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Baltimore Orioles: Top Five Team Prospects 2017

By Ben Palmer

Jul 10, 2016; San Diego, CA, USA; USA batter Chance Sisco (right) celebrates with teammates including Andrew Benintendi after hitting a solo home run in the fourth inning during the All Star Game futures baseball game at PetCo Park. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 10, 2016; San Diego, CA, USA; USA batter Chance Sisco (right) celebrates with teammates including Andrew Benintendi after hitting a solo home run in the fourth inning during the All Star Game futures baseball game at PetCo Park. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /
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May 27, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Ball and glove on the field during batting practice prior MLB game between the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays the at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports
May 27, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Ball and glove on the field during batting practice prior MLB game between the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays the at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports /

5. Ryan Mountcastle – SS

Ryan Mountcastle (picture unavailable) is only 19, but he’s looking promising already. Drafted out of high school in the first round in 2015, Mountcastle is showing that he just might have what it takes to keep moving up in the Baltimore Orioles’ system.

Mountcastle is much better offensively than he is defensively, though he won’t hurt you in the field. He’s being developed as a shortstop, however, his range is fairly limited and his arm strength is below average, which means he’ll likely end up somewhere else in the field, likely the outfield.

Mountcastle is a right-handed hitter with good power, decent speed, and solid hitting tools. He has struggled with strikeouts, but showed some major improvement this year, dropping his strikeout rate by 10%.

With the Baltimore Orioles single-A affiliate last season, he batted .281/.319/.426 with 10 HRs, 53 runs, and 51 RBIs. Mountcastle projects as a guy who could hit for decent power and make good contact often with decent speed, something the Orioles don’t really have much of right now.

We likely won’t see Mountcastle in the majors in a meaningful way until 2019, as he’s still just 19 years old, but there’s some interesting potential there that, with some development, could turn into something good.

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