ANAHEIM, Calif. — For all the noise the Norfolk Tides have made on offense this season, one of their biggest standouts of the young campaign has been a starting pitcher.
Left-hander Cade Povich has gotten off to a dominant start in 2024, leading all of Triple-A in ERA (0.83) and strikeouts (33) through his first four outings. The 24-year-old has already picked up some hardware as the International League Player of the Week. More importantly, he’s cut his walk rate and limited hard contact while building up his pitch count into the mid-80s.
Before this season, Povich had displayed tantalizing strikeout ability for the Orioles but a propensity for free passes drove up his run totals. After being acquired from the Minnesota Twins in the Jorge López deal at the 2022 trade deadline, the 2021 third-round draft pick posted a 4.94 ERA in his first two full minor league seasons. He reached Triple-A midway through last season and allowed 5.8 walks per nine innings.
“Just tried to be too perfect, especially last year getting ahead in counts and then chasing strikeouts,” Povich said in spring training. “My stuff is good enough. I know that. I just got to work over the plate, kind of be myself and not trying to place stuff. Just throw it over the plate [and] let every pitch eat.”
So far this year, he’s walking 3.7 batters per nine innings. After not appearing on a single top 100 prospect list this spring, Povich’s stock has skyrocketed. Pittsburgh Pirates phenom Paul Skenes, the No. 1 pick in last summer’s MLB draft, is heralded as the best pitching prospect in the sport. But while the Pirates have built Skenes up slowly, Povich, the Orioles’ No. 9 prospect to start the season according to Baseball America, has tallied the fourth most innings of any starter in Triple-A and emerged as the most productive pitcher at any level of the minors.
“I’m really, really encouraged with the strikes thrown,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “For me, when I look at … a game report the night before, the first thing I look at is walks and then how many strikes they threw out of so many pitches. So, because if they’re walking people or they’re in 3-2 counts down there, it’s just not going to translate very well up here. So, I’m super excited about Cade. That was something we talked about at the end of camp was the ability to limit walks, let the stuff play in the strike zone, and he’s done that so far this year.”
Povich, like several of the Orioles’ top prospects, doesn’t have a clear path to the majors. The Orioles already selected Albert Suárez as their preferred first alternate starter after placing Tyler Wells on the injured list with elbow inflammation earlier this month. If any other starters do go down, both Kyle Bradish and John Means are a handful of rehab starts away from making their returns to the big leagues. Barring a drastic series of injuries, Povich likely won’t see the Orioles’ rotation until later this summer at the earliest — if at all in 2024.
He could, however, be a candidate for a relief role. Aside from closer Craig Kimbrel, the Orioles’ bullpen has been in flux with no true long reliever available. That could change if Wells, Bradish and Means all wind up healthy at the same time, but Povich’s performance will be difficult to ignore for too long if he continues to have success in Triple-A.
Each week, The Baltimore Sun will break down five of the top performers in the Orioles’ prospect ranks and hand out some superlatives for those who didn’t make that cut. Here’s who stood out:
1. Triple-A Norfolk outfielder Heston Kjerstad
While the Tides haven’t won much lately, they’ve still enjoyed impressive performances from several top Orioles prospects. No one on the offensive side had a better week than Kjerstad, who, on top of earning a promotion to the majors, went 8-for-25 (.320) with three home runs and a 1.094 OPS. The 2020 No. 2 overall pick has tallied 10 homers and 30 RBIs in 21 games.
2. Double-A Bowie outfielder Jud Fabian
Fabian provided perhaps the biggest single swing of the week for the Orioles’ farm system, cranking a walk-off grand slam Saturday that cleared the billboards beyond the left field wall in Bowie. That would’ve been enough for most to cap an impressive week, but he returned Sunday to reach base three more times and push his OPS for the week to 1.150.
3. Triple-A Norfolk infielder Coby Mayo
Mayo got off to a slow start after he went 1-for-16 from Tuesday through Friday. However, he ripped off six hits in nine at-bats over the weekend, including a two-homer game Saturday. The Orioles’ top infield prospect still in the minors drove in six runs and scored three runs between the two games. He’s hitting .344 with a 1.043 OPS this season.
4. Triple-A Norfolk infielder Connor Norby
Not to be outdone was Norby, who left the yard Saturday on his way to an .859 OPS for the week. Norby tallied three extra-base hits and drew four walks, raising his season slash line to .303/.376/.539. He also played four games at second base, which was more games there in one week than he had started there in the first two weeks combined.
5. Triple-A Norfolk right-hander Chayce McDermott
McDermott led all Orioles minor leaguers in strikeouts last week, punching out 13 batters across two outings, including one in relief. The right-hander posted a 2.08 ERA over that span, though he allowed three unearned runs. Like Povich, McDermott, the Orioles’ top pitching prospect, is a candidate to reach the majors in some capacity this season if he can show enough consistency in Triple-A.
The top prospect not featured so far
While it’s been a rough start at the plate for catching prospect Samuel Basallo, he did launch his first career Double-A home run Tuesday. The 19-year-old, whose start of camp was delayed because of a fractured elbow, has yet to start behind the plate in a game, though he has seen some time at first base. He’s hitting .237 with a .555 OPS in 14 games thus far.
International acquisition of the week
Infielder Frederick Bencosme continued his hot start with a nine-hit week for Bowie, raising his season slash line to .365/.411/.615 with three home runs and two stolen bases in 13 games. The 21-year-old, who signed for $100,000 out of the Dominican Republic in 2020, has moved past his struggles at High-A Aberdeen a year ago to put his career back on a strong trajectory. His next home run will already represent a new career high for a full professional season.
Time to give a shoutout to …
Low-A Delmarva right-hander Trey Gibson won the Carolina League Pitcher of the Week Award for his five-inning, no-hit appearance out of the bullpen Wednesday. He struck out eight hitters and walked one in the Shorebirds’ extra-inning loss. Gibson, a native of Newport News, Virginia, signed with the Orioles after pitching in parts of two seasons at Liberty University. He owns a 4.63 ERA with 18 strikeouts in three appearances (one start) this year.