The Orioles may not have much happening on the major league front right now, but their Arizona Fall League group is giving fans something to watch.
Four members of the Orioles’ eight-player contingent with the Peoria Javelinas were named to the Fall Stars Game: Ike Irish, Vance Honeycutt, Braxton Bragg, and Patrick Reilly. That quartet has been the most intriguing part of Baltimore’s AFL crop, and all four have backed up the selection with strong showings, even in a limited sample.
Irish has been on a tear, posting an .896 OPS in 16 games. He’s carrying over the form he showed during the 2026 minor league season before a torn meniscus ended his year in July.
Honeycutt has kept rolling, too. After his late-season surge following a promotion to Double-A Chesapeake, he’s put together a 1.075 OPS in the AFL with three homers, 18 walks, and 16 strikeouts. After his rough 2025 and mostly rough 2026, that kind of line at least raises the question of whether something has finally started to click.
The two pitchers in that Fall Stars group are also trending the right way. Bragg and Reilly both returned to the mound after Tommy John surgery in 2025, and both have pitched well.
Reilly has been especially sharp, with a 2.87 ERA and 14.3 K/9. For both arms, the bigger story is simply that they’re healthy again, with the numbers providing a nice bonus.
Baltimore’s other AFL players have had a more mixed ride. Infielder Brandon Butterworth is batting only .217, but he’s reaching base at a .400 clip thanks to 14 walks in 17 games.
Among the relievers, the results haven’t been as kind. Keilen Hamson, Kiefer Lord, and Teddy Sharkey are all in the mix, though Sharkey has been the most effective of the three, allowing two runs in 5.2 innings.
Hamson has issued seven walks in 4.1 innings, while Lord has been hit for nine runs in 8.1 frames.
The Fall Stars Game is set to air on MLB Network this Sunday at 8:00 pm, and with not much else going on around baseball, it’s at least a worthwhile stopgap.
Elsewhere, there’s a Cardinals trade idea floating around from Viva El Birdos that involves Orioles infielders, with one name getting repeated a lot: Jimmy Crooks. Over at School of Roch, Pete Alonso has been named a Silver Slugger Award finalist and is up against Boston first baseman Willson Contreras.
Around Orioles history, today marks the birthdays of former infielders Deivi Cruz, who turns 54, and Leo Hernández, who turns 67.
On this date in 1969, Mike Cuellar was voted the AL Cy Young co-winner with the Tigers’ Denny McLain. It remains the only tie vote in Cy Young history, with both pitchers receiving 10 votes under the old system that required voters to pick one name. McLain had the edge in bWAR, innings, and shutouts, while Cuellar posted the better ERA and pitched for a pennant winner.
And on this date in 2011, the Orioles agreed to hire Dan Duquette as their new general manager. It was a surprise move after he had been away from baseball for 10 years, and he would go on to spend seven seasons running the club, helping build the American League’s best record from 2012 through 2016 before the late collapse that led to his firing after the disastrous 2018 season.
In Other News...
Orioles Prospects Facing A Make-Or-Break Year Just Got Clear
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The next pressure point comes in 2027, when Trey Gibson, Vance Honeycutt and one other prospect move into a season that could say a lot about their long-term outlook. Gibson already has an MLB debut on the ledger and showed improvement, while Honeycutt steadied himself after early strikeout issues, but both now face the kind of year that can separate a promising prospect from a true part of the future. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Still Have One Major Roster Problem To Solve
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President of baseball operations Mike Elias has already said the club intends to pursue a top-of-the-rotation starter, which only underscores how much is still unsettled. Trevor Rogers, Chris Bassitt, Andrew Kittredge and Keegan Akin are no longer in the picture, and while several prospects and depth arms will get a chance to compete for jobs, the Orioles still have a major pitching question hanging over the roster as the offseason unfolds. [Read more 🡒]
Jackson Holliday Is Back At The Center Of Orioles Trade Talk
The Orioles are again in the middle of deadline chatter, and this time Jackson Holliday has surfaced as a name other clubs are asking about. Baltimore is said to be open to listening on trade offers, but not in a mode where it is shopping core pieces such as Gunnar Henderson, which keeps the focus on how aggressive rival teams might be in trying to pry away one of the organizations most prominent young talents.
Hollidays presence in the rumor mill has naturally drawn attention because the front office has shown it will consider moving a major player if the return is compelling enough. The recent Adley Rutschman trade is the clearest reminder of that approach, and it leaves open the question of how far the Orioles would go if the right proposal comes along for Holliday before the deadline. [Read more 🡒]