Will more youth be on the way, plus other notes and Aberdeen's roster

Right-hander Yefry Ramirez had the look of player who knew he did a decent job in the Orioles clubhouse yesterday. And for a player chasing a major league dream since his first season on the farm in 2011, to pitch in a big league game against a good team and handle himself well had to be so special for him.

Ramirez saw two of his runs score after he left the game. Otherwise allowing one run over 4 1/3 would have looked much better. But he showed a major league quality changeup and got swings and misses on seven of 32 he threw against Boston at Oriole Park. With that changeup, if Ramirez threw 95 or 96 mph, rather than 91 or 92 mph, he might really be a highly-rated prospect.

For now he did well enough to at some point get another chance. If Andrew Cashner is back to reclaim his starting spot Tuesday as it now appears, perhaps Ramirez will be sent back to Triple-A.

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But what he and David Hess have showed is that you don't have to be a highly-rated prospect or throw 98 to get major league hitters out. Once you take that mound no one cares if you ever made someone's top 100.

The rest of this lost Orioles season should be about seeing what some of the players on the farm can do. Are there some nuggets we might have not even considered? But those players have to be ready to be here and should not be rushed just because the big league team is struggling and fans need some shiny new toys to play with.

Outfielder Cedric Mullins could be next. After his first six games at Triple-A he was just 2-for-24. But over his past five games he is 7-for-19 with five doubles and a homer. So yeah heating up and it might not be long before he makes his way to Baltimore.

Sure play some kids, but when they are ready and not rushed and the rest of the 2018 season should probably provide plenty of chances for a transition to a younger team.

Orioles notes:

* The Orioles have had a miserable run of hitting, the fans don't need to be told that. But when you see the actual math, it further reinforces how bad this has been. Here is the offensive production from the club's last six series. Starting May 25 they scored six runs in three games versus Tampa Bay, two in three games against Washington, six in two games versus the New York Yankees, three in two games against the New York Mets, 11 in four games at Toronto and five in three games versus Boston.

* The Orioles have scored one run or less seven times in the last 14 games.

* The Orioles are batting .055 with runners in scoring position (3-for-55) over the last seven games. They are batting .092 (8-for-87) with RISP the last 14 games and batting .136 (23-for-169) with RISP the past 26 games.

* Boston completed its sixth series sweep of the year with Wednesday's win and third on the road. The Red Sox have swept back-to-back series in Baltimore. They also swept three games Sept. 18-20, 2017 at Oriole Park.

* Danny Valencia extended his hitting streak to six games Wednesday. Valencia is batting .339 (21-for-62) in 18 home games.

Aberdeen's roster: The short-season Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds, who open a new season at home tomorrow night against Hudson Valley, have released a preliminary roster. It is certainly not final and should undergo several changes over the next few weeks and maybe even several hours before the first pitch of the new season.

The roster includes infielder Adam Hall, the shortstop from Canada drafted in round two last year. It includes just two 2018 draft picks currently with many more likely headed their way. On the current roster are fifth-round pick, outfielder Robert Neustrom and 14th-round selection, outfielder Doran Turchin. China's Guiyuan Xu is also a current IronBird.

Pitchers: Brandon Bonilla, Jose Diaz, Javier Echevarria, Ruben Garcia, Nick Gruener, Hector Guance, Josh Keaton, Zach Matson, Jimmy Murphy, Luis Perez, Victor Romero, Willie Rios, Nick Vichio.

Catchers: Bryndan Arredondo, Alfredo Gonzalez, Luke Ringhofer.

Infielders: Carlos Baez, Tyler Coolbaugh, JC Escarra, Adam Hall, Milton Ramos, Willie Yahn, Guiyuan Xu.

Outfielders: Robert Neustrom, Robbie Thorburn, Doran Turchin.

Kyle Moore is Aberdeen's manager with Tim Raines Jr. the hitting coach, Mark Hendrickson the pitching coach and Ramon Sambo the field coach.