By Pablo Pichardo
The Baltimore Orioles franchise recently officialized on the MLB official page the main prospects for the upcoming 2022 season, highlighting the presence of two Cuban players in the well-known list.
The Orioles have transformed their system into one of the best in the game, headlined by Adley Rutschman and Grayson Rodriguez.
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) March 22, 2022
Here’s their brand-new Top 30 prospects list: https://t.co/DV6CwDMytW pic.twitter.com/m0y5S1wDrU
Baltimore, which is making an attempt to return to contention after several seasons out of the playoff run, was big news for Cuba last January 15 after signing one of the most touted Cuban prospects.
With a $750,000 bonus the American League East club seized Cienfuegos-born second baseman César Prieto, who is ranked 12th in the list of the franchise’s top prospects.
The Cuban, who might become a major leaguer in a near future, was one of the most coveted players of the international signing period, taking into account his tools and his performance in the last Cuban season, in which he set a new hitting streak record with 45.
Many fans in the island were concerned when the second sacker was not in the Spring Training roster, but such absence was caused by the lack of certain documents, which will not keep him from starting the season maybe in AA, as a preamble to his arrival in the Majors.
Another Cuban who was present was Havana-born outfielder Yusniel Díaz, who was ranked number 26 in the list. Díaz, who had a great performance in the 2018 Futures Game, came back to action after several injuries deprived him of a better performance.
During 2021, in 54 AAA games, he only managed a .157 batting average with four homers, 16 RBI and a slash line of .225 OBP/.251 SLU/.476 OPS in the third year after he joined Baltimore in the transaction that sent Manny Machado to the Dodgers.
His main goals include without question making it to the Majors during 2022, which will not be a crazy idea taking into account that his talent has not been fully enjoyed. This would be possible as long as the aforementioned injuries don’t start plaguing him this campaign.
