Orioles’ minor league notebook: Azocar having a blast at Frederick, Layton making adjustments

When the Orioles acquired five players from the Boston Red Sox in the Adley Rutschman deal on August 3^rd, most of the attention was on two top pitchers, right-handers Anthony Eyanson and Kyle Witherspoon.

Eyanson, the Orioles’ No. 2 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings for Double-A Chesapeake, allowing three hits and walking three on Thursday night. He struck out eight.

Witherspoon, the No. 12 prospect, was at High-A Frederick and has been ruled out for the season with right shoulder impingement.

For some minor league observers, the real get in the deal was 19-year-old outfielder Enddy Azocar, a 6-foot-2 Venezuelan who’s also with the Keys.

Azocar is rated ninth by MLB Pipeline and fifth in Baseball America’s rankings.

He’s had a great start with Frederick, hitting .346 with a .991 OPS, three home runs and 18 RBIs in 19 games.

This week, The Athletic’s Keith Law raved about Azocar: “When the Orioles traded Adley Rutschman to Boston for five players, including two pretty famous pitching prospects, an exec told me he thought Enddy Azocar might be the best player in the trade. I can see why — Azocar has incredible bat speed, with lightning-quick wrists, and he’s been out of his mind at the plate since the trade.

“He doesn’t strike out much, but there’s more swing-and-miss here than you might infer from the stat line,” Law wrote. “He’s hunting fastballs and can catch up to good velocity, while he’s struggling more with secondary stuff. He’s also only 19 years old and in High A already, with plenty of time to work on his pitch recognition. There’s huge offensive upside here.”

In a conversation earlier this month at Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium, Azocar, who spoke through a team translator, expressed excitement about the deal and his new team.

“It’s definitely crazy to be a part of that with such a big player,” he said. “It’s crazy when a team looks at you with that much value.”

Azocar wasn’t looking for a deal. He’d been at Salem, which also plays in  the South Atlantic League.

“Yes, definitely a surprise. I knew it could be a chance, but it was definitely unforeseen,” he said.

Azocar played in the Dominican Republic as a 17-year-old in 2024 and last year played for Boston’s Florida Complex League team and Salem. While he’s happy with his new baseball home, the reality was jarring.

“Difficult, I’d been a Boston Red Sox my entire professional career, but coming here has been exciting,” he said. “Whenever I get to a new place, I like to get comfortable and get used to my surroundings. In the end, it’s the same game and I’m following the same processes.”

Azocar most regularly plays center field, but he’s started games in right and left for Frederick and easily responded when asked about his strengths.

“A guy that’s going to give 100 percent in every aspect of the game, every ball, every strike, every swing,” he said.

Azocar can also run. He’s stolen five bases in six attempts.

“I definitely love running the bases aggressively,” he said. “One run can be the difference within a game. I take pride in that to make sure I’m running well.”

Azocar is also trying to master English, especially since most of his teammates aren’t Spanish speakers.

“It definitely helps to speak English,” he said. “I try to speak English to have conversations with my teammates and to be able to build those relationships.”

Layton’s adjustment

DJ Layton, the Orioles’ sixth-round pick in 2024, is one of Azocar’s teammates at Frederick.

In 19 games, Layton, who plays shortstop, second base and center field, is hitting .237 with a .774 OPS. In his first at-bat after his promotion from Single-A Delmarva, Layson homered, his only RBI so far.

“It was pretty cool, got a pitch that I could handle, hit it hard. I knew the ball flies pretty well here, so I knew I hit it hard, and I saw the centerfielder turn his back, and I knew it had a chance to go.”

Layton, who’s the Orioles’ No. 26 prospect, didn’t play the year he was drafted and after playing in the Spring Breakout game in March 2025, he played for the FCL Orioles, hitting just .185 in 40 games.

“A surreal experience,” he said about his promotion. “I knew that it was going to come, being able to be ready for that time to come and being able to take it on by storm.”

Waiting to play after the 2024 draft was difficult.

“It was a little hard, but being able to have faith in the staff, have faith in the organization that they were going to give me the time that I needed and then be ready to play whenever the time came,” he says.

He’s getting used to a new level, where at 20, he’s one of the younger players on the team.

“I would say the pitch quality is much different,” he said. “I don’t have to go up there wondering if he’s going to throw a strike. I can go up there ready to swing the bat every single pitch, knowing that I’m going to get something in the zone that I can at least swing at and hopefully putting a good swing on the ball. Just making sure I’m ready to hit everything and knowing that I’m going to have something coming my way on defense.”

Layton, who isn’t lacking for confidence, would prefer to play short but will play anywhere.

“I’m always going to say short,” he said. “That’s where I feel I add the most value to the team. There’s where I had the most potential to grow, and that’s where I feel I play the best.

“I would say I bring some energy to the team. I’m going to be that guy that might get something going. I’m going to be that guy that can make that play on the field. I can turn the game and get some momentum going.”

Layton considered foregoing pro ball for the University of Southern Mississippi but is convinced he made the right choice.

“They have a really good program, a really good winning program, really good culture, really good atmosphere there,” he said. “That decision was pretty hard, but knowing that I was coming to this org, how they run their development, how they push their players, I knew I was going to be a in a good organization.”

He’s made the adjustment from having weekends off in high school and has learned a lot about the realities of professional baseball.

“It really is a grown-man’s game,” he said. “You have to be ready. You can’t come on the field day one as that young kid, you have to be ready to attack it, attack it. You have to grow mentally a lot quicker than some other guys—maybe if they went to college. Just continuing to take it day by day and not take any days off or reps off.”

Notes: Félix Bautista pitched a spotless fifth inning for Triple-A Norfolk in his second rehab outing. He struck out one, and threw 10 pitches, seven strikes. … The Orioles re-signed right-hander Albert Suárez to a minor league contract. … Blaze Alexander, who played two rehab games for Norfolk, was not in Thursday’s lineup. … Delmarva right-hander Esteban Mejia left the Shorebird’s game with Fredericksburg due to a cracked fingernail that was bleeding.

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