Meet the Orioles minor leaguer who struck out Roman Anthony and Cal Raleigh in WBC

SARASOTA, Fla. — When Micah Ashman reached the mound last week in Houston to face the gauntlet that was the Team USA lineup in the World Baseball Classic, the Orioles minor leaguer couldn’t afford to think of his opponents as anything other than their scouting reports.

Roman Anthony, Cal Raleigh, Brice Turang, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Bobby Witt Jr., Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber — they are All-Stars, some of the most formidable opponents for anyone to face, let alone a pitcher who hasn’t reached Triple-A. Instead, they were down-and-away sliders, inside fastballs, changeups low and out of the zone.

They were whatever Ashman, playing for Team Canada, needed to attack them.

“You just want to think they’re anybody,” Ashman said a week later ahead of the Orioles’ Spring Breakout Game, a prospect showcase. “But looking back, yeah, that was pretty cool.”

An understatement much?

Absolutely. Ashman is a 23-year-old left-handed reliever who arrived midway through 2025 as the other half of the trade that sent right-hander Charlie Morton to the Detroit Tigers. He has done well in the minors, with a combined 2.35 ERA last year across 43 games in High-A and Double-A for the Tigers and Orioles.

But these were some of the best of the best. And Ashman looked ready.

He struck out Anthony and Raleigh to begin his appearance. He allowed a single to Turang — the lone baserunner against him — before mowing through the rest of his competition. The 2 1/3 innings he threw were the most of any appearance in Ashman’s young career, and he was flawless.

His Orioles teammate, outfielder Tyler O’Neill, knew of Ashman before they arrived together with Team Canada.

“But I had never met him before, didn’t know what he did, didn’t even know he threw left-handed,” O’Neill said.

O’Neill sure knows now.

“He came out, man, he’s a good arm,” O’Neill said. “He’s a really tall frame, high release, he throws mid-90s, good breaking ball, and he did a really good job, especially against the U.S. He had a great outing there. Really impressed with what I saw.”

After arriving in Baltimore’s farm system, Ashman said, he was largely left alone to find his footing. But this winter the developmental coaching staff charged Ashman with improving the consistency and command of his slider and changeup (which he calls a splitter).

If he can spot those pitches better, it’ll only improve a fastball that can be deceptive from his release point. His feel was, apparently, on point during his final WBC appearance.

Being around a group of more veteran players, including multiple big leaguers, was the best part of the tournament for Ashman. He said he learned how those pitchers go about their daily routines and he can implement some of their common strategies into his game.

Most important, “everybody’s out there attacking,” Ashman said. “Nobody is scared of the zone, so it was good to see that and know that’s how it should be.”

Ashman’s path to the Orioles has multiple steps on it before he may one day break through to the majors. There are no guarantees the 11th-round pick from the 2024 draft will make it to Camden Yards. But, at the very least, Ashman will always have 2 1/3 innings against Team USA.

“Everyone’s on a level playing field in the WBC. There’s a lot of guys you’ve never heard of, and they make some noise,” O’Neill said. “Really awesome to see him show up on the big stage and prove himself.”