Tides Announce 2023 Promotions Schedule
March 2, 2023 - International League (IL)
Norfolk Tides News Release
The calendar has turned over to March and Opening Day is now less than a month away. The talent has arrived in Sarasota, Fla. with a season of possibility on deck. A wealth of top prospects in the Orioles organization have made their way south to earn their right to complete the big league roster. There's still plenty of baseball to be played this month, but with five games already in the books at spring training, there are plenty of reasons to be excited as a Norfolk Tides fan.
After picking up two wins to kick off Grapefruit League play, the O's have dropped three straight going into Thursday's slate of games, and currently find themselves in last among their AL East foes.
Gunnar Henderson, the No.1 overall prospect in not only the Orioles organization, but across Major League Baseball has only played in only one game for Baltimore. The Tides star who hit 19 total home runs last season between Double-A Bowie and Norfolk went 1-for-2 with a strikeout against Pittsburgh on Tuesday.
The top performer at the dish in Florida thus far has been infielder Heston Kjerstad. According to MLB.com, Kjerstad currently ranks as No. 6 prospect in the Orioles system and No. 80 in all of Major League Baseball. In four games so far this spring, he has batted .833 (5-for-6) and has already launched two home runs. Selected No. 2 overall in the 2020 draft, Kjerstad slashed .309/.394/.457/.851 combined between Single-A Delmarva and Advanced-A Aberdeen last year.
Other batters more familiar to Tides fans such as Jordan Westburg and Terrin Vavra have also gotten off to hot starts this spring. Westburg (No. 5 BAL, No. 74 MLB) has tallied three hits in two games with one knock going for extra bases against Pittsburgh on February 28. Vavra is currently batting .556 (5-for-9) over three games for the O's with a double, a home run, and four RBI.
Connor Norby, an infielder drafted by Baltimore in the 2nd round in 2021 out of East Carolina University, made his way on to the Tides roster at the end of the 2022 season and projects to play a significant role at Norfolk this year. He hit .359 (14-for-39) for the Tides at the tail end of last year and launched an organizational best, 29 home runs across three teams over the course of the season. In three games this spring, Norby has gone 2-for-6 with a double and a run scored.
No pitcher has amassed more than two innings for the Orioles yet this spring, but Chris Vallimont and Logan Gillaspie are two Tides arms from last season who have gotten some early spring training action. Vallimont has struck out two batters over his 2.0 innings of work while surrendering only one hit via the long ball. Gillaspie has pitched two shutout innings while allowing only one hit and has recorded three strikeouts, which ties for the team lead.
A name that Tides fans should keep an eye on is Cade Povich. A left-handed pitcher drafted in 2021 by Minnesota, he was traded to Baltimore at the deadline last season from the Twins along with three other pitchers in exchange for RHP Jorge Lopez and cash. So far this spring, he has struck out three batters and has given up one hit over two innings on the mound for the Orioles.
Grayson Rodriguez is scheduled to take the hill today for Baltimore as they take on Detroit at 1:05 PM ET. Baltimore's No. 2 prospect (No. 7 MLB) be making his first start of the spring. He started 14 games for the Tides last season going 6-1 with a 2.20 ERA and 97 strikeouts over 69.2 innings.
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