Trying to project the 2015 minor league pitching rotations

The Orioles will have some pretty good pitching prospects at all four of their full-season minor league affilates when the new seasons begin in April.

We certainly don't know the rosters yet, and this is all subject to change, but here's taking a guess at where some pitchers could be with the starting rotations for Triple-A Norfolk, Double-A Bowie, Single-A Frederick and Single-A Delmarva come 2015.

Five pitchers that could wind up in the Norfolk rotation, either on opening day, or at some point during 2015 include Mike Wright, Zach Davies, Tim Berry, Tyler Wilson and Eddie Gamboa. Of those five, only Davies is not on the 40-man roster and those four all could see big league time this year. Davies and Berry have yet to pitch at Triple-A.

Other potential rotation candidates for the Tides could include Suk-min Yoon and Chris Jones. Maybe even T.J. McFarland, if he does not begin the year in the big league bullpen.

It is also possible the Orioles still add some minor league free agents and that veteran pitchers find their way to that rotation, which could potentially bump a young guy like Davies or Berry back to Double-A.

Three pitchers that look pretty firm for the Double-A rotation are Dylan Bundy, Branden Kline and Parker Bridwell. Kline got to Bowie for three starts late last year, while Bridwell would be a Double-A rookie. Bundy could start at Bowie and, pending his progress, make his way to Baltimore at some point.

The Orioles' 2013 first-round pick, Hunter Harvey, should headline the staff at Frederick, which could also include Mitch Horacek and Steven Brault. Some other candidates for the Frederick rotation include Matt Taylor, Brady Wager, Luis Gonzalez and Sebastian Vader.

The Orioles' three top picks in the 2014 draft could all find their way into the Delmarva rotation come April, as Brian Gonzalez (third round), Pat Connaughton (fourth round) and David Hess (fifth round) all project to start with the Shorebirds and could be joined by Stephen Tarpley.

As usual, the battle for pitching staff spots on Delmarva will be very competitive in spring training as players from two short-season teams (Aberdeen and Gulf Coast League) look to move up and the Orioles drafted 23 pitches in 2013 and 27 last year and they signed most of them.

It looks like the O's will have some decent pitching prospects at all four levels and you like to see that as the prospects are spread out and they have some young guys they like along with some veterans. They also have high school and college drafted players throughout the system.