Question: Who are some pitchers the Orioles didn’t draft in Rounds 1-3 the last few years who could have been good selections? From: Tom Gardner, Fulton, Maryland
Answer: Tom, I’ll take the years 2020-2022 since the Orioles had an outstanding draft in 2019 with Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Kyle Stowers, Joey Ortiz, Darrel Hernaiz and Kade Strowd all making the majors.
In 2020, the Orioles took Heston Kjerstad with the second overall pick. They also made another excellent pick with Jordan Westburg later in the first round.
Some of the pitchers who were drafted include Max Meyer, taken by Miami immediately after Kjerstad; Emerson Hancock, taken by Seattle with the sixth overall pick; and most notably Garrett Crochet, the 11th pick by the Chicago White Sox.
In 2021, Colton Cowser was taken with the fifth overall pick. The best pitcher taken later in the first round was Gavin Williams, who was chosen by Cleveland with the 23rd pick.
Cincinnati took Andrew Abbott in the second round (53rd), and Atlanta selected Spencer Schwellenbach (59th). Mason Miller, the best relief pitcher I’ve ever seen, was nabbed by Oakland with in the third round, the 97th overall pick.
In 2022, the Orioles took Jackson Holliday with the first overall pick. Cade Horton was drafted by the Chicago Cubs with the seventh pick in the first round, and Cleveland’s impressive rookie, Parker Messick, who nearly no-hit the Orioles in April, was grabbed with the 54th pick. Milwaukee’s outstanding Jacob Misiorowski also went in the second round (63rd)
Question: Does MLB or anyone else track how much money MLB teams spend on players while they are on the injured list each year? It would be interesting to know for the Orioles and all of MLB. It must be a big number. From: Dean in West Virginia
Answer: Dean, Spotrac.com does such a list, and as of Tuesday, this season’s Orioles on the injured list counted for $17,282,893. That ranked 13th in the majors. The Dodgers’ injured list players’ were paid $47,119,020, leading MLB. Cleveland’s was the lowest with $2,609,644.
Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. If you’d like to submit a question, send it to: [email protected]. Questions may be edited for clarity, length and style.