric Hanhold, he's done really well down there, so he's another guy who kind of went under the radar but he's putting together a nice season," Steenstra said. "He started off the season banged up a little bit and missed some time, but he's come on real hot lately."

Players in Triple-A get bypassed for promotions but also buoyed by the Orioles' aggressiveness in going the non-roster route.

"It's a nice situation for those guys to be in, where if you get hot for a week or two you might get considered to go up, where some organizations that are a little steadier on the big league side, you can have a great year in Triple-A and kind of get forgotten sometimes," Steenstra said.

"For these guys, there are great opportunities for everybody on the staff to kind of show who they are and get a shot. We've definitely shown that we're not afraid to put somebody on the roster, activate them, which already has happened three or four times, at least."

At least.