Your Guide to the 2018 Baltimore Orioles Farm System

Hunter Harvey, RHP (23 years old)

For all of you Ravens fans out there, I’ve affectionately labeled Hunter Harvey as the ‘Breshad Perriman‘ of the Baltimore Orioles.

Harvey is undoubtedly a talented pitcher with great intangibles, but he simply hasn’t stayed healthy long enough to make a stride towards the major league level. Regardless, for a team in desperate need of starting pitchers, Harvey is a welcomed answer to a gut-wrenching question about the Orioles’ rotation.

Evaluating Harvey is difficult because he has only pitched 62.2 innings since the 2014 season. His 2014 campaign with Single-A Delmarva, though, was fairly impressive. The North Carolina native pitched to the tune of a 3.18 ERA and posted a 7-5 record that year.

Still, a distant season in Single-A ball isn’t an acceptable way to judge a prospect. Harvey’s body of work is simply too limited to make an accurate determination of his current abilities.

Harvey is by far the biggest wild card in the Orioles farm system. Baseball Prospectus’s 20th ranked prospect before the 2015 season is likely about to see his MLB debut regardless of his performance in the minors. The organization is probably eager to get Harvey to the major league level as fast as possible.

Whether or not this move will benefit or hurt the Orioles is a complete toss-up. Still, considering the state of the Orioles’ rotation, this may be a move that Dan Duquette has to make no matter what.