Joseph Dzierwa keeps stacking up the kind of nights that make a pitching prospect hard to ignore.
The 6-foot-8 left-hander, Baltimore’s second-round pick in last year’s Draft, spun 4 2/3 scoreless innings and struck out seven for Double-A Bowie on Thursday night, helping the Baysox rally past Binghamton, 8-4, at Mirabito Stadium. The outing came just after Dzierwa was included in the 27th annual Futures Game.
Dzierwa’s latest performance trimmed his ERA to 2.45 over eight appearances, including six starts, for Bowie. The club has also leaned on him as a bulk reliever in two of his past three outings. Baltimore’s No. 12 prospect has been piling up strikeouts at a furious pace, and with 103 punchouts in 81 innings, he now ranks third in the Minors.
He made the tone of the night clear right away, opening with back-to-back strikeouts in the first inning. Dzierwa then retired Binghamton in order in the second and worked through a little trouble in the third before finishing the frame with his fourth strikeout. He kept rolling by fanning three straight hitters across the fourth and fifth before being lifted after issuing his second walk.
In all, the Ohio native allowed two hits and two walks while throwing 49 of 70 pitches for strikes. That works out to a 70 percent strike rate.
The scoreless outing was just the latest example of how steady he’s been. Dzierwa has now allowed two or fewer earned runs in seven straight appearances and in 14 of his 16 outings this season. He still hasn’t surrendered more than four runs in any game this year, and that consistency has helped him post a 2.33 ERA across two Minor League levels.
His track record stretches back to Michigan State, where he won Big Ten Pitcher of the Year honors in 2025 after going 2.36 ERA and 0.98 WHIP in 15 starts. The Orioles selected him with the 58th pick last July, drawn to a pitcher who can reach the mid 90s with his fastball and mixes in four pitches, including a 60-grade changeup and strong control.
That command has shown up in the walk numbers, too. Dzierwa has issued multiple walks only four times during his rookie season, good for a 2.3 BB/9 mark.
The early returns at both of his pro stops in 2026 have been just as sharp. Dzierwa began the year at High-A Frederick, where he logged a 2.21 ERA, an 0.81 WHIP and a 50/10 K/BB ratio while holding opposing hitters to .160 before moving up to Bowie.
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