Baltimore Orioles Prospects Shine in AFL All-Stars Game

The Baltimore Orioles’ top prospects played in the Arizona Fall League All-Star game on Saturday. So just how did they do? And what does it say about the future?

The Baltimore Orioles’ top prospects played in the Arizona Fall League All-Star game on Saturday. The Arizona Fall League is designed to allow a whole range of minor league players to compete against one another in an extended season format.

This competition generally consists of a team’s rising prospect or a prospect that needs to get in some more innings of work.  With the Rule 5 draft coming in December and the deadline to add a player to the 40 man roster on November 20^th, it is the last opportunity for some players to showcase what they have and be protected.

The Fall All Stars game, which took place Saturday night, had two representatives from the Baltimore Orioles in SS/3B Ryan Mountcastle and LHP Tanner Scott.

While neither of these prospects carries the title of a Top-100 prospect like Victor Robles or Ronald Acuna, both prospects demonstrated why they are highly regarded by the Baltimore Orioles and will one day contribute at the major league level.

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In terms of prospect rankings performed by MLB Pipeline, Mountcastle is ranked as the third-best Orioles prospect and Tanner Scott is the sixth.

Ryan Mountcastle, the young 20-year-old, has made a transition to third base where, according to Orioles Scouts, he has a chance to stick at the major league level.  Mountcastle is using this fall time to work on his third base skills.

Mountcastle was efficient last night defensively with two putouts and no errors.  Mountcastle has been in the talks of the Top-100 due to his advanced hitting tool that led him all the way to AA-Bowie last season.  In his first at-bat, he had an RBI groundout that scored Victor Robles.

Mountcastle hit a minor league-leading 48 doubles last year and did not disappoint last night in his second at bat.  In a 0-2 count from Cardinals flame thrower reliever Sandy Alcantara, Mountcastle and his quick hats blasted a double to left field off a 99 mph heater.

There is no doubt the young man’s bat will play.  If he can be steady at third base, he is another weapon waiting on the farm.

Tanner Scott is power lefty that throws his fastball with ease from 96 mph to 100 mph.  He is, however, capable of going a few ticks higher on his already plus fastball.  Scott really took off this year in his three innings stints at Bowie which allowed him to work on his mechanics.

His slider has come a long way and while it’s average, he throws it at 88-90 mph which plays well once paired with the fastball.  Scott was impressive!  In his first inning of work, he was able to strikeout the side with his slider including the game’s top prospect in Ronald Acuna.

In the second inning, he allowed one hit and struck out another hitter. Hit final stat line: two innings pitched, one hit, zero walks, and four strikeouts.  While there is discussion of converting Scott into a starter, he is, right now, better-suited as a reliever and would have to develop a third pitch before making that sort of jump.

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Mountcastle and Scott were able to deliver on a competitive stage and show how much the Orioles farm has progressed in just over a year.  Pretty soon, they will be contributing for the Orioles in Baltimore.