After years of taking a back seat to the impressive collection of hitters in the Orioles’ farm system, the pitching inventory is coming into sharp focus with its quality and depth.
The same holistic, aligned developmental approach that delivered Grayson Rodriguez to the majors and polished talents such as Félix Bautista and Yennier Cano into All-Star form is developing intriguing and potentially valuable young pitchers at an unprecedented rate.
It won’t be long until some of these pitchers are contributing to what could be annual postseason pushes in Baltimore. It’s probably best to learn about them before that time comes.
Throughout the season, in this series, I’ll use firsthand observation, data analysis and insights from the pitchers and their coaches, along with opinions from professional scouts who cover the Orioles, to provide as much information as possible about these prospects.
Year 2 of Arms on the Farm began in Aberdeen with the recently traded Jackson Baumeister and Luis De León. We stay there for Michael Forret, who was a 14th-round pick last summer but has grown into one of their top pitching prospects.
Where did he come from?
A data-driven organization like the Orioles might not find the reams of information they prize at the junior college level. Instead, this pick started with good old-fashioned in-person scouting. Area scout Brandon Verley saw Forret early in the year as a freshman at State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota, and was intrigued by his four-pitch repertoire and competitiveness, as well as his potential to add velocity to his fastball as he added strength. He was in the 92-93 mph range with his fastball and threw a running changeup, a slider and a curveball as an amateur.
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Forret missed bats and limited walks as the season progressed, and he impressed the Orioles in a meeting at the scouting combine with his makeup, plan for his development and determination to add pitches to meet his goal of being a big league starting pitcher.
Given Forret’s leverage to either stay in school or go to a Division I school, and the potential that he improve to the point he would be a first- or second-day pick down the line, his selection in the 14th round didn’t guarantee he’d sign. Bonuses over $150,000 for third-day picks count against a team’s overall signing bonus pool, so the Orioles signing Forret for $450,000 was a considerable investment. It might prove to be a bargain.
What do the numbers say?
Forret can miss bats with the best of them. His 11.49 strikeouts per nine is third best among Orioles prospects still in the organization with at least 50 innings this year, and out of the 69 pitchers across the minors with at least 50 innings at age 20 or younger, Forret has the 11th-best strikeout rate.
He started the season well at Low-A Delmarva, striking out 49 in 39 2/3 innings over 10 appearances, with a 1.13 WHIP and a 3.18 ERA before his promotion in early June to Aberdeen. There’s been a bit more traffic with the IronBirds, as Forret has a 1.41 WHIP and a 4.39 ERA, albeit with a slightly elevated strikeout rate (54 in 41 innings). Most of that increase in baserunners comes down to an elevated walk rate. Forret has walked 5.05 batters per nine in the South Atlantic League, where coaxing chases from the older hitters has proven difficult.
Still, his swinging strike rate of 16.8% is second best among pitchers within the Orioles organization and fourth best among his peer group in the broader minors. As far as his splits go, lefties hit him better than righties, and there’s another interesting one, given how the Orioles are using tandem roles to develop their pitchers. Forret has struggled in the outings he’s piggybacked this year, with a 7.32 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP in six relief outings versus a 2.66 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in 15 starts.
What does he throw?
Forret was attractive for all the reasons the Orioles found in the draft, and he took significant leaps forward after entering pro ball, both with the Orioles and with outside help. His four-seam fastball, which sits in the 93-95 mph range and has been up to 97 mph this year, has consistent carry and plays up at the top of the strike zone. The velocity increase the Orioles expected has occurred.
He has a pair of sliders, one with sweepy action in the low 80s that he can land for strikes and go strike to ball for chase, as well as a harder, more vertical gyro slider in the low to mid-80s. That pitch can have more depth, and Forret has been tweaking the grip on it.
His changeup is where he’s made the most progress, though. He had a more exaggerated changeup with horizontal action entering the organization, but he worked at Tread Athletics to add a new version — a kick changeup — last winter. (The facility posted a tremendous video on the development of this and other pitches.) It’s on the harder side (85-88 mph) but with more depth and has turned into a plus-potential pitch as he learns to use it. There’s a chance his other changeup returns to his arsenal, too, though Forret found the current version is easier to be consistent with.
“He added that changeup, and it’s been a really, really good pitch for him this year, a really unique type of pitch,” Delmarva pitching coach Andy Sadoski said.
More recently at Aberdeen, Forret has been working to add a two-seam fastball.
What does the future hold?
Forret is on a singular track as a 20-year-old pitcher climbing through the system. He’ll turn 21 early next season, and he is likely to spend most — if not all — of 2025 in the high minors. The average age of a pitcher in the Double-A Eastern League this year is 24.5, so Forret will be significantly younger for the level.
The Orioles have pushed hitters to age-advanced stations for challenges before, though this would be the most extreme instance of that on the pitching side. It might be a coin flip whether they think he’s mastered High-A from a statistical standpoint, but there’s no question within the organization about Forret’s maturity and professionalism.
“Michael is a tremendous guy. He is very, very mature for his age, and I think, how he goes about his business and the way that he utilizes his resources, it’s not shocking he was able to gain as much velocity as he did coming into his first year of professional baseball,” lower-level pitching coordinator Forrest Herrmann said. “Overall, velocity really improved, his overall arsenal has taken some big steps forward and really performing well, learning to execute this unique mix.”
That ability to take advantage of the resources around him and apply them means there’s still untapped potential in Forret. He’s filled out his 6-foot-3 frame since signing, and there’s a chance he can add more strength and thus more velocity. His aptitude at adding and tweaking pitches speaks to the potential to find a mix that fits the Orioles’ goals of multiple weapons to attack lefties and righties, and doing so against more mature hitters will only accelerate that process.
That’s part of what makes Forret one of the most promising starting pitching prospects in the organization. He’s been one of the fastest-rising prospects in the system this year, and he may end the year in the top handful of pitchers on the farm. It could be a 2026 arrival in Baltimore, but if he continues on this trajectory, it will be one with plenty of fanfare.
