{"id":77732,"date":"2025-08-14T11:58:57","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T11:58:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=77732"},"modified":"2025-08-14T11:58:57","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T11:58:57","slug":"breaking-rising-star-alert-orioles-prospect-showing-early-brilliance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=77732","title":{"rendered":"Breaking: Rising Star Alert: Orioles Prospect Showing Early Brilliance"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"relative z-10\">\n<h2 class=\"article-intro mb-4 text-darkGrey font-group-large md:font-group-normal lg:font-group-large\"><strong>This young Orioles arm is already flashing future star potential<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"mb-0 md:mb-9 relative md:mx-10 md:mb-9\">\n<figure>\n<div class=\"overflow-hidden bg-lightGrey\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_56,w_1896,h_1066\/c_fill,w_360,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2F11%2F01k2j1jvw14re63d77qx.jpg 1x,  \nhttps:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_56,w_1896,h_1066\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2F11%2F01k2j1jvw14re63d77qx.jpg 2x, \n    https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_56,w_1896,h_1066\/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2F11%2F01k2j1jvw14re63d77qx.jpg 3x\" media=\"(max-width: 719px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_56,w_1896,h_1066\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2F11%2F01k2j1jvw14re63d77qx.jpg 1x, \nhttps:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_56,w_1896,h_1066\/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2F11%2F01k2j1jvw14re63d77qx.jpg 2x, \n    https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_56,w_1896,h_1066\/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2F11%2F01k2j1jvw14re63d77qx.jpg 3x\" media=\"(max-width: 1079px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_56,w_1896,h_1066\/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2F11%2F01k2j1jvw14re63d77qx.jpg 1x, \nhttps:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_56,w_1896,h_1066\/c_fill,w_2160,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2F11%2F01k2j1jvw14re63d77qx.jpg 2x,\n    https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_56,w_1896,h_1066\/c_fill,w_2160,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2F11%2F01k2j1jvw14re63d77qx.jpg 3x\" media=\"(min-width: 1080px)\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full\" title=\"Pitching for the Orioles' Esteban Mejia (#45). The Florida Complex League, minor league team Baltimore Orioles plays at the Buck O'Neil Complex baseball field located at Twin Lakes Park in east Sarasota.\" src=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_56,w_1896,h_1066\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/ImagnImages\/mmsport\/11\/01k2j1jvw14re63d77qx.jpg\" alt=\"Pitching for the Orioles' Esteban Mejia (#45). The Florida Complex League, minor league team Baltimore Orioles plays at the Buck O'Neil Complex baseball field located at Twin Lakes Park in east Sarasota.\" width=\"1896\" height=\"1066\" \/><\/picture><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex items-center gap-4 ml-1 pb-2 mt-4 md:m-3 text-darkGrey font-group-tiny\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center gap-4 ml-1 pb-2 mt-4 md:m-3 text-darkGrey font-group-tiny\"><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption>Pitching for the Orioles&#8217; Esteban Mejia (#45). The Florida Complex League, minor league team Baltimore Orioles plays at the Buck O&#8217;Neil Complex baseball field located at Twin Lakes Park in east Sarasota. | Thomas Bender\/Sarasota Herald-Tribune \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\" class=\"flex flex-wrap justify-center lg:justify-normal\">\n<div class=\"flex lg:mr-4 lg:w-[calc(70%-3em)] max-w-full\"><main class=\"min-w-0 flex-1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"viewablity-block\">\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">MLB Pipeline\u00a0updated their prospect rankings\u00a0for each team, and to the surprise of no one,\u00a0Samuel Basallo\u00a0remains the Baltimore Orioles&#8217; top prospect. The updated rankings also speak highly of the Orioles&#8217;\u00a02025 MLB draft class, with four of their selections landing among the team&#8217;s top ten prospects.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">The prospect who may be turning the most heads, however, is right-handed pitching prospect Esteban Mejia. A part of the Orioles&#8217; international free-agent signing class in 2024, Mejia moved to being the Orioles&#8217; No. 7 prospect. What has Mejia&#8217;s prospect profile on the rise is that he has a fastball that is dominating hitters.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\"><em>&#8220;At 6-foot-3, Mejia offers plenty of projection, not that his current stuff lacks wow factor. He has the chance to have three easily plus pitches when all is said and done, starting with a fastball he cranks up to 102 mph that features plenty of arm-side run. He has a gyro-like slider that can touch 90 mph and miss plenty of bats, and there\u2019s good action on a firm changeup that reaches the low-90s.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">The trend across Major League Baseball has been teams developing starting pitchers who can hit 100 mph with ease. Mejia certainly checks that box and gives some long-term hope for the Orioles&#8217; long-term pitching plans.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"scroll-mt-24 my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Esteban Mejia could find himself on the fast track to stardom if this keeps up<\/h2>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Long-term is certainly the emphasis when talking about Mejia&#8217;s trajectory, as he just turned 18 in March. Along those lines, the profile he has now likely won&#8217;t be the profile he has once he reaches the Major League level. As of now, MLB Pipeline circles 2029 as when Mejia could be ready for the Major League level. For reference, most of the Orioles&#8217; 2025 draft class has an estimated time of arrival of 2028.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Mejia was striking out over 30 percent of the hitters he was facing in the rookie complex league before\u00a0being promoted to Class-A. Through his first two starts in Class-A, Mejia is striking out over 26 percent of the hitters he has faced.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/main><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This young Orioles arm is already flashing future star potential Pitching for the Orioles&#8217; Esteban Mejia (#45). The Florida Complex League, minor league team Baltimore Orioles plays&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":77733,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77732","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: Rising Star Alert: Orioles Prospect Showing Early Brilliance - 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=77732\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Breaking: Rising Star Alert: Orioles Prospect Showing Early Brilliance - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This young Orioles arm is already flashing future star potential Pitching for the Orioles&#8217; Esteban Mejia (#45). 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