Minor League Weekly Roundup - 5/6/24

News, notes, and highlights from the past week in minor league baseball

Kyle Manzardo gets called up

Late last night, Mandy Bell of MLB.com announced that they were calling up top prospect Kyle Manzardo with Steven Kwan headed to the injured list. Manzardo was acquired at the trade deadline last year from the Rays in exchange for Aaron Civale. Overall, Manzardo is seen more as a hit over power first baseman, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have power. This year, he has a 105.7 90th percentile exit velocity, which would put him in the top quartile of major league hitters, so there is power in his profile. He also has a lot of loft in his swing and doesn’t hit the ball on the ground much. His ground ball rate this year is just 22.7%, and his ground ball rate has been below 30% his entire career. He has great feel for contact, whiffing on just 17% of his swings this year in Triple-A. A first base only prospect is always risky, especially one without top of the line power, but Manzardo has a fairly high floor given the plus hit tool and his ability to lift the ball and make the most of his above average raw power.

Chayce McDermott leads the Tides to a no hitter

The Norfolk Tides threw a combined no hitter on Friday, winning the game 2-0. Chayce McDermott was the starter for the game, going 6 and 2/3 with 11 strikeouts and two walks. He was working on a perfect game heading into the seventh, before walking two hitters. Nolan Hoffman and Kaleb Ort finished up the no hitter, which was the first Tides no-hitter since 2010. On the season, McDermott has a 2.89 ERA with a 32% strikeout rate, however he has been wilder than usual with a near 20% walk rate. There’s always been a healthy amount of reliever risk in McDermott’s profile, the Orioles have had good pitching this year and there is no need to rush him to the majors and put him into a bullpen role to patch some holes. He remains one of the better Orioles' pitching prospects despite the command issues.

Jonah Tong continues to dominate