Baltimore Orioles Star Prospect Makes Franchise History

One of the Baltimore Orioles star prospects continues to shine in the minors as he makes history with one of their affiliates.

Jun 3, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Baltimore Orioles second baseman Connor Norby (12) throws a ball to first base during batting practice before a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre / Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

Outside of the attention that is given to the Baltimore Orioles at the Major League level with them second in the American League standings and potentially winning back-to-back division titles, people are invested in what is taking place on their farm.

With the best pipeline in all of baseball, many of their top prospects are knocking on the door to get promotions to The Show.

Past track record that has seen Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson turn into bonafide stars and Grayson Rodriguez emerge as one of the top young arms in the sport has people excited about what their next crop can do.

Jordan Westburg earning his first All-Star appearance, Colton Cowser leading in the AL Rookie of the Year race during parts of the season, and Heston Kjerstad flashing limited shades of prominence only adds to the wonderment of what their current Triple-A players can do.

Connor Norby is one of those names.

Ranked as the Orioles' fifth-best prospect, he has routinely been considered one of their top guys since he was taken in the second round of the 2021 draft.

Unlike others in Baltimore's pipeline, though, he hasn't gotten very many opportunities to showcase what he can do in the bigs despite performing well in the minors.

That changed this year when Norby was called up for his debut on June 3, but after only four games, he was sent back down to Triple-A where he continues to play well as he waits for another Major League opportunity.

In the meantime, the 24-year-old made franchise history when he hit a home run on Tuesday.

Norby is now the third player to ever reach the 40-homer mark with their Triple-A affiliate according to Roch Kubatko of MASN, joining Kyle Stowers and Christian Walker.

He first reached that level in 2022 and hit four blasts across his nine games. Last season, he spent all year in Norfolk and added 21 to his tally. Now, after hitting his 15th of the season, he's made history.

When the infielder might become a full-time part of the Orioles is unknown.

Norby is clearly ready to play in the MLB, but the logjam of players that currently exists makes it hard for them to find consistent time for him, and that will only become more complicated when they feel like Jackson Holliday is ready to be called up again.

Maybe they view him as their best trade piece and ship him out in a deal that brings back a starting arm they clearly need.