BOWIE, Md. -- On Tuesday afternoon, Joseph Dzierwa arrived at the Orioles’ new state-of-the-art player development facility at Prince George’s Stadium -- the home of the Double-A Chesapeake Baysox -- fresh off a promotion from High-A Frederick. The 22-year-old had a white bandage above his right eye, with some light bruising as well.
Nothing could stop Dzierwa from beginning his climb up Baltimore’s farm system. Not even a baseball to the face.
The O’s No. 12 prospect (per MLB Pipeline) had an injury scare on May 10, when he exited a home start for Frederick in the fourth inning. Dzierwa was backing up a throw in from the outfield, and a bad hop from the ball struck him, leaving a laceration above his right eyebrow that required multiple stitches. Yet, he was back on the mound for the Keys six days later.
“It wasn’t easy, but yeah, I just had this [bandage] over it and I switched it out every inning,” Dzierwa said on Wednesday. “It’s feeling good. The last few days have been kind of normal. Got the stitches out, all of them.”
Dzierwa’s gritty performance last Saturday turned out to be his final outing at High-A. He allowed two runs and collected six strikeouts over five innings to earn the win in Frederick’s 6-3 victory at Hudson Valley.
On Sunday, Dzierwa learned he was getting moved up to Double-A. And for those who had been tracking the Michigan State product -- a 2025 second-round pick who is the Orioles’ highest-drafted pitcher since Mike Elias took over the baseball operations department in November 2018 -- the promotion didn’t come as much of a surprise.
In eight starts for Frederick (the first eight outings of Dzierwa’s professional career), the 6-foot-8 southpaw went 5-1 with a 2.21 ERA and 50 strikeouts over 40 2/3 innings.
At no point did Dzierwa allow himself to think about when he may reach a higher level.
“I try not to put any thought into that, I guess. Just kind of control what I could do day in, day out, and wherever it takes me, I guess that’s where I go,” Dzierwa said. “Just day in, day out, just trying to be consistent. I think that’s a big thing I’m trying to focus on this year, is just to be consistent.”
Although Dzierwa didn’t make his pro debut until April 3 (six scoreless innings of one-hit ball with nine strikeouts at Hub City), his stock had already begun to rise two weeks before that, as he stole the show for the Orioles during Spring Breakout, an annual prospect showcase held late in Spring Training.
On March 20, a squad filled with O’s youngsters took on some of the best Red Sox prospects at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Fla. Dzierwa pitched the final three innings in relief, giving up only one hit and racking up eight strikeouts during a scoreless 46-pitch, 33-strike outing. His sinker sat around 94-96 mph and generated seven whiffs, while his changeup (his best offering in his four-pitch mix) flashed its potential.
Ethan Anderson (Baltimore’s No. 23 prospect) had never caught or faced Dzierwa until he warmed up the lefty in the bullpen at Spring Breakout, and he was still learning what pitches he threw at the time. Then, the two entered the game together, as Dzierwa went on to make it easy for the 22-year-old Anderson behind the plate.
“No matter what pitch I threw down, it seemed like guys were swinging and missing or taking it for strike three,” Anderson said. “I was very impressed with his performance.”
Now, Anderson is among Dzierwa’s new teammates at Chesapeake. Dzierwa is scheduled to make his Double-A debut on Friday night against Somerset at Prince George’s Stadium in Bowie, and at some point, Anderson should catch him again (if not Friday, then later on).
“To get called up this quickly, he must be doing a lot of good things,” Anderson said.
Not only did Dzierwa put up impressive numbers during his brief stint in High-A, but he feels his slider improved in that time. It could be valuable for the lefty to have another putaway pitch in an arsenal that features a cutter as well.
If Dzierwa pitches just as well in Double-A, it’s possible he’ll reach Triple-A Norfolk before the season is over. But much like his focus while at Frederick, his goal while in Chesapeake is to not look too far ahead.
“Just worry about today -- throwing today, lifting today, recovery,” Dzierwa said. “And then the next day, and then the next day.”