Oriole #1021- Parker Bridwell

I know that I'm skipping a few debuts at this point, but July/August is always a hard time of the season to keep up with autographs on the team as players are traded or acquired from other organizations and I don't have their autographs waiting to add to my collection. So I'm going to move ahead with a debut I was prepared for; that of the Orioles 9th round draft pick in the 2010 draft, Parker Bridwell.

Parker was drafted out of Hereford High School in Texas, and apparently could have been the quarterback at Texas Tech if he had chosen to go that route, so it seems like he was an all-around gifted athlete in high school. He worked his way through every level of the Orioles minor league system over the past seven years, at times seeming like a sure-fire Major Leaguer following up with other stretches where it seemed like he would never make it to the show. 

He has consistently been ranked as one of the Orioles highest prospects, owing at least in part to their shallow farm system, and was added to the 40-man roster prior to the 2016 season to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. Parker was also invited to the big league camp for the first time in 2016 so all the signs seemed to be pointing in the right direction for him. However, during the season, he battled some injuries and was also moved to the bullpen, where it seems like the team thinks his MLB future might be, so it took most of the season before he finally got the call to the O's. He made his MLB debut on Sunday August 21st against the Astros, and pitched two innings in relative mop up duty to help out the overtaxed Orioles bullpen. He gave up two hits, including a HR, and struck out two Astros batters.

I have a number of Parker's signed minor league cards from over the years, although he pitched in Aberdeen and Delmarva, two places that I didn't often get to during the years that I made it to the most minor league games. It feels nice to once again have been prepared for the debut of a new Oriole!

Parker has always seemed like a decent guy so I hope that he has finally found his way to the Orioles permanently. Good luck to him!

Spring Training Autos Heading For the Collection

As I mentioned the other day, I don't really have a game plan for exactly how I'm going to post about the autographs I got on my Spring Training trip, but rather, I'm going to scan them as I have time and post what I've scanned. 

Today's post is featuring some personalized autographs that are heading straight for my collection.

Yovani was signed about a week before our trip, and it was a quick turnaround to get his Old Man Cards made, but my dad pulled it off and I was thrilled to get these signed. I only saw Yovani sign one time on the trip, and thankfully he was nice enough to sign and personalize his first Orioles card for me. The card will head directly to the collection once he makes his O's debut. 

Tyler Wilson was finally featured on his first Orioles card when 2015 Topps Update came out last year. He only made his MLB debut last season, but he was a 10th round pick by the Orioles in the 2011 draft and had slowly and steadily been working his way to Baltimore since then. I always find it interesting how certain players/prospects are heavily represented as minor leaguers in Bowman and other representative sets, whereas a guy like Tyler hadn't been featured on a single mass release card since being drafted. At least the minor league team sets are out there to give him some cardboard representation! Also, I need to give Tyler a shout out for seeming like a really great guy, who shows it at least in part by a willingness to sign for fans with a great attitude. 

Ubaldo is another player who seems like a really nice guy. And it never hurts when he shows it by stopping most days to sign for the fans! I even heard that after a bad spring start, he STILL stopped to sign  for people; most pitchers would never do that!

Parker Bridwell is a good example of the opposite of Tyler Wilson's situation I was talking about up there. Parker was 9th round pick in 2010 who has been featured in at least these two Bowman sets, as well as no fewer than three Topps & Heritage Minor League sets and has yet to even make his O's debut. The big differences between the two players is that Bridwell has been considered the better prospect over the years. But I find it interesting that he was drafted one round higher one year earlier than Wilson but is still working on making it to Baltimore.

At some point last season, the Orioles brought Ramon Martinez into the fold as some sort of special assignment coach/instructor. I had never seen him around until this Spring Training, but my dad made sure we were prepared with an OMC for him to sign!

Dale Thayer signed a minor league contract with the O's about a week before our trip and was another one of the guys who needed a quick turnaround for this OMC, but once again, my old man pulled it off! Dale was a pretty consistent signer in Sarasota, and even though I'm pretty sure he will start the season in Norfolk, I wouldn't be surprised to see him make an appearance in Baltimore during the season.

Spring Training Autographs- Top Prospects

I promise that I will make it through my Spring Training autographs one day. In fact, I hope to wrap them up tomorrow, but no promises.

Today's autographs are of players who are currently among the organization's top prospects or who have been regarded as a prospect over recent years. If applicable, I will list their current ranking according to Baseball America.


I was very happy to get my first autograph from the Orioles 2011 First Round pick and 2012 top prospect, Dylan Bundy. He was still at the O's big league camp during my trip and I happened to be in the right place at the right time to get his signature.

The Birds' #2 prospect (who was #1 in 2011) is Manny Machado, who also got into some big league Spring Training games. The team seems very high on him, as they likely should be. I was very glad to get  a personalized autograph from him, and his autograph seems like it has improved a bit since the end of last season.

 

#3 prospect Jonathan Schoop (all the way up from #10 last year) is probably my favorite player in the system right now. He's consistently nice to the fans and I think he has a legitimate chance to really help the Orioles a few years down the road.

Since he has yet to pitch above lo-A Delmarva, I haven't had a chance to see #4 prospect Parker Bridwell pitch yet. But at least I have his autograph.

The Orioles 2nd round pick in the 2011 draft is 3B Jason Esposito, who BA ranks as their #8 prospect. This was my first chance to get his autograph and he seems like a pretty decent guy. He even took his time signing the Topps USA card since he said they often smudge; thanks for the effort Jason!

Dan Klein has some serious potential but has battled injuries throughout his time in the minors. He could very well be the Orioles closer of the future , but only if he can stay healthy. He is the #10 prospect this year, slipping from #5 last season.

Glynn Davis, no not Glenn, is ranked just outside the top ten and is regarded as the fastest player in the O's farm system. 

Ryan Berry was the organization's #9 prospect last year but injuries derailed his season, so he's off the list this year. And somehow I didn't notice that both of these cards used the same picture until i was getting them signed.

Matt Hobgood was the team's 2009 first round pick and #5 prospect in 2010 but has yet to have much success at the professional level. And he won't pitch this year due to some sort of injury. At this point, I'm not expecting much of Matt, it's kind of a Billy Rowell 2.0 situation.

Caleb Joseph was ranked as the #10 prospect in 2010 but seems to have plateaued. He's always been a favorite of mine, but he needs to make the jump to AAA this year to prove himself. 

Kipp Schutz has never been ranked amongst the team's top 10 prospects but he has some major league potential, so I'm including him here.