The Nest Egg - Orioles Prospect Report: Week of August 4, 2026
By Avery Brooks ·
The Fire This Time: Enddy Azocar Is Doing Something Real
The 19-year-old outfielder Enddy Azocar (A+, OF, Rank: 22) has always had the bat speed. What he's doing with it right now borders on alarming in the best possible way. Over the last 30 days at Greenville, he's slashing .349/.379/.783 with 9 home runs and 22 RBI across 18 games. Last week alone he piled up 14 hits, 3 doubles, and 3 home runs in 26 plate appearances, driving in 10. The power tool is graded at 55 and the production is lapping the projection. He's at 18 home runs for the season across two levels, with a combined .540 slugging mark in 399 plate appearances — a number that looked optimistic back in spring.
The honest caveat is that the hit tool sits at 45 and the strikeout rate (95 punchouts on the year) isn't going away. A hitter with visible chase tendencies who feasts against A+ pitching is a prospect; what he does when Double-A arms start working him down and off-speed is where the real question lives. But you don't dismiss a 19-year-old with plus bat speed putting up these raw numbers by assuming the floor. His athleticism keeps him in center for now, which preserves the profile even if the contact doesn't fully arrive. I'd want to see what he does in his first month at Chesapeake before drawing conclusions, but the power spike is real enough that a second-division regular projection might already be selling him short.
Seven Up: Caden Hunter Makes His Double-A Debut Count
Caden Hunter (AA, SP, Rank: 37) has been quietly excellent all season across Low-A and High-A, but his first start at Chesapeake was a statement. Seven innings, one hit, zero runs, ten strikeouts, two walks. The 1.32 ERA and 0.95 WHIP across 75 combined innings this year are not flukes — over his last 30 days at High-A he posted a 1.09 ERA and struck out 35 in 24.2 innings. The fastball sits 91-95 with carry up in the zone and the changeup already shows plus separation and depth, giving him legitimate weapons against both sides. The slider is still more fringe than reliable, which is the main thing keeping the ceiling at a number four projection rather than something higher.
What makes this week particularly meaningful is the level jump. Holding Double-A hitters to a single hit in seven innings is not something a pitchability-only arm does by accident. The command grade sits at 45 and the walk total (33 on the year) is something to watch, but the two-walk outing in his debut suggests he was dialed in when it mattered. At 22 years old, with a 1.32 ERA through 75 pro innings and now a clean first look at the toughest level he's faced, Hunter is accelerating faster than his sixth-round draft slot anticipated. If the slider takes even a half-step forward in the second half, this profile starts looking like more than a back-end arm.
Quick Hits
- Joseph Dzierwa (AA, LHP, Rank: 11) · went 4.2 innings allowing just 2 hits and no runs with 5 strikeouts, running his season ERA to 2.25 across 100 innings between High-A and Double-A. The command grade is 55 and the plus changeup does real work, but the breaking ball package still needs to take a step before the #4-starter projection becomes a mid-rotation conversation.
- Victor Figueroa (AA, 1B, Rank: 12) · collected 8 hits including a triple and a home run, knocking in 8 runs across 25 plate appearances in his first week at Chesapeake. He's at 23 home runs and 82 RBI on the combined season, carrying a 60-grade power tool that has translated as advertised. The strikeout rate (30-plus percent at High-A) is the reason the 1B-only profile carries real bust risk, and Double-A will quickly tell us whether the contact picture is fixable or structural.
- Aron Estrada (AA, 2B, Rank: 15) · went 9-for-27 with 3 doubles and a homer, driving in 8. He's hitting .286/.323/.480 with 16 home runs on the season — a power number that already exceeds what his 45 raw power grade suggested. The switch-hitting, 50 hit tool, and 55 speed profile project to an everyday second baseman, and the home run pace is ahead of that ceiling. The walk rate (19 in 376 PA) is the one blemish worth watching as he faces better arms.
- JT Quinn (A+, RHP, Rank: 29) · bounced back in a big way: 5.1 innings, 2 hits, 1 earned run, 6 strikeouts, zero walks. The last 30 days have been rough (6.98 ERA, 6 home runs in 19.1 innings), so this was a needed reset. Quinn's fastball runs 95-98 and the curveball is a true 60-grade bat-misser, but home run ball and the lagging changeup are real concerns over a full rotation workload. The season ERA sits at 3.99 through 88 innings.
- Brandon Butterworth (AA, SS, Rank: 53) · drove in 7 on 5 hits with a triple and a home run, drawing 4 walks in 24 plate appearances. He's hitting .301/.393/.616 over the last 30 days at Double-A, which is a significant step up from his tools — a 45 hit grade and quad-A projection don't usually produce that line. The approach and makeup carry him further than the raw attributes suggest. He's at a .295/.412/.530 combined slash with 9 home runs on the year across levels.
- Luis De León (AAA, LHP, Rank: 16) · scattered 6 hits for 1 run over 5.2 innings in his Triple-A debut, striking out 4. More interesting than the start itself is the 30-day picture at Double-A: a 0.91 ERA with 32 strikeouts and 9 walks over 29.2 innings. The mid-90s fastball and promising changeup give him a legitimate two-pitch foundation, but the 44 walk total on the season makes it clear that command is still the developmental variable that will determine whether he's a back-end starter or a reliever. The Triple-A assignment is the right next test.
- Nestor German (AAA, RHP, Rank: 14) · turned in 5.1 innings of two-run ball with 5 strikeouts and 3 walks, and his last 30 days at Norfolk have been genuinely encouraging: 1.59 ERA, 24 strikeouts, 6 walks in 28.1 innings. The four-pitch mix with a 55 fastball and 55 slider gives him a real shot at a rotation spot, and the season ERA of 3.90 in over 100 Triple-A innings keeps him in the conversation as an MLB-depth option.
- Kyson Witherspoon (A+, RHP, Rank: 6) · held Fredericksburg to 4 hits and 1 run in 5.1 innings with 5 strikeouts. The stuff remains exceptional — 96-98 fastball, 60-grade cutter, above-average slider and curve — but the 4.78 ERA on the year reflects the gap between raw ability and execution that has defined his first full pro season. He's 21 years old and the #3-starter projection is still very much in play; it's just not going to be linear.
- Griff O'Ferrall (AA, SS, Rank: 59) · went 8-for-28 with 2 doubles and collected 3 walks and a hit-by-pitch. The season line (.215/.303/.317) and the 30-day numbers (.236/.284/.306) both reflect a player whose contact feel hasn't fully translated to Double-A. He's a 50 hit tool with a 35 power grade projecting to utility, and the production to date fits that ceiling more than it challenges it.
- RJ Austin (A+, OF, Rank: 63) · went 4-for-16 with 2 doubles, a triple, and 4 RBI. The 70 speed and 55 field grade make him a legitimate center-field defender, and his 31 stolen bases on the year show that tool is game-ready. Over the last 30 days he's hitting .308/.410/.462, which is the most encouraging offensive stretch of his young career. The hit and power tools are both 40s, so the floor is a fourth outfielder, but he's at least answering some of the offensive questions this month.
- Juaron Watts-Brown (AAA, RHP, Rank: 24) · struck out 9 over 8.1 innings but issued 9 walks, a continuation of the command volatility that has haunted him at Triple-A. The 60-grade slider is a genuine weapon and the strikeout rate (102 on the year) shows the stuff is real, but 39 walks in 81.1 innings keeps the back-end starter projection on shaky ground. The command grade sitting at 45 is not wrong.
- Dominic Keegan (AA, C, Rank: 27) · collected 4 hits including a pair of home runs and a double over 19 plate appearances, his best week since being sent outright to Chesapeake in early July. The 50 hit tool and bench-catcher ceiling are what they are, and the season line (.197/.324/.322 across levels) still points to a profile that depends on contact quality improving. Two home runs in a week at Double-A is a fine data point, though the season's 8 home runs in 284 PA is the more honest read.
- Willy Vasquez (AA, C, Rank: 65) · went 3-for-11 with a pair of doubles and 3 RBI in limited action, hitting .277/.327/.340 over the last 30 days at Chesapeake. His 40 hit and 40 power grades project to up-and-down utility, and the production at both Double-A and Triple-A this year bears that out. The 55 arm is his best carrying tool defensively, but the bat hasn't done enough to push past a depth role.