The Orioles are calling up infield/outfield prospect Connor Norby, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN on X. Members of the Baltimore beat, including Jake Rill of MLB.com on X, had previously noted that Norby was en route to Toronto with the rest of the team. Norby isn’t yet on the club’s 40-man roster but the O’s have a vacancy there after recently losing Kaleb Ort off waivers to the Astros. They will need to make a move to get Norby onto the active roster. Infielder Jorge Mateo is in concussion protocol, per Rich Dubroff of BaltimoreBaseball.com, and could perhaps wind up on the injured list.
It’s a nice early birthday present for Norby, who turns 24 on Saturday. His call-up is yet another step in the march of exciting prospect that the Orioles have graduated in recent years. The O’s finished last in the American League East in each full season from 2017 to 2021 losing 108 games or more in three of those seasons. In the process, they managed to use high draft picks to stockpile exciting youngsters such as Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Colton Cowser, Jordan Westburg, Kyle Stowers, Jackson Holliday, Heston Kjerstad, DL Hall and Grayson Rodriguez, all of whom were taken with a first- or second-round pick.
Norby can be counted in that group as well, with the O’s grabbing him in the second round of the 2021 draft. He got a brief professional debut in the months after that draft selection and then tore through three levels in 2022. Going from High-A to Double-A and Triple-A, he hit 29 home runs in 547 plate appearances. He also drew walks in 10.1% of those trips to the plate while only getting punched out 20.8% of the time. His combined slash line of .279/.360/.526 led to a 137 wRC+, or 37% above average overall, and he also stole 16 bases.
That performance was enough to get him on the back of some top 100 prospect lists going into 2023. Baseball America gave him the #93 slot while ESPN put him at #92. His results last year were still solid but not quite as overwhelming as the prior season. He spent all of 2023 in Triple-A, getting into 138 games. He still hit 21 home runs and walked in 9% of his trips to the plate, but the offensive environment was quite strong in Triple-A last year, thanks in part to some robo-ump shenanigans. Norby’s .290/.359/.483 batting line produced a 109 wRC+, still above average but not by a massive margin, and his 10 steals were a slight drop-off from the year before.
He didn’t get as much prospect love coming into this year but has been performing quite well for Norfolk. Through 51 contests in 2024, he already has nine home runs and seven steals. His 30.7% strikeout rate is quite high but he’s also drawing walks at an 11.3% clip. His .286/.374/.510 line translates to a 127 wRC+ on the year so far.
Defensively, Norby came up as a second baseman but the O’s have had him spend a bit more time in the outfield corners since the infield is fairly crowded by the presence of Henderson, Westburg, Holliday, Mateo and others. That gives the club a bit of flexibility in how they slot him into the lineup, though the outfield mix is pretty crowded with Cowser, Stowers, Cedric Mullins, Anthony Santander and Austin Hays all sharing time there while Ryan O’Hearn is the regular in the designated hitter slot and Ryan Mountcastle at first base.
Mateo has been the regular second baseman for the O’s lately, so that position could be open if he is indeed going to miss some time due to a concussion. Norby could slot in there or the O’s could also move Westburg from third base, as he has plenty of second base experience, with Ramón Urías taking over at the hot corner. That latter scenario would leave Norby in a backup role, which wouldn’t be ideal treatment for a notable prospect, but the O’s have also called up guys like Stowers and Kjerstad without finding significant playing time for them.
However it plays out, it continues to highlight the embarrassment of riches that the Orioles have in terms of young position player talent. They have so many of these exciting youngsters that even finding playing time for all of them is a challenge. In the long run, that is something that could be worked out organically. Santander is an impending free agent while Mullins, Hays and Mateo are all slated to hit the open market after 2025. That will open up plenty of opportunities for the youngsters in the long run while it’s also feasible that the O’s use some of these young players in deadline trades to bolster the pitching staff for a postseason push.
For now, Norby will get the call to the big leagues for the first time and start his service time clock. Even if he stays up for the rest of the year, he won’t be able to get a year of service in 2024, meaning the earliest he could reach free agency is after 2030. He could perhaps reach Super Two status if he stays in the majors from now and through the end of the 2026 campaign, but it’s also possible that he winds up back in Norfolk after Mateo is healthy. Holliday and Kjerstad are also playing well in Triple-A at the moment and could force their way back to the big leagues down the line. There are many moving parts that will impact the long-term plans but it’s undoubtedly a great day for Norby.
