Patrick Dorrian got sought-after power surge to help Bowie to playoffs

BOWIE - He is a rarity at Double-A Bowie. He has been with that team all year, from start to finish, and will be a key cog in their lineup tonight as the Double-A Northeast Championship Series begins with Bowie hosting Akron in a best-of-five series for the league championship.

Patrick Dorrian, 25, has had a strong year on the Orioles farm. One that can fly under the radar when your name is among the organization's home run leaders with players like Adley Rutschman and Kyle Stowers.

Stowers leads O's minor leaguers with 27 home runs. Rutschman and Dorrian come next with 22 each, followed by Zach Watson with 20 and TT Bowens at 18.

With a goal to add some power this year, Dorrian, who has made 84 starts at third base and 12 at first for Bowie, hit .246/.362/.475/.836 with 21 doubles, two triples, 22 homers, 72 runs and 67 RBIs. His homer during Sunday's must-win game in the third inning gave Bowie a 3-0 lead.

In late May 2019, the Orioles sent pitcher Yefry Ramirez to Pittsburgh for a player to be named later. The player became Dorrian on June 26, 2019 - the date of his 23rd birthday.

During that 2019 season, the last half spent with high Single-A Frederick, Dorrian batted .245/.317/.397/.714 with 10 homers. Now he has an OPS that ranks fifth among all O's minor leaguers, tucked in between Jordan Westburg at No. 4 (.868) and Gunnar Henderson at No. 6 (.826).

"The biggest thing going into the year was to get the power up a little bit," Dorrian told me recently at Prince George's Stadium. "Obviously, playing third base, you have to hit for some more power, hit some home runs and doubles. That was the No. 1 goal. Not putting too much stress on myself. We were away from the game for a year with COVID, so just enjoying the game again (was also important). Playing every day has been nice. And this group of guys has made everything so much easier. We've had a lot of player movement, but the guys that come here fit right in, put their head down and go to work. So it's been great."

And now they all get to chase what would be just the second league championship in Bowie team history after the 2015 Eastern League title.

During the 2020 season without minor league baseball, Dorrian worked on his swing and had help from Zack Short, a friend of his that plays for the Detroit Tigers.

"I worked on keeping my swing the same, but just shorten everything up, so I can be on time more often," Dorrian said. "Because guys throw so much harder more consistently now. So keeping the same aggression and powerful swing, just maybe a little shorter and quicker to contact. That has worked out well and I need to keep building on that."

At Bowie, Dorrian and several Baysox hitters have really clicked with hitting coach Ryan Fuller. The team has been one of the best-hitting teams in the league and Dorrian has been a big reason why. He said thoughts on hitting come to him throughout the day and he'll reach out to Fuller to discuss them. He might watch a YouTube video or see an article that intrigues him. And Fuller is happy to be on the other end of the communication.

"Whether it's one in the afternoon or midnight, you can send Fuller a text. He'll give me what he thinks and I'll send my thoughts. The feedback and communication is fantastic," Dorrian said.

Dorrian's walk rate of 14.6 ranks second on the O's farm among full-season players, behind only Rutschman. And it is way up from the 6.4 in his time with Frederick in 2019.

The data and analytics, he soaks all that up including the new batting practice routine on the farm this year where players see curveballs and changeups at times and not constantly grooved slower fastballs.

Dorrian said the work done at 4 p.m. helps him hone his batting eye for the game that night.

"In our BP work, our cage work, everything we do, we incorporate that kind of stuff," he said. "We put a medicine ball behind the plate, that's out strike zone. Instant feedback. If we take a pitch, if it nicks the ball it's a borderline pitch, if it squares it up, it's a strike right away. In terms of walks and OPS going up, that has been huge for me and our whole team.

"It's a very strong focus (in BP). I don't want to swing at pitches that are not strikes. It flows right into the game. If I am taking borderline pitches in BP, hopefully, I do the same in the game. I want pitches you can do damage on, not a borderline pitch that you have to put a very good swing on to have success."

Said Fuller: "He knows the strike zone incredibly well. If it's a ball, he knows it's a ball and he can go opposite-field home run or pull side home run. He uses the field really well and that is a special feat for a Double-A player to control the zone like he does and spray the ball around the ballpark.

"It's been very awesome to see him from the beginning of the year to where he is now. He's become much more confident in his approach, his swing and in making adjustments. Mentally, at the beginning of the year, he would ride the wave with the highs and lows. But has done a real nice job from the middle of the year to now staying even keel. That consistency will really pay dividends as he goes up levels."

Right-hander Gray Fenter (6-4, 5.47 ERA) gets the star for Bowie tonight in Game 1 of the best-of-five series. Fenter has an ERA of 2.70 with a batting average against of .203 over his past three starts.

O's win behind Means: The Orioles blanked Philadelphia 2-0 last night on a four-hitter, as John Means threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings on four singles. Means led the Orioles to their fourth shutout by throwing his fifth scoreless start of 2021. Phillies batters went 4-for-24 against him.

"This was our best starter giving a great effort and pitching an outstanding ballgame," manager Brandon Hyde said. "Two of our better relievers pitching the last seven or eight outs. Meansy had the changeup tonight. That was a big difference. Something he struggled with here the past handful of starts. Had everything working, one walk and that was late. Just a great job of pitching against a team that is fighting for a playoff spot."

Means went six innings or more for the 14th time in his 24 starts and delivered the Orioles' 30th quality start of the year. He has thrown 12 of them.

Means also smoked a double to center field in the seventh before he was thrown out trying to reach third on a pitch in the dirt. The pitch from right-hander Sam Coonrod on a 1-2 count came in a 97.7 mph and had an exit velocity of 103 mph by Means.

It was the first hit by an O's pitcher since July 24, 2019 at Arizona, also by Means. He is the first O's starting pitcher with an extra-base hit since Zack Britton homered on July 3, 2011.

After the game, Hyde confirmed again that the Orioles will use a bullpen game tonight at Citizens Bank Park and announce their starting pitcher later today. He said right-hander Chris Ellis will not take his scheduled turn tonight and will be pushed back a few days with arm fatigue.

BAYSOX WILL PLAY FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP vs Akron!!
Tickets for Games 1 & 2 at home are on sale now!

Tues. Sept 21 @ 6:35 pm: https://t.co/PXjy66uAUj
Wed. Sept 22 @ 6:35 pm: https://t.co/DvwfrgG3lM

Get your tickets to BE HERE for the Baysox Run To The Championship pic.twitter.com/5Bqx3tQjzM

-- Bowie Baysox (@BowieBaysox) September 19, 2021