Orioles left-hander Joseph Dzierwa is nearing the end of his first pro season with a workload that keeps climbing and, by his own account, a body that still feels strong.
After tossing five innings of one-run ball for Double-A Chesapeake on Aug. 19, Dzierwa reached 117 innings on the year.
That’s already well past the 91.2 innings he logged at Michigan State a season ago, and the Baysox still have more than three weeks left in the regular season. That leaves room for three or four more starts, with any innings-limit call left to the Orioles.
For Dzierwa, though, the main takeaway is simple: he’s holding up.
“Honestly, I feel better now than I did at the end of my college season,” Dzierwa said after his Aug. 19 start against Richmond. “I don’t know if it’s from no school. I think it’s the resources and honestly just devoting everything you have into the game.”
The 6-foot-8, 200-pound lefty had a good look at why his secondary stuff matters so much in pro ball. Richmond’s lineup featured five left-handed hitters, which gave him chances to lean on his slider and sweeper, two pitches he says have taken major steps forward since his college days. He did experiment earlier this season with a gyro slider, but shelved it after right-handed hitters were squaring it up.
Dzierwa knows the fastball-changeup combo can carry him through plenty of minor league lineups. He also knows that won’t be enough if he wants to keep moving.
“The way I look at it, each day [is] a process,” he said. “Just buying into not looking long term but knowing there’s a reason and a why for it. Just kind of trusting that and trusting what they do and what they give me.”
That mindset has already taken him a long way. Dzierwa won Big Ten Pitcher of the Year in 2025 after putting up a 2.36 ERA with 104 strikeouts and 22 walks in 15 starts for Michigan State. The Orioles grabbed him in the second round of the 2025 MLB Draft, and he’s been even better in his first pro season, posting a 2.00 ERA with 135 strikeouts and 28 walks across High-A Frederick and Chesapeake.
His delivery helps everything play up. Dzierwa repeats a smooth, athletic motion despite the size, and it allows him to live in the strike zone. He said the Big Ten sharpened him for this stage, especially with the conference’s growing competition.
“I think especially with the West Coast teams getting added, I think the competition is getting [better],” Dzierwa said. “My coach at Michigan State, [Jake Boss Jr.], has been huge.
I kind of carried the same thing I do here - just execute pitches, control what I can and not focus so much on the pitch call or anything. I rarely shake.
That’s something I think he’s taught me a lot.
His baseball path was shaped by another sport first. At Otsego High School in Ohio, Dzierwa played quarterback in a spread offense out of shotgun and later became more involved in the run game after adding weight. MAC and Ivy League schools showed interest before he chose baseball.
There was also a family connection. His father, Matt, who punted at Northwestern in the late ’80s and early ’90s, coached him at Otsego.
“The [college] recruiting was similar, so he knew kind of what I was going through,” Dzierwa said. “That helped, too.
He was my coach. I think football has helped me a lot in baseball, especially in high school, having the same mentality.
If you throw a perfect pass but it gets dropped, it’s the same thing as a perfect pitch gets hit.”
On the other side of the prospect ledger, Orioles shortstop Wehiwa Aloy continues to make noise in his first full pro season. The No. 31 overall pick in 2025 is hitting .288/.360/.491 in 458 plate appearances between High-A Frederick and Chesapeake as the Baysox move toward play on Aug. 21.
Aloy’s work on Aug. 19 stood out most for his defense. He used unusual arm angles to generate velocity and throw out runners at first and home, a reminder that the glove is becoming a real part of his profile.
The 22-year-old said that progress traces back to the work he does before games with Orioles infield coordinator Tim DeJohn.
“Getting better at defense is one of my top priorities coming into the season,” Aloy said. “We do a lot of early work with our infield coordinator, DJ. It’s a lot of awkward throws and all of that stuff, so just being an athlete out there and getting outs for my pitchers.”
Aloy has also shown real thump, with 19 home runs this season. At 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, there’s clear pop in the bat, and he said his offensive focus is on improving his approach.
“Trying to do better at the plate, being more disciplined and hitting more line drives and hard contact instead of ground balls,” he said.
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