Baltimore Orioles Might Have Found Another Draft Day Gem

One of the Baltimore Orioles prospects is shredding up the minors, giving them yet another emerging star in their pipeline.

May 5, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; A detailed view of a Baltimore Orioles hat and glove / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

It might sound like a broken record, but the Baltimore Orioles' prospects continue to showcase why they are considered to be the in baseball.

From Adley Rutschman to Gunnar Henderson to Grayson Rodriguez to Jackson Holliday and Samuel Basallo, they have graduated elite players and still have plenty performing at a high level in their pipeline.

When discussing the Orioles' prospects, many point to the highly ranked players for good reason, but to truly be considered the best farm system, then prospects throughout the organization have to be performing well.

That's the case with one of their unheralded draft picks.

Baltimore selected Matthew Etzel in the 10th round of last year's draft. Throughout this rebuild, the players who have garnered attention and become stars have largely been selected at the top of the draft.

However, it seems like they might have found another gem in Etzel as he once led the South Atlantic League of High Single-A baseball in hits with 27 and now sits tied for sixth with 35.

In his first Single-A at-bat, Matthew Etzel hits a home run! pic.twitter.com/pnlMJOJw1w

— Orioles Player Development (@OsPlayerDev) August 9, 2023

In his first year of professional baseball in 2023 that only saw him play 30 total games across three levels, he slashed .323/.455/.510 with two homers, 12 extra-base hits, and 25 RBI.

The Orioles decided to start him out with their High Single-A affiliate this season and he has continued to produce with a slash line of .310/.398/.451, two home runs, 10 extra-base hits, and 19 RBI.

Ranked outside of their Top 30 prospects, it doesn't seem like it will be that way for long as he has impressed their fifth-ranked minor league Enrique Bradfield Jr.

"He knows what he's good at, he sticks to his plan. He's a gamer. He's a ballplayer. Having him on your team is always a plus," he told Jake Rill of MLB.com.

The 22-year-old could be on a meteoric rise of his own similar to what the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball did within this farm system the past couple seasons.