Orioles have a trio of promising arms at Chesapeake

BOWIE—Over the last few days, Oriole fans have been focused on the addition of top prospects Samuel Basallo and Dylan Beavers. In their first games, Basallo and Beavers have been offensive factors, but the Orioles also have some promising, though not as well-known pitching prospects in the higher levels of their organization.

Double-A Chesapeake has three interesting arms — right-handers Michael Forret, the team’s 11^th-highest prospect, according to MLB Pipeline; Juaron Watts-Brown, the 13^th-ranked prospect; and Nestor German, who’s 14^th.

Forret, who’ll make his second start for the Baysox on Sunday against Richmond, replaced Trey Gibson, who moved up to Triple-A Norfolk. The 21-year-old was excellent in first start at Double-A.

Forret pitched six innings, allowing an unearned run on two hits, striking out seven and walking two against Erie. The Seawolves have two of the top 10 prospects in minor league baseball, shortstop Kevin McGonigle (2^nd) and centerfielder Max Clark (9th).

Neither Forret, a 14^th-round pick in 2023, nor the 23-year-oldGerman, who was drafted 11^th two years ago, was a top-tier prospect. Gibson, a 6-foot-5 23-year-old right-hander who is the current International League pitcher of the week, wasn’t even chosen in the draft.

Forret, who was 1-2 with a 1.51 ERA in 16 games at High-A Aberdeen before his promotion, thinks the Orioles work smarter with their lower-round choices.

“I feel like they do a really good job giving us a lot of data we can use,” Forret said. “It’s super smart. All of our coaches are great with it.”

Forret trains in the offseason with Tread Athletics, and he said the organization works well with them.

“The partnership with Tread and the Orioles has been a really good process, and a lot of good things happen,” he said.

Overall, 2025 has been a good year for Forret, though he did lose some time to a back issue in May.

Before then and since then, “everything’s been good,” he said. “Pitching well, trying to stack good outings on top of each other, just glad staying healthy.”

A year ago, at Aberdeen and Single-A Delmarva, Forret average four walks per nine innings. This year, it’s been just 2.3 while striking out more than 11 batters per nine.

“I think this year command’s been a lot better, cut down on the walks, strikeouts have been about the same, just really trying to limit hard contact and baserunners,” Forret said. “Usually if you do that, you’re going to limit runs. That’s been great.”

Like Forret, German started the year with the IronBirds. After six starts there, he earned a promotion to Double-A.

“I’ve seen some good flashes,” he said. “I haven’t been as inconsistent as I’ve wanted  to be, but overall, getting better every day, just trying to trend upwards in my development.”

German is 4-6 with a 4.42 ERA in 15 games with Chesapeake.

“There’s tough lineups. There’s tough teams,” he said. “I found myself failing a couple of times but trying to keep learning from that and keep betting better from that.”

Being a late-round draft choice hasn’t hurt German.

“This organization just keeps an opportunity to keep playing baseball at a high level,” he said. “We have taken a great step forward in that.”

Forret and German are just two levels away from the major leagues, and there’s always an opportunity.

“I’m not really too worried about the future,” he said. “I’m trying to keep going at it every single day. Hopefully, I’ll be really close.”

Watts-Brown was Toronto’s third-round pick in 2023 and is new to the organization. The 23-year-old was traded by the Blue Jays for Seranthony Dominguez. In a wacky turn, Domínguez and Watts-Brown changed teams instantly.

The Orioles were facing Toronto, and Domínguez pitched in the second game of a doubleheader just a few hours after being traded. Watts-Brown had to wait several days to face New Hampshire.

“It was a little weird,” Watts-Brown said. “It was kind of already in the cards because of the way the Blue Jays had been playing. It could possibly happen, but until it does, I’m still a Blue Jay. What made it especially weird was the fact that we were here, and I walked across.”

Unlike other players, Watts-Brown acknowledges checking social media for chatter about the game.

“They were talking about what the Blue Jays needed, and they were making mock packages, and I saw my name in a couple of them,” he said. “I figured it was a possibility, just the way the Blue Jays have been playing.”

After going 2-2 with a 3.48 ERA in 11 starts for New Hampshire, Watts-Brown is off to a shaky start with the Baysox, with an 0-3 record and 6.91 ERA in three starts.

Knowing he’s just 45 minutes away from Camden Yards has him eager to improve.

“I feel like the opportunity might be a little better just because they traded for me,” he said. “Getting traded for a big leaguer can mean something pretty special for the organization. They brought me in because they thought I could be a good piece for them down the road. The opportunity they want to give me might be a little bigger just because the way the trade went down and everything. I’m excited.”

Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com.