I made the trip hoping to catch more of the Orioles’ and Nationals’ best young talent in the same place, but the night kept throwing little complications into the plan. Delmarva had Baltimore’s first two picks from the most recent draft on the roster, yet Eric Booth Jr. and Ty Head both sat, and Fredericksburg’s Gavin Fien hasn’t played in a week. Even so, there was still plenty to take in once the game got rolling.
The arm that stood out most in that Delmarva-Fredericksburg matchup was Landon Harmon. The right-hander opened at 95-98 mph with real life on the four-seamer, then mixed in an upper-80s slider and a sweeper around 78-81.
For roughly three innings, that was the package. In his final inning, he slipped more into the 91-94 range.
The bigger problem was command, or really the lack of it: four walks in four innings and a pile of pitches that never had a chance. That’s tough to swallow from a pitcher who already has at least two weapons that should miss bats in the zone.
What still jumps off the page with Harmon is the arm speed. He gets a lot of it from his lower half, which should help him handle this kind of velocity over time.
He also missed about two months this season with an oblique strain, so he’s barely logged any work, finishing with 38 total innings between Low A and one rehab outing in Rookie ball. That likely played into him fading around 50 pitches.
Still, the raw ingredients are there for a high-end starter, and he might be the Nats’ best pitching prospect.
Delmarva’s offense had a couple of other names worth noting. Jimmy Anderson, Baltimore’s fifth-round pick this year out of Heartland Community College in Illinois, reached twice on walks and added a bloop single. He can work the barrel around, but velocity got the better of him in this one.
Jhomnardo Reyes, acquired by Baltimore from Minnesota in the Dean Kremer trade, is still looking for traction in Low A. He was one of the better hitters in the Florida Complex League as an 18-year-old, but the production hasn’t carried over.
He has just one extra-base hit in 114 plate appearances, a triple on a soft fly ball that didn’t even reach the warning track. The speed is real, and he covered a lot of ground in center field, but the bat looks a long way off.
Some of that is strength, and some of it is the jump to Low A without short-season ball in between.
Coy James brought a different kind of profile to the field. The 19-year-old swings uphill, and unlike some hitters with that approach, it has already translated some.
He’s got 19 homers in his first year in pro ball and is hitting .223/.336/.417, with 10 HBP helping the line. It’s a clear power-over-hit profile, and he got a little on top of the ball in this game.
Defensively, though, he looked sharp at shortstop, with good hands and a plus arm.
Delmarva also got a short look at Juan Nuñez, who started in just his second outing of the year. He had thrown one inning in the FCL a month earlier, his first game action in 14 months.
He was shut down in May 2025 and missed the rest of that season, which followed the same pattern as the year before because of a shoulder injury. On Friday, he was 90-92 in his one inning, nowhere near the level he used to show, and his breaking ball was below average.
The changeup might still have a chance to be a 55 pitch. Nuñez was part of the return from Minnesota for Jorge López in 2022, a deal that also brought Yennier Cano and Cade Povich to Baltimore.
A few days earlier, I was back in Harrisburg to watch Orioles left-hander Joseph Dzierwa work for Chesapeake against a rehabbing Jarlin Susana for the Nats. Dzierwa didn’t have his best stuff.
Harrisburg’s hitters were on him all night, and they squared up all of his pitches, including a fastball that sat 91-94 and was fairly soft. The changeup was his best offspeed pitch, coming in at 82-84 with solid deception.
His curveball was better than the slider, and lefties were able to turn on the slider because it wasn’t biting hard enough.
Even with the contact, Dzierwa showed some fight. He worked five innings, and Baltimore let him stay in there when plenty of minor-league managers would have pulled the plug much sooner.
It was the first time all season he had allowed four runs in a game. Those runs came in the first three innings, but he stayed on for two more and kept Chesapeake close enough to tie it after he exited.
Susana was the headline arm in that game. He sat 99-101 and reached 101.6 mph, and the slider had real teeth at 87-88.
He used it to the back foot of left-handed hitters and got some ugly swings. The concerns are still there: he doesn’t have a third pitch, and the delivery puts a lot of stress on the shoulder.
That points more toward a bullpen future. But the stuff is loud enough that he could still miss enough bats to work as a starter twice through the order, even with fringy command and little to show for left-handers.
Josh Randall also came out of the Harrisburg bullpen. He was 91-95 with a cutter-like slider and a slower slurve that probably doesn’t need to stay in the mix.
Randall was part of the return from Detroit for Kyle Finnegan at the deadline last year, along with R.J. Sales, who missed four months with an “upper-body injury,” which really narrows it down.
Randall looks like a possible up-and-down reliever after moving from the rotation to the bullpen earlier this month, though the stuff hasn’t jumped much with the change.
In Other News...
Orioles Fans Are Mourning A Voice Camden Chat Knew For Years
Longtime Camden Chat commenters know how much a familiar voice can shape the daily rhythm around a team, and Jakubazookas was one of those presences for years. He was active in Orioles discussions, brought a clear passion for the club, and even shared a little of his life beyond baseball through a baking hobby that made him more than just another screen name to regulars.
His death last month, in what was described as an apparent act of random violence while he was walking to work, has left that community mourning a loss that feels deeply personal. His family has set up a GoFundMe to help his wife with expenses, a reminder that for all the online back-and-forth, the people behind those usernames are very real, and sometimes the sadness reaches far beyond the comment section. [Read more 🡒]
Playoff Power Bat Slipped Away For One Reason Padres Could Not Control
The Orioles have a chance to jump the line for a player who suddenly found himself available in the middle of the stretch run. The Mets placed outfielder Luis Robert Jr. on outright waivers, and Baltimore claimed him, giving the club a shot at adding a proven bat without having to wait for the usual trade-market wrangling. For a team still sorting out its late-season picture, that kind of waiver claim can carry real weight.
Baltimores path to Robert came with a bit of timing and a little luck, since the Padres were also in the mix but did not have the waiver priority to get it done. Even so, the move does not immediately change Roberts status with New York, because he remains eligible to keep playing for the Mets while the waiver process plays out. That leaves the Orioles watching a situation that is still unresolved, but one with plenty of implications if it lands their way. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Roster Churn Just Cost Them More Pitching Depth
The Orioles recent roster churn reached another pitching layer when the Mets claimed right-hander Cameron Weston off waivers and sent him to Triple-A Syracuse. Weston had been in Baltimores organization as another arm worth keeping around for depth, the kind of pitcher teams are reluctant to lose when the staff is already stretched thin, but the waiver process left the Orioles exposed.
Shawn Ross was the corresponding move on New Yorks side, with the catcher designated for assignment to clear a 40-man spot. Ross now goes on waivers and could be claimed again, or outrighted if he clears, while Baltimore is left sorting through yet another reminder that pitching depth can disappear quickly when roster spots start moving around. [Read more 🡒]