Down On the Farm

XL came up to my neck of the woods this weekend to throw a few back with Inky, throw the football with me and so we could go see the future of our baseball team. We went to Bowie Maryland to see the AA Baysox take on the New Britain Rock Cats. Bowie is chock full of O's top prospects and we saw more than a few of them on display.

First and foremost we were there to see Matt Weiters, who was the O's top draft pick in the '07 draft. He is a 6-5 catcher who is about as "can't miss" as a baseball prospect ever gets. In the minors this year he is hitting over .350 including .362-9-40 in 42 games at AA. At this point there is no reason he should still be in the minors, let alone AA, so XL and I wanted to get a look at him while he was still down on the farm. I've heard from people inside the organization that there is no way he will be called up this year because it would start his free agency clock a year early, but he should be the opening day catcher next year. He was 1-5 in this game with an RBI but he also had a throwing error on a ball he should have just put in his pocket and left 4 on base.

We also got lucky that one of the O's top draft picks was on the mound for last nights game. Chris Tillman came to the O's in the robbery that was the Erik Bedard deal. Along with the CF of the future and the current closer Seattle was kind enough to give us this stud of a righthander. He is still just 20 years old, but he is tearing it up at AA. After last night he stands at 7-4 with a 3.67 ERA, while sporting 124 K's in 112.6 innings this year. He went 6 last night allowing 3 runs on 5 hits wile striking out 10, all while being one of the youngest players in the league.

We also got to see one O's prospect who, while having a good year, had a bad night. Noland Reimold is a 25 year old RF who is hitting .288-19-68 in 120 games in the middle of the Baysox order. Last night, however, he was 0-4 plus a walk, while striking out twice and leaving 7 on base. All in all it was a pretty good display of the state of the O's minor league talent, and a perfect night for baseball.