It’s always a little tricky, knowing when and how to give attention to the Orioles’ minor league system now that the state of the organization and the expectations for the major league team have so clearly changed.

Doing so as the team is still spinning its wheels a few weeks into the season feels appropriate, though. At this stage, it doesn’t look like they’re going to lose touch with the playoff race the way that it seemed they could at this point a year ago.

And that makes what’s happening down below meaningful, given the potential for president of baseball operations Mike Elias to dip into the farm system to support a major league team that still has pretty high expectations.

So with that in mind, here are five areas of the Orioles’ farm system that I plan on watching closely this year, and how the most important players in that group are starting the 2026 season.

The pitchers in their first full seasons

Entering the season, three pitchers from recent drafts topped my priority list of players to see and dig in on: left-hander Joseph Dzierwa and right-hander JT Quinn from the first day of last year’s draft, then 2023 third-rounder Kiefer Lord, who missed significant time after Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery.

Dzierwa, who impressed in the Spring Breakout game, has a 2.50 ERA with a 0.78 WHIP and 8.5 strikeouts per nine in three starts, while Quinn has 23 strikeouts in 14 innings (14.79 per nine) with a 0.64 ERA and 0.79 WHIP. Lord has 14.54 strikeouts per nine with a 4.15 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP.

The Orioles are typically deliberate with pitchers in their first full professional seasons, but these three are candidates to move up the system quickly this year — particularly Lord, who is already Rule 5 eligible this winter.

The second-year leap pitchers

It’s uncommon in the Orioles’ system for there to be first-year pitchers to start out as well as that trio. Typically, it’s in the second full season when their pitchers break out, with Trey Gibson, Braxton Bragg, Levi Wells and Nestor German being the best examples a year ago.

The most logical candidate for that kind of breakout this year was left-hander Sebastian Gongora, who struck out 11.3 batters per nine with a 3.36 FIP and 5.00 ERA in the low minors last year. So far, he’s delivering at Double-A Chesapeake, with 17 strikeouts and a 1.13 WHIP and 2.70 ERA in three starts.

Left-hander Carson Dorsey (seventh round, 2024) is another candidate for that kind of breakout, as are trade acquisitions Boston Bateman (acquired from the San Diego Padres in the massive deal for Ryan O’Hearn and Ramón Laureano) and Twine Palmer (acquired from the Houston Astros for Ramón Urias).

The major league pitching depth

It’s been years since the Orioles had a collection of starters with the talent their Triple-A group does, with Brandon Young and Cade Povich both showing they are ready to help the major league team when called upon this year. Gibson, Wells and German are all back at the level after finishing there last year.

Gibson (4.76 ERA, 1.71 WHIP), German (4.24 ERA, 1.47 WHIP) and Wells (5.40 ERA, 1.31 WHIP) are not overwhelming the level, but the early expected stats show they’ve been a bit unlucky so far. There’s going to be a lot of attention on this group as the summer progresses, as the sooner they’re ready for the big leagues, the more valuable they’ll be to the Orioles —whether in a role in Baltimore or as a trade chip.

The mid-minors hitters

Most of the Orioles’ most impactful minor league hitters are concentrated in Frederick, with top prospect Nate George plus first-round picks Vance Honeycutt, Ike Irish and Wehiwa Aloy populating the top of the Keys’ lineup each night. Irish has been the standout so far, batting .316 with a .948 OPS and a pair of home runs.

Honeycutt, who struck out 40.8% of the time last year at Aberdeen, is striking out 51% of the time with a higher whiff rate (19% this year versus 14% a year ago). But he is already doing more damage with three home runs helping him to a .769 OPS. Aloy (.209 average, .612 OPS) and George (.238 average, .590 OPS) haven’t gotten going yet. It feels likely that the Orioles’ top prospect next offseason will come from this group. It’s hard to tell who that will be just yet.

(And it’s worth giving a mention to Victor Figueroa, a 22-year-old first baseman acquired in the Padres deal, who has four home runs already with a 1.157 OPS.)

The teenage hitters

The 19-year-old George would fall in this category, too, if he didn’t already take the minors by storm. This year, sixth-round pick DJ Layton is starting his full-season debut on track to do the same at Delmarva. The 19-year-old shortstop is batting .357 with a 1.062 OPS and five extra-base hits, and while he has some extreme batted ball luck on his side with a .609 batting average on balls in play, there was some buzz on him in minor league camp that’s looking like it was justified.

Elsewhere in Delmarva, the Orioles brought infielder Joshua Liranzo and outfielder Stiven Martinez up from the Florida Complex League in the middle of last season in hopes that they’d get the massive adjustment that has hampered so many international signees out of the way quickly and play better this spring. That’s happened so far, with Martinez (.802 OPS, four extra-base hits) and Liranzo (.741 OPS, 12 walks) among the team’s best performers.

Outfielder Jordan Sanchez, who was only called up to Delmarva for the last week of the season, hasn’t had the same benefit, but is in the same prospect tier. Success for this group would, I assume, meaningfully change how the Orioles matriculate their high-profile international signings into affiliated ball as the recently signed waves of seven-figure signees start to come stateside.