Jordie Henry has had a front-row seat to a lot of the Orioles’ pitching talent over the past few seasons, and that makes his read on the organization’s top arms worth hearing. The High-A Frederick pitching coach, who joined Baltimore in 2023 in the Florida Complex League, spent 2024 at High-A Aberdeen, 2025 at Double-A Chesapeake and is now with the Keys this year. On Thursday in Frederick, he offered his take on four of the club’s most notable young pitchers.
Luis De León has already climbed to Triple-A Norfolk, and Henry sees a pitcher who brings the same feel every time out. The 23-year-old left-hander, ranked No. 7 in the organization by MLB Pipeline, opened the season in Chesapeake and went 5-6 with a 4.33 ERA across 19 starts, striking out 100 and walking 42 in 81 innings.
Since moving up, he has a 5.65 ERA in three starts. Henry described him as “Mr.
Tranquilo,” and added, ‘”De León is Mr. Tranquilo.
Cool, calm, collected all the time. Doesn’t really get rattled.
It’s just like a super laid-back personality that plays well. That’s kind of his style.
His stuff is very, very good.
“Gets a lot of ground balls, is super coachable. He’s always known his identity. He’s kind of like growing into that now and it’s fun to watch.”
Joseph Dzierwa has taken a similarly steady path, only with even more dominance since reaching Chesapeake. The 22-year-old left-hander didn’t pitch last season after being selected in the second round, but he started this year at Frederick and went 5-1 with a 2.21 ERA, 50 strikeouts and 10 walks in 40 2/3 innings over eight starts.
He’s now the Orioles’ No. 3 prospect and has been even sharper at Double-A, where he’s made 14 appearances, 12 starts, and posted a 3-1 record with a 1.89 ERA. In 71 1/3 innings, he has struck out 82 and walked 17.
Henry said Dzierwa “doesn’t get rattled at all” and called him “a really quietly confident type of guy.” He also pointed to the strike-throwing, the swing-and-miss on the heater and the progress of the changeup and slider, saying, “Knock on wood, he hasn’t had a hiccup the entire year.
He just dominated the entire time.”
JT Quinn has had to work through a more layered climb to get to Double-A, but Henry likes the way he has handled it. The 22-year-old right-hander, taken behind Dzierwa in last year’s second round and ranked No. 14 in the system, went 4-3 with a 3.75 ERA in 21 games, 20 starts for Frederick.
He struck out 106 and walked 28 in 93 2/3 innings. In his first Chesapeake start on Saturday night against Reading, Quinn threw four innings and 79 pitches, allowing one run on three hits while walking three and striking out six.
Henry said Quinn has spent the year refining multiple parts of his game, including the sinker and kick change, while more recently focusing on better command of both breaking balls and two-strike execution. “His process this year has been impressive and kind of how he’s handled all the challenges that we’ve given him.”
Caden Hunter is the youngest of the group at 22, and he has moved fast after being taken in the sixth round in 2025. He is now the Orioles’ No. 4 prospect after going through three levels this season.
At Delmarva, he made six appearances and five starts, going 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA, 40 strikeouts and 12 walks in 23 innings. At Frederick, he was 2-1 with a 1.60 ERA in 10 games, nine starts, with 62 strikeouts and 19 walks in 45 innings.
Since reaching Chesapeake, he is 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA in three starts. Over 84 innings this season, he has allowed just five home runs.
Henry called the fastball “elite” and said, “The fastball is real. It’s a big league hitter, kind of similar to JT.
He’s just working on commanding the offspeed a little bit better. Specifically with the breaking balls.
He’s got a pretty good goal for the changeup, but the slider and the curveball, especially like late in the count, have been more focuses for him.
“The heater, like we talked about with Dzierwa, it’s just translated at every level he’s been at so far. I think that’s probably just going to continue all the way to the big leagues for him with that pitch.”
There was also injury news out of St. Petersburg.
Manager Craig Albernaz said catcher Samuel Basallo, who has been on the 10-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation since July 20, will start a rehab assignment with Triple-A Norfolk on Sunday. Albernaz also said utility player Blaze Alexander, who fractured his left hand, and closer Félix Bautista, who is recovering from labrum and rotator cuff surgeries, are making good progress.
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