{"id":527,"date":"2024-10-23T01:29:39","date_gmt":"2024-10-23T01:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=527"},"modified":"2024-10-23T01:29:39","modified_gmt":"2024-10-23T01:29:39","slug":"breaking-orioles-prospect-poised-for-spring-training-stardom-despite-roster-question-mark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=527","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Orioles Prospect Poised for Spring Training Stardom Despite Roster Question Mark"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In 2024, the Baltimore Orioles\u2019 roster was buzzing with talent and standout performances. Among the highlights were Colton Cowser\u2019s impactful debut, Gunnar Henderson\u2019s MVP-worthy season, and Jordan Westburg\u2019s first All-Star nod.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/.image\/t_share\/MjA1MTU3NTQwNDI0NjU2NDQ4\/usatsi_19093288.jpg\" alt=\"Baltimore Orioles Youngster's Historic Spring Training Game Might Have  Earned Him Roster Spot - Sports Illustrated Baltimore Orioles News,  Analysis and More\" \/><\/p>\n<p>But as good as the Orioles\u2019 core is, the potential for an even brighter future is there, with a few players primed for breakout seasons in 2025. Let\u2019s take a closer look at three key players who could elevate the Birds to new heights next year.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Chayce McDermott: Ready to Make His Mark<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Chayce McDermott\u2019s road to the majors has been promising yet bumpy.<\/p>\n<p>The right-handed pitcher, who showed incredible potential in Triple-A, is poised for a comeback in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Despite an interrupted 2024 season due to a shoulder injury, McDermott left a strong impression with a 3.78 ERA and an impressive 32.9% strikeout rate over 100 innings at Norfolk. Though his control needs refinement, his ability to strikeout batters gives him a fighting chance to make an impact.<\/p>\n<p>McDermott\u2019s brief appearance with the Orioles in 2024 didn\u2019t go as planned, as he allowed three runs over four innings against Miami, a rough point compounded by a shoulder impingement.<\/p>\n<p>However, with a dynamic fastball-slider combo and a deceptive changeup, he\u2019s got the tools to succeed at the top level. Spring training in 2025 will be his opportunity to prove he\u2019s ready to contribute full-time in the Orioles\u2019 rotation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Heston Kjerstad: Knocking on the Door of Stardom<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The glimpses we got from Heston Kjerstad in 2024 were enough to spark excitement. In just 114 major league plate appearances, Kjerstad posted a .253\/.351\/.394 slash line, a clear step up from his 2023 numbers.<\/p>\n<p>His Triple-A tenure was even more impressive, boasting a .300\/.397\/.601 line with Norfolk.<\/p>\n<p>Kjerstad\u2019s potential is undeniable, and with Anthony Santander expected to test free agency, an opening in Baltimore\u2019s outfield could be his for the taking.<\/p>\n<p>While there\u2019s speculation about adding a big-name outfielder, until then, Kjerstad\u2019s improved discipline at the plate and raw power make him a prime candidate to seize a regular role. His defense may not be Gold Glove caliber, but it\u2019s solid enough to keep him in the lineup and his offensive breakout could be just what the Orioles need in 2025.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Brandon Young: The Under-the-Radar Prospect<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Not currently on Baltimore\u2019s 40-man roster, Brandon Young might be flying under the radar, but his 2024 performance suggests he could be a major asset. At Double-A Bowie, he endured some tough luck with a 4.09 ERA across seven starts, though a much more telling 1.24 FIP and a staggering 40.9% strikeout rate signaled his real potential.<\/p>\n<p>Upon promotion to Triple-A, Young continued to shine with a 3.44 ERA in 89 innings, supported by a 3.61 FIP. His four-pitch repertoire and aptitude for hitting the zone without excessive walks put him in line for a possible rotation spot come spring training.<\/p>\n<p>Young\u2019s blend of control and strikeout ability could translate well to a major league role, positioning him as an exciting arm for Orioles fans to watch in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>With these three potential breakout stars, the Orioles\u2019 2025 season holds promise for stepping up to even greater heights. Their development and performances could be the key to unlocking a new era of success for Baltimore\u2019s beloved Birds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2024, the Baltimore Orioles\u2019 roster was buzzing with talent and standout performances. Among the highlights were Colton Cowser\u2019s impactful debut, Gunnar Henderson\u2019s MVP-worthy season, and Jordan&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":528,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING: Orioles Prospect Poised for Spring Training Stardom Despite Roster Question Mark - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=527\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Orioles Prospect Poised for Spring Training Stardom Despite Roster Question Mark - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In 2024, the Baltimore Orioles\u2019 roster was buzzing with talent and standout performances. Among the highlights were Colton Cowser\u2019s impactful debut, Gunnar Henderson\u2019s MVP-worthy season, and Jordan...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=527\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-10-23T01:29:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/4.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"760\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"760\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MsThao\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MsThao\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=527\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=527\",\"name\":\"BREAKING: Orioles Prospect Poised for Spring Training Stardom Despite Roster Question Mark - NEWS USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=527#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=527#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/4.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-10-23T01:29:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-23T01:29:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/73dec88841ffe3be696a72d46df40731\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=527#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=527\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=527#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/4.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/4.jpg\",\"width\":760,\"height\":760},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=527#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"BREAKING: Orioles Prospect Poised for Spring Training Stardom Despite Roster Question Mark\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"NEWS USA\",\"description\":\"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/73dec88841ffe3be696a72d46df40731\",\"name\":\"MsThao\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/23335ad696d6700b03ba8d09f84a67eadb58cde164fc044a22845ec8be19771f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/23335ad696d6700b03ba8d09f84a67eadb58cde164fc044a22845ec8be19771f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MsThao\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?author=3\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BREAKING: Orioles Prospect Poised for Spring Training Stardom Despite Roster Question Mark - NEWS USA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=527","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"BREAKING: Orioles Prospect Poised for Spring Training Stardom Despite Roster Question Mark - NEWS USA","og_description":"In 2024, the Baltimore Orioles\u2019 roster was buzzing with talent and standout performances. Among the highlights were Colton Cowser\u2019s impactful debut, Gunnar Henderson\u2019s MVP-worthy season, and Jordan...","og_url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=527","og_site_name":"NEWS USA","article_published_time":"2024-10-23T01:29:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":760,"height":760,"url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/4.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"MsThao","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MsThao","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=527","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=527","name":"BREAKING: Orioles Prospect Poised for Spring Training Stardom Despite Roster Question Mark - NEWS USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=527#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=527#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/4.jpg","datePublished":"2024-10-23T01:29:39+00:00","dateModified":"2024-10-23T01:29:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/73dec88841ffe3be696a72d46df40731"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=527#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=527"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=527#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/4.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/4.jpg","width":760,"height":760},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=527#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"BREAKING: Orioles Prospect Poised for Spring Training Stardom Despite Roster Question Mark"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/","name":"NEWS USA","description":"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/73dec88841ffe3be696a72d46df40731","name":"MsThao","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/23335ad696d6700b03ba8d09f84a67eadb58cde164fc044a22845ec8be19771f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/23335ad696d6700b03ba8d09f84a67eadb58cde164fc044a22845ec8be19771f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"MsThao"},"url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?author=3"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=527"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":529,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527\/revisions\/529"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}