Joseph Dzierwa celebrated his inclusion in the 27th annual Futures Game with another in a long string of impressive outings.
Baltimore's second-round pick in last year's Draft twirled 4 2/3 scoreless innings and racked up seven strikeouts for Double-A Bowie, which rallied past Binghamton, 8-4, on Thursday night at Mirabito Stadium.
Dzierwa lowered his ERA to 2.45 across eight appearances (six starts) for the Baysox, who have used the southpaw as a bulk reliever out of the bullpen in two of his past three outings. The Orioles' No. 12 prospect, who averaged more than a K per inning during his final year at Michigan State in 2025, is now third in the Minors with 103 punchouts across 81 innings.
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Dzierwa served notice it would be another long night for opposing hitters, opening his outing with consecutive strikeouts in the bottom of the first. The 22-year-old set down the Rumble Ponies in order in the second and worked around a mini-jam in the third, picking up his fourth K to end the frame.
He struck out three consecutive batters bridging the fourth and fifth and was removed from the contest after issuing his second walk. The Ohio native yielded a pair of hits and two free passes while tossing 49 of his 70 pitches for strikes -- good for a 70 percent ratio.
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It was the seventh consecutive appearance Dzierwa has allowed two or fewer earned runs and the 14th time in 16 outings this year he has done so. The 6-foot-8, 200-pounder has not yielded more than four runs at any point this season, contributing to his stingy 2.33 ERA across two Minor League levels.
Dzierwa certainly comes with a winning pedigree after earning Big Ten Pitcher of the Year honors in 2025 after posting a 2.36 ERA and 0.98 WHIP in 15 starts for the Spartans. The O's came calling with the 58th pick last July for a hurler who can touch the mid 90s with his fastball but confounds opposing batters with a four-pitch mix, highlighted by his 60-grade changeup and excellent control.
To accentuate that last point, Dzierwa has issued multiple walks just four times during his rookie campaign, good for a sparkling 2.3 BB/9 ratio. Perhaps even more impressive has been the hurler's consistency at both stops in 2026.
Dzierwa kicked off his pro career at High-A Frederick before being elevated to Double-A after he fashioned a 2.21 ERA, an 0.81 WHIP and held opposing batters to a .160 average while running a 50/10 K/BB ratio for the Keys.
He's carried that success into the Eastern League, where he is yielding just a .196 average in nearly an equal number of innings.