Jon Meoli: How the Orioles built a potentially special draft class of pitchers in 2023

Even in the moment, it felt different.

Not just because the Orioles were drafting pitchers, though that certainly was unique at the time. In explaining how the 2023 draft played out the way it did, though, both scouting and player development personnel spoke of process improvements they hoped would lead to the best and most fruitful draft class of pitchers this organization has had in years.

They’re not far from being proven right.

The Orioles used a pair of top 2023 pitchers as trade chips to help the big league club: Michael Forret in the Shane Baz trade this offseason and Jackson Baumeister in the deal for Zach Eflin ahead of the 2024 trade deadline.

And with Trey Gibson, Nestor German and Levi Wells all impressing in big league camp, and several high-octane arms climbing through the system behind them, the evolution of how the Orioles identified pitchers in that draft may well coincide with their evolution into an organization that can solve their pitching needs from within.

“It’s been supremely exciting to see these guys, how they’ve been nurtured and how they’ve gotten to this point and getting closer to being ready-made big leaguers,” pitching coach Drew French said. “There’s a very high chance that some of these guys are going to help us in ’26, and we’re going to feel really good about them when they do.”

When Mike Elias took over baseball operations in November 2018, most of the minor league talent he inherited was on the pitching side. That, coupled with his group’s long-held belief that hitters were better bets with high draft picks, meant the club’s top picks were almost exclusively college hitters for the first few drafts under his watch.

They put in extensive work on pitchers but often ended up taking them later in the draft those first few years, and the fruits at the major league side have been minimal. They traded for Kyle Bradish in 2019 and developed him into a premier starter, but reliever Kade Strowd became the first pitcher this front office drafted and signed to pitch for the Orioles when he debuted last year. Starter Brandon Young was an undrafted free agent in 2020.

The 2023 draft represented a pivot point. Not picking in the top five helped. In previous years, a lot of time and resources went to getting that pick right, given it accounted for an outsize portion of the bonus pool and was a chance to add a premium talent. Picking 17th meant they had to prepare for a variety of players and scenarios in the first round but could allocate more time and resources to other parts of the player pool.

By that point, given the farm system was full of high-caliber hitters but comparatively light on pitching talent, it made sense to focus on the mound.

As always, the process started with the area scouts and analysts under Brad Ciolek, who ran the Orioles’ drafts until he took a job with the Nationals after that season. They helped identify targets and did their homework on pitchers, learning how they worked and providing feedback on their arsenals. But the assessments dove deeper than just pitches.

In the 2021 and 2022 drafts, you could assume an Orioles draftee would have a few traits in common on the mound. Hoppy four-seam fastballs were one. They loved sweepy sliders and valued pitchers who could throw more than one breaking ball, as it signaled they could learn more pitches. But in 2023 they zoomed out to focus on the whole pitcher: movement down the mound, arm action, athleticism, strike-throwing ability and, of course, the potential for an elite pitch mix.

The pursuit of these traits started early that year and never let up. Mitch Plassmeyer, now the major league assistant pitching coach, was the minor league pitching coordinator in 2023 and oversaw an uptick in performance that year. Throughout the season, the group overseeing the draft was pinging the group overseeing pitching development — which included Forrest Herrmann and Adam Schuck — asking for their takes on potential picks. This, in turn, allowed the pitching group to get a head start on development plans and effectively helped push pitchers up the draft boards.

“Collaborating with the scouts and everybody that’s part of the amateur draft, that was kind of the first year we had our footing underneath us with our coaches, and our front office, being able to leverage some of the stuff that we do and kind of get guys that maybe fit our system in a sense — which sounds weird to say, because I feel like we’re so individual driven,” Plassmeyer said. “I think we found guys that had unique skills that we really valued, and thought we could continue to kind of level them up.”

Plassmeyer said those skills include spin arsenal, the combination of velocity and pitchability, and where there was untapped potential. That led to a draft board where pitchers were stacked higher than usual. Unlike years past, they were available when the Orioles’ pick came around, and the hits came on every day of the draft.

Baumeister, a redshirt sophomore from Florida State, was the highest-drafted pitcher under Elias at No. 63 overall. Third-rounder Kiefer Lord and fourth-rounder Wells had high-octane fastballs, compelling secondary offerings and minds for pitching that made them matches for how the Orioles work.

Eighth-round senior Braxton Bragg was an elite strike thrower with projectability to add velocity and strength, while ninth-round senior Zach Fruit had a big-time arm and a cross-body delivery that worked for him. Bragg, who is recovering from Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery, likely would have been part of this group in major league camp and potentially regarded as the best of the bunch. Early in 2025, a new changeup and added fastball velocity made him one of the best pitchers in the minors.

The third day of the draft was fruitful, too. German, taken in the 11th round, had a great fastball and an overhead delivery he could repeat but needed to refine. Twelfth-rounder Blake Money had a starter’s pitch mix but limited opportunities on a loaded LSU pitching staff. Forret, a 14th-rounder, was an elite strike thrower at his Florida junior college who turned into one of the Orioles’ top pitching prospects.

Gibson was on the team’s radar for the 2020 draft before the pandemic but didn’t pitch his junior year at Liberty. The team moved quickly to sign him as a free agent after he reemerged on Cape Cod.

Gibson, Wells and German making positive impressions — along with international signee Luis De León — gives the Orioles a talented group of potential reinforcements who will be in the high minors this year and could contribute in the major leagues. French noted that teams are averaging over 10 starting pitchers per season these days, and “depth is paramount.”

For those reinforcements to be homegrown arms and validate the organization’s process would be a bonus.

“As we continue to accumulate more of these guys who make it to the top and are almost at the door of the big leagues, it feels good to know the systems and the processes are working,” Plassmeyer said. “I think that makes our organization pretty hungry to keep pushing forward to see how many guys that we can get to that level.”