Baltimore Orioles: A Look at the Frederick Keys

Feb 22, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; A basket of balls sits on the field during practice at George M. Steinbrenner Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Butch Dill-USA TODAY Sports /

The Baltimore Orioles advanced “A” affiliate Frederick Keys shut out the Myrtle Beach Pelicans on Saturday evening, 6-0.

Without an Orioles baseball game to follow and comment upon due to the winter weather last evening, I was able to fulfill my baseball fix by watching the Keys play on MiLB TV.

Watching a minor league baseball game online has all the local fixins’ that come along with the in-person experience, including all of the between-innings festivities. In Myrtle Beach this included a hoagie eating contest, a dog that brought baseballs to the umpire in a cloth basket, and advertisements for vacation trips and flights to … wait for it … West Virginia!

Stimulating my interest in watching this particular game was the starting pitcher, Matthew Grimes. Through a set of circumstances, my wife and I have opened our home to host this very fine young man for this season or for whatever duration he has in Frederick. This is a first-time experience for us, but having young men in the house is nothing new. Four of our five sons have now grown up and moved out, only a college junior remains.

If Grimes continues to pitch as he did tonight, his time with us might be fairly short. He threw five shutout innings for the win, giving up four hits and striking out seven, with no walks allowed. Matthew is 6’6” and throws over the top with a fastball that reaches at times to 96 mph. His game is to use his size to throw downhill and work the bottom of the zone, mixing in a variety of pitches.

Grimes was a 2014 selection of the Orioles in the 18^th round out of Georgia Tech. The Georgia native was among the top high school prospects in 2010, as evidenced by his fourth round selection by the White Sox. But he chose the Yellow Jackets instead and began his college career with a very good freshman year. But then came Tommy John surgery the following season, and he is really just now getting fully back to form at age 24.

The 2015 season was a full year for Matthew, though his innings were capped. He pitched 126 at DelMarVa with a 10-7 record and 4.14 ERA. His second half of the season was much improved over the earlier portion.

The Keys offence gave Grimes a nice four-run lead in the top of the first inning. The big blow was a two-run shot by Aderlin Rodriguez, a Dominican player signed in the offseason by the O’s to a minor league contract. He has been banging around the minors since signing with the Mets in 2008. Now age 24 and playing first base, he is a sizeable and athletic specimen at 6-3, 210. He also added a double and has started the season 6-for-14. With a great swing, batting cleanup, Rodriguez is an eye-catcher on this squad.

The Keys feature four top-30 prospects on the roster, including Jomar Reyes who added a triple last night. At only age 19, the third baseman hit .278 in 84 games with the Shorebirds last year.

While Reyes was ranked by Baseball America as the #4 prospect for the Orioles, the Keys also have #11 (Tanner Scott), #15 (Jonah Heim), and #28 (Josh Hart).

Scott is already known to O’s fans as the lefty with the 100 mph fastball, a rare talent. Between Aberdeen and DelMarVa, Scott threw 42.1 innings while striking out 60. The ERA was 3.83.