Some of the top farm pitchers get closer to Baltimore

As the Orioles work to improve their pitching in 2022, there remain a few ranked pitching prospects the club has yet to see pitch in Baltimore. And there are others, like Zac Lowther and Alexander Wells, that we saw get their feet wet this year. Enough to know how tough it is to pitch in the American League East.

The Orioles still play more than half their games outside of the East, this is true, but the division remains the best in the baseball and maybe the toughest in all of sports.

Topping the list of pitchers still to debut in Baltimore are the club's top two pitching prospects in Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall. Rodriguez is rated No. 2 on the O's top 30 by both MLBPipeline.com and Baseball America, and Hall is No. 3 by both.

Fans also have yet to see right-hander Kyle Bradish, rated No. 8 by both publications, or left-hander Kevin Smith (No. 14 in MLBPipeline.com, No. 13 in Baseball America) and lefty Drew Rom (No. 25 in MLBPipeline.com, No. 29 in Baseball America).

Rodriguez had an incredibly strong 2021 season, one in which he went 9-1 with a 2.36 ERA between high Single-A Aberdeen and Double-A Bowie. He doesn't turn 22 until November and this kid is getting closer and closer. And maybe better and better. He was the O's Minor League Pitcher of the Year and is rated as the best pitching prospect in baseball.

Hall didn't pitch this year after June 12, and you can tend to forget about him after he dealt with an elbow issue. But he's a top 100 prospect for a reason and the Orioles expect him to be healthy for spring training. In seven Double-A starts this year he went 2-0 with a 3.13 ERA. In 31 2/3 innings he fanned 56 (15.92 per nine) and allowed a batting average of just .145. He and Rodriguez would have made one fun 1-2 punch to watch all year.

Bradish went 6-5 with a 3.68 ERA between Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk. His finish with Norfolk was real strong. He allowed one run his last three games over 15 innings, with five walks to 18 strikeouts. He is an intriguing guy who throws with a not-seen-much-anymore straight-over-the-top delivery. He has two breaking balls and a fastball that can touch the mid-90s. He was one of the four pitchers the Orioles got in the December 2019 deal with the Los Angeles Angels for Dylan Bundy.

Smith got off to a great start with a 1.04 ERA in six games at Bowie this season, but he pitched to a 6.23 ERA in 16 games at Triple-A. And he was still struggling at times late in the year. But he certainly can't be dismissed after just 56 Norfolk innings.

Rom was probably the best pitcher on the farm this year not named Grayson. He led all O's minor league pitchers with 11 wins, going 11-1, and his 3.18 ERA was second on the farm among the pitchers throwing 80 or more innings. He was dominant in September for Bowie, at just age 21, posting these stats in four games, including a playoff game: 19 innings, 0 runs, 10 hits, one walk, 25 strikeouts.

Any narrative that only Rodriguez and Hall will be able to help the Orioles down the road may well prove to be not accurate. No one saw John Means doing what he has done in the majors when he was posting a 4.35 ERA at Double-A.

Non top-30 pitchers such as Ofelky Peralta, Blaine Knight, Cody Sedlock, Kyle Brnovich, Gray Fenter, David Lebron, Cameron Bishop and Garrett Stallings (Baseball America does have him at No. 30) also pitched at Double-A or above this year.

O's farm ERA leaders (minimum 80 innings pitched)

2.36 - Grayson Rodriguez
3.18 - Drew Rom
3.32 - Kyle Brnovich
3.52 - Brandon Young
3.56 - Jack Prizina

O's farm K/9 leaders (min. 80 IP)

14.09 - Grayson Rodriguez
12.20 - Zach Peek
12.17 - Brandon Young
11.75 - Kyle Bradish
11.65 - Kyle Brnovich

The stats courtesy of the Fangraphs.com website.

A few notes and links: It was a loaded year in the Double-A Northeast this season, with seven of the sport's top 20 prospects. Baseball America has named Adley Rutschman as the No. 1 prospect in that league, and Rodriguez No. 4. Here is the link to that (subscription may be required).

Meanwhile, on the O's farm, the club has parted ways with longtime staffers Gary Kendall and Kennie Steenstra, and Alan Mills as well, as we learned in this story.

I've gotten to know all three, especially Kendall and Steenstra, over many years in my coverage of the farm. They served the Orioles as real pros over many, many years. I can't count how many times they have helped me for a story or granted an interview or shared an opinion. It would be hard to hold two men in higher regard than I do these men, and I sure wish all the best for these gentlemen moving forward.

Roch Kubatko also reported in this story that hitting coach Don Long will not return with the Orioles.