Minor league award winners, Robert Neustrom profile and more

Orioles minor league outfielder Ryan McKenna was the organization's minor league Player of the Month for May. Yesterday McKenna got the same honor for June. The Orioles minor league Pitcher of the Month for June was lefty Zac Lowther. He got that same honor in April.

McKenna, the club's fourth-round pick in 2015, hit .341 with three homers and 19 runs during the month. It included his representing Single-A Frederick in the Carolina League All-Star game and then getting a promotion on June 21 to Double-A Bowie.

McKenna tore it up at Frederick, batting .377 in 67 games before he was moved to the Eastern League. Sunday he hit his first home run for Bowie. Over 12 games he's batting .244/.333/.311 with one homer, seven runs and three RBIs.

While he is not hitting yet nearly as well as he did with Frederick, McKenna has made a nice early impression on Bowie manager Gary Kendall.

"He plays the game the right way and has one gear," said Kendall. "His approach to the game is sort of like Austin Hays. He gives you effort hustling down the line and looks to take the extra base. When he makes a mistake it's innocent. It's to help a ballclub and not a selfish move. His range is good in center field and he can throw well and accurately. Right now he is still getting acclimated to this league."

Kendall talked about the jump McKenna is facing from High-A to Double-A ball.

"Pitching. And I'm not downgrading the Carolina League which is a very good league. But when you get up here pitchers have command of two pitches and some of these guys are on the verge of going to the big leagues. He is seeing guys with good velocity and a guy that can move a fastball in and away and throw a breaking ball for a strike when behind. The speed of the game is better here but the pitching is the big adjustment."

But Kendall is convinced McKenna does have the skills and tools to put up good numbers with Bowie.

"I do think he will. He has bat speed and can play three outfield positions and runs well. We're just trying to get him as many reps and at-bats. He works counts and doesn't mind hitting 0-1 or 0-2. He can bunt. He is confident hitting with two strikes and really battles offensively," he said.

The 22-year-old Lowther is 6-2 with a 1.42 ERA in 12 starts this season between Single-A Delmarva and Frederick. He has walked 17 and fanned 81 over 63 1/3. In four June starts with Frederick, he went 3-0 with an ERA of 0.42, allowing one earned run over 21 1/3 innings.

From the Big 10 to the big leagues?: Outfielder Robert Neustrom is trying to pull that off, but first he'll have to serve some time and make progress on the O's farm. Last month the Orioles selected Neustrom in the fifth round out of the University of Iowa. He was signed to a $300,000 bonus which was $61,000 under slot value for the 145th pick. He was assigned to short season, Single-A Aberdeen.

The 21-year-old lefty thrower and hitter has solid power potential. During his junior season with Iowa he hit .311/.386/.538 with 15 doubles, 11 homers and 36 RBIs in 53 games. He was selected all Big 10 first team.

With Aberdeen, Neustrom has been playing right field and has batted mostly second and fifth for the IronBirds. He got to a 6-for-16 start, but his bat cooled a bit after that. He went 1-for-4 with a double last night. In 17 games with the IronBirds, he is batting .233/.299/.350 with four doubles, a homer and eight RBIs.

"I'm loving it," Neustrom said of the start of his pro career during a recent interview at Ripken Stadum. "The games are still the same, we're still playing baseball. The pitching is a notch up as you would expect. But I'm ready to make the adjustments needed to get to work for this organization."

Scouting reports listed Neustrom's best tool as power.

"I try to pride myself on putting the bat on the ball and hitting it hard up the middle and trying to stick with a line drive approach. I have enough power to where if I do connect it has a chance to go over the fence," said Neustrom, who walked 25 times and fanned 34 this season at Iowa.

From Sioux City, Iowa, Neustrom played in 166 career games (152 starts) for the Hawkeyes batting .310 with 37 doubles, 21 homers and 112 RBIs.

"It was awesome," he said. "Growing up in Iowa, I was a Hawkeye fan my entire life. So it was a dream come true to play there. I took that opportunity and ran with it. I wasn't going to leave there with any regrets. I had a pretty successful career there and now bring some confidence here coming off my season. But this is a new chapter with Aberdeen now."

Neustrom was rated as the No. 147 draft prospect by MLBPipeline.com and No. 189 by Baseball America. He really entrenched himself firmly on the radar of some scouts when he was a Cape Cod League All-Star last summer when he hit .302 with four homers and 18 RBIs for Hyannis.

"That was huge. Exposure-wise that was big and competition-wise that was big. I got to see some of the best arms in the nation in front of probably the biggest-scouted league in the summer," he said.

Neustrom said he is ready for the ups and downs of pro ball.

"It's baseball and it is a challenging sport and you get challenged every day. You have games where you don't get a hit or feel the best. But then you'll have games where you feel great and go out and get several hits. It is a day in and day out challenge mentally and physically.

Grenier's agreement: As first reported here Sunday, Oregon State shortstop Cadyn Grenier and the Orioles have reached an agreement on his signing bonus. Now we know that Grenier will get a bonus of $1.8 million. The slot value for the No. 37 overall pick was listed as $1,923,500. Grenier told a fan that asked him a question on Twitter that he would report to play for Delmarva.

The Orioles signed top pick Grayson Rodriguez for $4.3 million. So the total for their top two selections was $6.1 million. That was still a total of $198,600 under slot. Some of those dollars could go to the club's third round pick, Arkansas pitcher Blaine Knight. He is expected to get a deal that could wind up over the slot value of $663,200 for the No. 87 pick. As of last night the Orioles were still finalizing a deal with Knight but the sides remain very close to an agreement. When the O's get Grenier and Knight done, they will have signed their draft picks in the top 12 rounds.

Philly challenge: The Orioles begin a two-game series tonight at Philadelphia. Their offense should get a real challenge facing righty Zach Eflin (6-2, 3.02 ERA) tonight and righty Aaron Nola (10-2, 2.48 ERA) on Wednesday afternoon. In five June starts, Eflin went 5-0 with a 1.76 ERA and .218 average against.

The Phillies (45-37) have won four of five and 11 of their past 17 games. They are 39-21 in their last 60 home games dating to last season. They've won five of their past six series.