Baltimore Orioles Highly Regarded Pitching Prospect Is Tearing It Up So Far in 2025

The Baltimore Orioles have built heavily through the farm system over the past few seasons, with Adley Rutschman, Heston Kjerstad, Jordan Westburg, Jackson Holliday, and Gunnar Henderson all having been part of the young core of players that they developed recently. Now they all sit at the MLB level, and the minor league system is once again full of talented prospects.

One of the more notable players in recent weeks has been their 2023 eighth-round draft pick Braxton Bragg, a pitcher who has been absolutely tearing things up in High-A and Double-A so far this season. The 24-year-old has rapidly gone from Single-A to Double-A in the span of two years, and this year, has given the Orioles plenty of reasons to continue his promotion throughout the system.

At High-A Aberdeen this year, he has started three games, and in 16.1 innings-pitched he had a 0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 18 strikeouts to five walks, and only six hits allowed total. This success across the first few weeks would earn him a promotion to Double-A Chesapeake, and in his first game he would play a relief role, pitching 4.1 innings, allowing three hits and two walks, but also picking up a whopping eight strikeouts on 78 pitches.

He would hold onto the tie at 2-2 in the game before being relieved by Peter Van Loon, who would ultimately be charged with a loss after giving up the third and final run.

Baltimore has struggled with their pitching all season long, and with their starting rotation being the oldest in the MLB at the start of the year, it seems like a youth movement may finally be on the way for them in the pitching department as well. Five of the Orioles' top 11 prospects, according to MLB Pipeline, are pitching prospects, which gives them plenty of opportunities to hit on some of their positions of need.

Bragg, while not ranked among the top 30, is a rapidly developing prospect who just needed some time to get used to the professional level. His first long-term taste of Single-A in 2024 was strong, posting a 3.36 ERA and 1.17 WHIP with 122 strikeouts to 22 walks.

This is the type of success he has shown previously, and is beginning to show in the higher ranks of the minor leagues as well. If he can continue this level of success in the coming weeks and really produce in Double-A, there is the chance that he may find himself in Triple-A Norfolk before long, only one step away from "The Show".