2003 Wrapups: Baltimore Orioles
With the 2003 minor league season coming to a close, we will be providing a brief wrapup of the season for all 30 minor league teams. In each report, we will take a look at how the team's Top 10 Prospects performed, identify some emerging prospects and organizational leaders, and report on the performance of their top draft pick.
Complete index of Team Wrapups 2003 League Wrapups
By Kevin Goldstein
September 19, 2003
Season Results
| Level |
Team |
League |
W |
L |
PCT |
| AAA |
Ottawa |
International |
79 |
65 |
.549 |
| AA |
Bowie |
Eastern |
69 |
72 |
.489 |
| A+ |
Frederick |
Carolina |
60 |
75 |
.444 |
| A |
Delmarva |
South Atlantic |
67 |
71 |
.486 |
| SS |
Aberdeen |
New York-Penn |
38 |
38 |
.500 |
| R+ |
Bluefield |
Appalachian |
23 |
40 |
.365 |
| R |
GCL Orioles |
Gulf Coast |
32 |
28 |
.533 |
|
|
TOTAL |
368 |
389 |
.486 |
|
Performance of Top 10 Prospects
Here's how our top 10 prospects entering this season performed in 2003. Major league statistics through games of September 18th.
| 1. Erik Bedard, lhp
Age: 24 |
Returned late in the season from Tommy John surgery and looked sharp before getting knocked around in his final start for Frederick.
| Team |
W-L |
SV |
ERA |
G |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| GCL Orioles (Rookie)
| 0-0 |
0 |
1.13 |
3 |
8.0 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
11 |
| Aberdeen (Short-Season)
| 0-0 |
0 |
2.35 |
2 |
7.2 |
7 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
13 |
| Frederick (High Class A)
| 0-1 |
0 |
7.36 |
1 |
3.2 |
5 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
|
| 2. Darnell McDonald, of
Age: 24 |
A strongly hyped player as the Orioles first round pick in 1997, McDonald finally seemed to be turning his career around with a solid year at Triple-A in 2002. Got off to another nice start, but missed the remainder of the year after undergoing labrum surgery in May.
| TEAM | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| Ottawa (Triple-A) |
40 |
152 |
19 |
45 |
7 |
1 |
0 |
20 |
18 |
27 |
5 |
.296 |
.374 |
.355 |
|
| 3. Daniel Cabrera, rhp
Age: 22 |
Limited Sally League batters to a .215 average, but struggled with his control throughout the year and ran out of steam in games quickly (9.00 ERA after the 4th inning).
| Team |
W-L |
SV |
ERA |
G |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| Delmarva (Low Class A)
| 5-9 |
0 |
4.24 |
26 |
125.1 |
105 |
74 |
59 |
78 |
120 |
|
| 4. Luis Jimenez, 1b/of
Age: 21 |
Missed the first half of the season with a shoulder injury, and then failed to build upon last season's breakout performance. Hit .365 in August, but did not homer in his final 45 games.
| TEAM | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| Aberdeen (Short-Season) |
53 |
168 |
17 |
41 |
9 |
0 |
1 |
21 |
26 |
40 |
7 |
.244 |
.344 |
.419 |
|
| 5. Rommie Lewis, lhp
Age: 21 |
Last year's Sally League all-star closer, Lewis struggled in the rotation for Frederick, walking nearly as many as he struck out while going 2-6 in his final nine starts. He returned to the bullpen for the final month of the season, where he gave up a .387 batting average.
| Team |
W-L |
SV |
ERA |
G |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| Frederick (High Class A)
| 4-9 |
0 |
3.34 |
26 |
113.1 |
108 |
54 |
42 |
60 |
69 |
|
| 6. Mike Fontenot, 2b
Age: 23 |
After struggling in his first pro season, Fontenot enjoyed a breakout campaign in Double-A, hitting .360 over the season's final three months while reaching base in 74 of his final 84 games and being named to the Eastern League all-star team.
| TEAM | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| Bowie (Double-A) |
126 |
449 |
63 |
146 |
24 |
5 |
12 |
66 |
50 |
89 |
16 |
.325 |
.399 |
.481 |
|
| 7. Richard Stahl, lhp
Age: 22 |
The injury-plagued lefty returned to action in early May and was used sparingly in the Delmarva bullpen, usually getting three days rest between appearances. The results were disappointing as he walked over a batter per inning, and surrendered a .299 average to righthanded hitters.
| Team |
W-L |
SV |
ERA |
G |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| Delmarva (Low Class A)
| 1-3 |
1 |
5.48 |
28 |
47.2 |
47 |
41 |
29 |
50 |
46 |
|
| 8. John Maine, rhp
Age: 22 |
The Orioles breakout player of the year, Maine led the minors in strikeouts, and continues to look like a steal after being selected in the sixth round of last year's draft. Limited opposing batters to a .177 average across two levels while compiling a K/BB ratio of nearly 5-to-1.
| Team |
W-L |
SV |
ERA |
G |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| Delmarva (Low Class A)
| 7-3 |
0 |
1.53 |
14 |
76.1 |
43 |
16 |
13 |
18 |
108 |
| Frederick (High Class A)
| 6-1 |
0 |
3.07 |
12 |
70.1 |
48 |
27 |
24 |
20 |
77 |
|
| 9. Tripper Johnson, 3b
Age: 21 |
Hit .310 over the first two months of the season, but steadily tailed off from there. Still not showing the power expected from him, or making progress in pitch recognition.
| TEAM | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| Frederick (High Class A) |
123 |
417 |
43 |
114 |
25 |
3 |
5 |
50 |
46 |
92 |
7 |
.273 |
.359 |
.384 |
|
| 10. Eli Whiteside, c
Age: 23 |
Missed almost a month after a violent home plate collision, and Whiteside's offense continues to lag far behind his defense as he vas a virtual nonfactor at the plate for Bowie.
| TEAM | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| Bowie (Double-A) |
81 |
265 |
21 |
54 |
13 |
1 |
1 |
23 |
5 |
44 |
0 |
.204 |
.230 |
.272 |
| GCL (Rookie) |
1 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
.333 |
.500 |
.667 |
| Adberdeen (Short-Season) |
2 |
10 |
0 |
7 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
.700 |
.700 |
1.000 |
|
Top Draft Pick:
| Nick Markakis, of
Young Harris (Ga.) JC Bonus: $1.85M |
Markakis was the best hitter and pitcher in the junior college ranks entering the draft, and while most preferred the upside he showed on the mound, the Orioles liked what they saw from his bat in a private workout and selected him with the seventh overall pick. Played very well in his debut after missing nearly three weeks to play for the Greek Olympic team.
| TEAM | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| Aberdeen (Short-Season) |
59 |
205 |
22 |
58 |
14 |
3 |
1 |
28 |
30 |
33 |
13 |
.283 |
.372 |
.395 |
|
Emerging Prospects:
Adam Loewen, lhp: Last year's top pick finally signed just before this year's draft, and showed dynamic stuff in seven games for Aberdeen before being shut down as a precautionary measure.
Val Majewski, of: A third round pick in 2002, Majewski missed nearly six weeks with a right leg fracture, but still managed to hit .301-12-71 in 102 games.
Matt Riley, lhp: More of a re-emergence for Riley, who was ranked as the Orioles top prospect before the 1999 and 2000 seasons, but had struggled with injuries and control since. Riley went 9-4 with 150 strikeouts in 144 innings to earn his first big league callup in nearly four years.
Statistical Leaders
| Batting Average |
Mike Fontenot |
.325 |
| Home Runs |
Tommy Arko
Ivanon Coffie
Juan Diaz |
14 |
| Runs Batted In |
Mike Huggins |
74 |
| Stolen Bases |
Tim Raines Jr. |
51 |
| Earned Run Average |
John Maine |
2.27 |
| Wins |
John Maine |
13 |
| Strikeouts |
John Maine |
185 |
| Saves |
Jeff Montani |
23 |
