The Lesser Known Prospects on the Baltimore Orioles Spring Breakout Roster
Highlighting a few hidden gems on the Orioles Spring Breakout roster.
Written by: Nick Stevens
Between March 14-17, all 30 Major League Baseball teams will participate in the 2024 Spring Breakout, a series of exhibition games designed to showcase the top prospect talent around the league.
More than 70 of the league’s Top 100 prospects, including the consensus top overall prospect in Jackson Holliday, will play in one of these seven-inning exhibition games, but several less-heralded prospects will also take the field during the Spring Breakout, including a few very intriguing Orioles prospects who you won’t find on national top 30 lists.
The Orioles will take on the Pittsburgh Pirates on March 14th at 7 pm. The game can be seen on MLB Network, MLB.com, and ESPN+.
Here’s the full roster for the Orioles:
Update: 3B Max Wagner has been removed from the roster while LHP Trey McGough, SS Carter Young, and SS Luis Valdez have been added to the roster.
Fans are well aware of the studs on this roster like Holliday, Mayo, Bradfield, and others, but I wanted to highlight three under-the-radar names on this roster who I’m highly intrigued by entering the 2024 season.
SS Leandro Arias
The biggest signing bonus of the 2022 international class went to outfielder Braylin Tavera, but switch-hitting shortstop Leandro Arias received a hefty $600K signing bonus himself that year, the second-highest bonus handed out in that class.
Arias would play 46 games in the 2022 Dominican Summer League season, hitting just .217 with a .650 OPS, 88 wRC+, and 10 XBH (1 HR). He walked 14% of the time and struck out at a 21.6% clip. The stats didn’t jump off the page for the 17-year-old, but they would tell a different story in 2023 as Arias made the transition to the Florida Complex League.
Last year in Sarasota, Arias raised his average to .271 with a .785 OPS, 110 wRC+, 12 XBH (3 HR), a 12% walk rate, and a 12% strikeout rate. While making the jump stateside, Arias was able to maintain a high walk rate while hitting for more power, a higher average, and cutting his strikeout rate significantly. Take rookie-level stats for what they are, but to see progression in the numbers like that for such a young player with Arias’ upside is promising.
The report on Arias when he initially signed with the Orioles was that he was a more hit-over-power hitter, someone more likely to develop big doubles power and use his 60 grade speed to wreck havoc on the bases. Ranked as a top 20 prospect in the system as soon as he signed on FanGraphs, Eric Longenhagen noted how Arias’ power could end up being a separator for him.
That looks like it’s already coming true, with his power potential prepared to shoot him up prospect ranks in 2024. Despite his 6’1”, 155 pound frame, reports suggest that Arias could develop plus-power as he fills out and continues to develop. He will begin the season in Low-A with Delmarva, joining a few other international hitters for their full-season debuts like, potentially, Braylin Tavera and Thomas Sosa.
RHP Yaqui Rivera
The pitching group participating in the Spring Breakout is a fun one, led by two top 30 arms in Povich and Bright. Gillies, Hoffman, and Strowd are all names we’ve discussed many times on the podcast, and don’t be surprised if Yaqui Rivera is a more common discussion topic throughout the 2024 season.
(From Rivera’s time in the Dominican Winter League back in December)
Rivera was acquired from the Miami Marlins back in 2022, becoming the Player To Be Named Later as part of the Tanner Scott/Cole Sulser trade that also brought LHP Antonio Velez, OF Kevin Guerrero, and a comp draft pick that became OF Jud Fabian to Baltimore.
Rivera made his full-season debut with Delmarva less than a month after the trade and pitched to a 6.17 ERA in 35 IP, but that came with a 3.59 FIP and a 28% strikeout rate. Despite standing 6’2” and listed at a generous 150 pounds, Rivera brought 80 grade energy to the mound and thrived in a late-inning role, also fully embracing the villain role on the road according to former Shorebirds PxP man Sam Jellinek in an interview he did with us after the 2022 season. He was the 8th-youngest player in the Carolina League that season.
Rivera saw his K-rate rise to 31.6% as he began the 2023 season back in Delmarva, but was promoted to Aberdeen during the year where he was more than four years younger than his peers. While his walk rate did spike, Rivera flashed real potential as a 19-year-old in High-A, posting a 1.45 ERA and 33% K rate in 18.2 IP.
Rivera currently throws a fastball in the low-90s, with a slider that’s shown real potential, and a changeup. With youth very much on his side and plenty of room to fill out physically, it’s easy to see Rivera adding a few more ticks to this fastball, making him a very intriguing relief prospect heading into 2024. Seeing as the Orioles targeted Rivera and have been very aggressive in his development, I’d pay attention.
OF Thomas Sosa
Signed for $400K in the January 2022 international FA class, the Thomas Sosa hype has been building thanks to a few different mentions in recent Baseball America pieces highlighting standout rookie-level talents and his inclusion in some national top 30 lists. The hype is well deserved.
Orioles Director of Player Development Anthony Villa was recently on our show and highlighted Sosa as a name to watch in 2024 as well, noting that Sosa “believes he’s the next Ken Griffey Jr.” Yes, please.
(Full interview: Anthony Villa visits On The Verge)
While there’s only one Griffey and there will never be another player like him, Sosa is an intriguing outfield prospect in the Orioles system, boasting impressive raw power from the left side and athleticism.
Sosa hit just .201 with a .596 OPS in the DSL back in 2022, hitting three home runs with a wRC+ of 68 and a 26% strikeout rate with an 8.8% walk rate. Last year in the FCL, Sosa posted a 128 wRC+, hitting .290 with a .385 OBP, 4 HR (14 total XBH), while lowering his strikeout rate to 21% and increasing his walk rate to 12%.
Per Baseball America, Sosa posted a 104.3 mph 90th percentile exit velo, with a 110.2 mph max EV, and a 75.3% contact rate. Very impressive numbers for a 19-year-old and all three of those numbers ranking among the best in the entire FCL last season.
Sosa, like Leandro Arias, enters 2024 with real breakout potential after showcasing more power, higher contact rates, and much less swing and miss while making his jump from the DSL to the FCL. Watching Low-A ball can be rough some nights, but I will be glued to Delmarva early this season with what should be a roster loaded with international talent.
While the top prospects are fun and stars like Holliday, Mayo, and Basallo could be regulars in Baltimore’s big league lineup in the very near future, this inaugural Spring Breakout game is a great opportunity for more casual fans to be introduced to some intriguing sleepers down on the farm. Hopefully, guys like Arias, Rivera, and Sosa can make a positive first impression in front of Orioles fans watching on Thursday night ahead of what should be a fun 2024 season, and hopefully, the Spring Breakout event continues to grow in the future.