After fielding arguably one of the worst outfields in club history over the last week or so, the Orioles have finally called up prospect Dylan Beavers to the majors.
The 24-year-old was summoned to Houston for the second game of a three-game set with the Astros and was set to play right field and bat sixth on Saturday night. Ranked as the Orioles’ No. 3 prospect by MLB.com, Beavers was in the midst of a tremendous season at Triple-A Norfolk that recently landed him on Baseball America’s top 100 prospects list. That was significant with Baltimore presumably delaying his debut in the majors to preserve his 2026 rookie status and maintain the possibility of earning a draft pick if he were to win AL Rookie of the Year next season.
In 418 plate appearances for the Tides this season, the lefty-swinging Beavers was batting .304 with 18 home runs, 51 RBIs, 23 stolen bases, and a .934 on-base plus slugging percentage. The 33rd overall pick of the 2022 draft out of the University of California, Beavers has walked 68 times compared to 76 strikeouts, a profile that will hopefully translate favorably to the majors. He’s played all three outfield spots in his minor-league career, but the bulk of his playing time has come in right field.
While Beavers arrives with much more of a future focus in mind, the last-place Orioles will hope he can provide an immediate lift to an outfield that’s been decimated by injuries on top of deals made prior to last month’s trade deadline. Roughly a week after dealing Cedric Mullins, Ramon Laureano, and Ryan O’Hearn to contenders, Baltimore placed outfielders Colton Cowser (concussion) and Tyler O’Neill (wrist) on the injured list. That’s left interim manager Tony Mansolino to start Dylan Carlson, Jeremiah Jackson, Greg Allen, Ryan Noda, and Daniel Johnson in the three outfield spots in recent games.
To make roster room for Beavers, the Orioles designated Allen for assignment.
With Beavers now in the majors, all discussion will now center around when the organization will promote top prospect Samuel Basallo. The slugging catcher and first baseman just turned 21 years old a few days ago and is batting .270 with 23 homers, 67 RBIs, and a .966 OPS in 321 Triple-A plate appearances this season. Basallo is a consensus top-10 prospect in all of baseball.
