Why did some Orioles’ draftees not play in 2025? | MAILBAG

Question: Why did a few players the Orioles drafted this year not play after the draft? It seems to me they would want to. From: Brady McDaniel

Answer: Brady, it’s an interesting question, one that Jeff Molnar also asked. I posed this question to the Orioles, and here is their answer:

“There are no organizational policies against high school players or against pitchers playing in the same year they were drafted. Every player comes into the organization with their own unique situation. The organization’s job is to set them up for success in the future, and that doesn’t always mean rushing out to play games immediately. Physical health, conditioning, and prior workload are major factors in this decision. The Florida Complex League season ends earlier than in the past, so the only option for drafted players to play games in August or September is Single-A and above.”

Let’s look at the three Top 30 prospects on the list, who didn’t play. Outfielder Slater de Brun didn’t play after he signed, and since the FCL ends at the end of July, the team didn’t want to rush him into playing at Delmarva.

Wehiwa Aloy, who was selected 31^st, six spots before de Brun, is three years older and he played 20 games for the Shorebirds.

Easing a player into pro ball worked well for Nate George, another high school player who was drafted by the Orioles. George didn’t play in 2024, after he was drafted in the 16^th round as an 18-year-old, the same age as de Brun.

George played 23 games for the FCL Orioles, 45 for Delmarva and 21 at Aberdeen, and hit a combined .337, earning minor league player of the year honors.

The Orioles would be delighted if de Brun followed George’s lead.

As for the two pitchers, Joseph Dzierwa and JT Quinn, they both played big-time college schedules. Dzierwa started 15 games for Michigan State, throwing 91 2/3 innings. Michigan State’s final game was May 22^nd, and with the draft in mid-July, it didn’t seem to make sense to restart Dzierwa’s season more than two months after the Spartans’ final game.

Quinn threw 36 innings in 17 games for Georgia, as both a starter and reliever and another 14 in three starts in the Cape Cod League.

The guess here is that adding a few more games to his year made little sense, and perhaps Dzierwa and Quinn will begin their careers with the Shorebirds next April.

Question: Could we please get your observations on reliever Houston Roth? He finished his season at Norfolk with an ERA of 2.39 and had decent strikeout/walk numbers. Roth was brought up for a day and sent back without pitching with no comment (as far as I know) ever being made. From: Chuck in Edgewood.

Answer: Chuck, Roth’s ERA at Norfolk was actually 3.32, and he struck out 37 and walked 18 in 40 2/3 innings, which weren’t spectacular. He was on the Orioles’ roster from July 29^th-August 4^th without appearing in a game.

It seemed strange to me that he wasn’t used in a game when the team ended up with 70 players in 2025.

Roth was designated for assignment on August 11^th and passed through waivers on August 13^th.

If he’s not added to the Orioles’ 40-man roster in the next few weeks, he’ll be eligible for the Rule 5 draft on December 10^th, and we’ll see if any other team feels he’s worthy of a shot in the majors.

Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. If you’d like to submit a question, send it to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com. Questions may be edited for clarity, length and style.