BALTIMORE -- After winning the Orioles’ Jim Palmer Minor League Pitcher of the Year Award in 2025, Trey Gibson is heading into ‘26 with an opportunity to impress the club’s big league staff.
Gibson (Baltimore’s No. 9 prospect per MLB Pipeline) will be among the 30 non-roster invitees in Baltimore’s MLB Spring Training, a group that was announced by the team on Wednesday. The O’s are set to open camp in Sarasota, Fla., next week, with pitchers and catchers set to report by Tuesday.
The list of NRIs included eight players ranked on the Orioles’ Top 30 Prospects list. Gibson will be joined by outfielder Enrique Bradfield Jr. (No. 4), right-hander Nestor German (No. 11), lefty Luis De León (No. 18), righty Levi Wells (No. 19), infielder Aron Estrada (No. 22) and catchers Ethan Anderson (No. 27) and Creed Willems (No. 30).
Signed as an undrafted free agent in August 2023, Gibson has since emerged as one of the top pitching prospects in Baltimore’s system. The 23-year-old right-hander pitched at three levels in ‘25, going from High-A Aberdeen (a 5.12 ERA in nine outings) to Double-A Chesapeake (a 1.55 ERA in 10 starts) to Triple-A Norfolk (a 7.98 ERA in seven starts).
COMPLETE ORIOLES PROSPECT COVERAGE
Gibson has tremendous swing-and-miss stuff, which he used to rack up 166 strikeouts across 120 1/3 innings in the Minors last year.
Though Gibson is unlikely to break camp with the O’s -- he should return to Triple-A to open the season -- he could reach the big leagues at some point in 2026. The Newport News, Va., native may be the closest to MLB ready among Baltimore’s top pitching prospects, though fellow non-roster invitees German and De León will also have chances to impress in camp.
Bradfield, the Orioles’ 2023 first-round Draft pick, will be in big league camp for the second consecutive year. The 24-year-old center fielder was limited to 76 games last season due to a pair of hamstring injuries, so he went to the Arizona Fall League for an additional 20 games.
It will again be easy to spot Bradfield on the backfields at the Ed Smith Stadium complex, as the Vanderbilt product is among the fastest players in the O’s system with 80-grade speed. He has racked up 135 stolen bases during the first 209 games of his Minor League career.
After reaching Triple-A last year, Bradfield is getting closer to his MLB debut. However, he’s likely to return to Norfolk to open the 2026 season.
Estrada will be another top prospect to watch closely in Orioles camp as a first-time NRI. The 21-year-old Venezuelan infielder had a terrific 2025 season, batting .288 with an .813 OPS over 108 games between High-A Aberdeen and Double-A Chesapeake.
Among the notable non-prospect NRIs for Baltimore is outfielder Jhonkensy Noel. The 24-year-old Dominican -- also known as “Big Christmas” -- was claimed off waivers by the O’s in early January. The former prospect spent the first two years of his big league career in Cleveland, where he hit .193 with 19 home runs and a .643 OPS in 136 games.
The Orioles’ first full-squad workout will take place on Feb. 16. They will have 70 players in big league camp, with the 30 non-roster invitees joining the members of the 40-man roster.