Camden Futures Prospect Weekly: Honeycutt Heats Up at Double-A, Layton's Five-Hit Breakout
By Avery Brooks ·
Camden Futures Prospect Weekly covers the last 7 days of action for the Orioles farm system.
Honeycutt Catches Fire at Double-A
Vance Honeycutt (AA, OF, Rank: 33) went 9-for-24 with three doubles, two home runs, and five RBI this week at Chesapeake, continuing a stretch that has made the contact concerns from earlier this season look like a distant memory. Over his last 30 days at Double-A, he is slashing .323/.405/.662 with four home runs and eight doubles, and his contact rate over that span has climbed to 78.2 percent, a dramatic swing from the 66.5 percent season contact rate that defined a difficult run at High-A. The strikeout rate over those 30 days has also dropped to 23 percent, compared to 42.8 percent across his full time at Frederick. Those numbers are not the same hitter.
The full-season story is worth keeping in mind. At High-A this year, Honeycutt posted a .182 average with 10 home runs and a 42.8 percent strikeout rate across 257 plate appearances, and the concerns about a swing that gets long against quality velocity and breaking balls were legitimate. His promotion to Double-A came with some skepticism baked in. But the 60-grade power tool and the 70-grade athleticism and speed were always going to produce loud weeks when the timing was right, and right now his lower half and swing are in a particularly good groove. He is a plus-to-plus-plus runner with legitimate center-field defense, so even modest offensive production carries value. The question of whether this contact uptick reflects genuine adjustment or a hot stretch against a favorable sample will linger, but a 74-plate-appearance window with an 78 percent contact rate at Double-A is worth tracking closely. The everyday ceiling is real if this version of Honeycutt is showing up with any regularity.
Layton's Career-High Five-Hit Game Punctuates a Standout Week
DJ Layton (A+, SS, Rank: 40) racked up nine hits in 24 plate appearances this week at Frederick, including five doubles and six RBI, with the highlight being a career-high five-hit game on September 6. The five-hit performance alone would make for a memorable week, but Layton backed it up on both sides of it to produce the system's top offensive PIdx for the period. Over his last 30 days at High-A, he is slashing .264/.418/.431 with a 20.7 percent walk rate and two home runs, showing a plate discipline profile that has always been ahead of the contact grades. He is a selective swinger at 39.2 percent over that stretch, and the walks have been a real part of his game since his amateur days.
The scouting report remains honest about the ceiling: a 40 hit tool, 30 power, and a likely move from shortstop to second base as he climbs. But Layton is still 20 years old and logged only 135 plate appearances in his professional debut last year at the Florida Complex League. The speed grade at 55 is a genuine carrying tool, and his 45 stolen bases in 490 combined plate appearances across Low-A and High-A this year show it translates. The .264/.418/.431 line over the last 30 days at High-A, walk rate and all, is a meaningful step forward from his .183 FCL debut. The contact rate of 59.2 percent over that span still needs to climb for the hit tool to prove out, but this week was the most complete offensive display of his young career.
Quick Hits
- Anthony Eyanson (AA, RHP, Rank: 1) · turned in six innings of one-run ball this week, striking out 8 while walking none and generating 15 whiffs on 91 pitches. The command was the story: 48 of 91 for strikes and zero free passes. Over his last 30 days at Chesapeake, the ERA sits at 1.69 across 21.1 innings with a 35.6 percent strikeout rate and a 51.6 percent strike rate. The combined season ERA is 1.51 through 95.1 innings across three organizations, with a 36.8 percent strikeout rate and a 40.8 percent whiff rate. He has a 55-grade four-seamer sitting 94-98, a 55 slider, and a 50 changeup, and the 55 command grade is showing up in real time. A #3 starter projection looks conservative right now.
- Patrick Reilly (AA, RHP, Rank: 34) · delivered 6.2 innings of two-run ball with 8 strikeouts, 1 walk, and 16 whiffs against 23 batters faced. It was his best outing of the Double-A stint, and over the last 30 days at Chesapeake he is pitching to a 2.75 ERA across 19.2 innings with a 36.4 percent strikeout rate and a 34 percent whiff rate. The season line tells a choppier story: a 5.51 ERA across 47.1 combined innings, with a rough Florida Complex stretch dragging down the cumulative numbers. Reilly is a 60-grade four-seamer sitting 95-98 with a 55 slider, and when the command shows up, the arsenal is enough to miss bats in bulk. This week it did.
- Wehiwa Aloy (AA, SS, Rank: 9) · homered three times in 22 plate appearances this week, driving in five runs despite posting a 10-strikeout week and drawing no walks. The three-homer burst fits a 30-day line at Chesapeake that includes seven home runs, a .565 slugging mark, and a 7.5 percent walk rate across 93 plate appearances. He now has 24 home runs combined this season between High-A and Double-A, with a .286/.357/.505 slash line across 515 plate appearances. The 60-grade power is the carrying tool, and it has been showing up consistently. The swing decisions and chase rates are the ongoing concern for a player who already owns a 26.4 percent strikeout rate on the year.
- Eric Booth Jr. (A, OF, Rank: 2) · went 11-for-29 with two doubles and three RBI across 29 plate appearances at Delmarva this week, adding three walks and a hit by pitch. He is only 18 years old in full-season ball, and a 14.6 percent walk rate with a 77 percent contact rate over 82 plate appearances this season suggests the 55 hit tool grade is already producing. He has no home runs yet, but the 50 power grade still has significant physical projection to grow into. A plus runner with a 65 field grade, he is an exciting recent entry into the system.
- Enrique Bradfield Jr. (AAA, OF, Rank: 13) · went 7-for-28 with two doubles, a triple, and three RBI at Norfolk, drawing four walks and posting only five strikeouts across 28 plate appearances. His 30-day line at Triple-A: .286/.396/.403 with a 15.1 percent walk rate, 19.4 percent strikeout rate, and 79.1 percent contact rate. The season slash of .264/.352/.354 at Norfolk reflects the limited power, but a 30-steal pace and __-grade speed and center-field defense give him a real floor. The September call-up conversation has been circulating; this was a week that kept it alive.
- Luis De León (MLB, LHP, Rank: 12) · was selected by Baltimore this week and has appeared in three games out of the Orioles bullpen, posting a 6.75 ERA across 2.2 innings with 2 strikeouts and 1 walk. The jump from Double-A Chesapeake, where he struck out 100 across 81 innings with a 4.33 ERA, skipped Triple-A after a brief Norfolk stint. The command has been the concern all season and has followed him to the big-league level in the early going, but getting a look in September is meaningful for a 12th-ranked organizational arm.
- Cameron Weston, RHP, Mets (MLB, Flushing) · #917 Overall · was claimed off waivers by the New York Mets this week, departing the Orioles organization after posting a 7.89 ERA across 51.1 innings at Triple-A Norfolk. He got one major-league appearance with Baltimore before the DFA. In two innings with Syracuse after the claim, he struck out five without allowing a run, a sharp reversal from his Norfolk form.
- Ty Head (A+, OF, Rank: 4) · went 5-for-21 with no extra-base hits, one RBI, two walks, and seven strikeouts in his first week at Frederick after being promoted from Delmarva. The move to High-A came after a .321/.400/.491 showing at Low-A, and a 0-extra-base-hit week in a new environment is not a red flag for a 21-year-old making his A+ debut. A 55-grade field tool and 60-grade speed still project an everyday center fielder, and his 30-day numbers at Delmarva showed a 76.3 percent contact rate heading into the promotion. I'd give him at least a month at the new level before drawing any conclusions from the debut.
- Michael Forret (AAA, RHP, Rank: 8) · had a rough outing this week: 3 innings, 2 earned runs, 3 walks, and 4 strikeouts across 15 batters faced. The 30-day ERA at Norfolk now sits at 6.45 across 22.1 innings, and the season ERA at Triple-A checks in at 6.35. The contrast with his AA track record, a 2.15 ERA in 54.1 innings at Montgomery this year and a 1.51 ERA at High-A a season ago, is stark. He is a 60-grade changeup arm with above-average command grades, but the command has slipped to a 43.9 percent strike rate over the last month, and the walks have been compounding. The arsenal is still there; the execution at Triple-A has not followed.