The Baltimore Orioles and the Norfolk Tides today announced the organization’s Triple-A Opening Day roster. The Tides added three players since their break camp roster was announced.
Six players on the Opening Day roster are ranked in the Top 30 Orioles prospects by MLB.com. Grayson Rodriguez, the 11th overall pick of the 2018 MLB Draft, is listed as the second-best prospect in Orioles’ organization. He is also ranked as the sixth-best prospect in all of baseball, the highest listed pitcher in MLB.com’s Top 100 Prospects list.
The five other players listed in the Top 30 Orioles prospects are Kyle Stowers (#8), Terrin Vavra (#14), Kevin Smith (#18), Jahmai Jones (#22) and Yusniel Díaz (#26). Stowers, Smith, Jones and Díaz each played for the Tides in 2021, while Rodriguez and Vavra would make their Triple-A debuts if they make their first appearance with the Tides.
Including Rodriguez, three former first round selections by the Orioles are on the Opening Day roster. Cody Sedlock was drafted as the 27th overall pick in 2016 during the compensatory round (Miami Marlins signed Wei-Yin Chen). Cadyn Grenier was selected 37th overall in 2018 as the Orioles’ Competitive Balance Round A pick.
Six players are on Baltimore’s 40-man roster: Vavra, Smith, Jones, Díaz, Rylan Bannon and Alexander Wells. Bannon and Wells both played for the Tides last season. Wells made his MLB debut on June 26 in 2021, while Bannon is still seeking his first MLB action.
Several members of the Triple-A break camp roster have played for the Tides in prior seasons. Pitchers Diógenes Almengo, Marcos Diplán, Conner Greene, Ryan Hartman, Blaine Knight, David Lebron, Ofelky Peralta, Sedlock, Smith, and Nick Vespi are returning to Norfolk. Bannon, Brett Cumberland, Díaz, Patrick Dorrian, Grenier, Chris Hudgins, Jones, Mason McCoy, Robert Neustrom and Stowers are the hitters returning to the Tides.
The new faces in Norfolk are pitchers Kyle Brnovich, Rodriguez and Cole Uvila, while the hitters are Johnny Rizer and Vavra. This rounds out the 26-man Triple-A break camp roster. None of the three players added will be active. Shed Long and Rico Garcia will start the season on the seven-day injured list, while Kyle Bradish, who’s ranked the #10 prospect by MLB.com, will start on the Development List.
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Chris Graham
