Orioles honor future of organization as Wehiwa Aloy, Joseph Dzierwa headline 2026 player development awards
The Baltimore Orioles announced their 2026 player development and scouting award winners Sunday, highlighting four people who made significant contributions throughout the organization. Infielder Wehiwa Aloy was named the Brooks Robinson Minor League Player of the Year, while left-handed pitcher Joseph Dzierwa earned the Jim Palmer Minor League Pitcher of the Year Award. High-A Frederick manager Collin Woody received the Cal Ripken Sr. Player Development Award, and area scout Trent Friedrich was named the Jim Russo Scout of the Year. The four will be recognized during an on-field ceremony before Baltimore’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The awards provide an interesting look at different parts of the Orioles’ developmental operation, from amateur scouting to the performance of players at the upper levels of the farm system. Aloy emerged as one of Baltimore’s most productive position players less than 15 months after being drafted, while Dzierwa dominated across two levels during his first professional season. Woody oversaw a historic season in Frederick despite watching several of his best players earn promotions, while Friedrich’s scouting work has helped bring several recent draft selections into the organization.
Aloy and Dzierwa are particularly important because both entered the organization during the 2025 MLB Draft and have moved rapidly through Baltimore’s system. Each began the 2026 season with Frederick before earning a promotion to Double-A Chesapeake, and neither saw his production disappear after moving up. Their performances have now put both prospects in position to become important names to follow throughout 2027.
Aloy earns Brooks Robinson Minor League Player of the Year
Aloy’s first full professional season could hardly have gone much better. The 22-year-old infielder hit .288 with a .358 on-base percentage and .506 slugging percentage over 123 games between Frederick and Chesapeake. Aloy collected 136 hits, 20 doubles, four triples and 25 home runs while scoring 84 times and driving in 92 runs. He also drew 52 walks and stole 20 bases, demonstrating that his offensive value extended well beyond his home-run production.
The numbers placed Aloy among the most productive players throughout Baltimore’s farm system. He led all Orioles minor leaguers in runs and total bases with 239 while ranking second in hits, extra-base hits and RBI. Aloy tied for second in home runs, ranked third in slugging percentage, fifth in batting average and sixth with an .864 OPS. He was also one of only 18 full-season minor leaguers to record at least 20 doubles, 25 home runs and 20 stolen bases.
That combination of power and speed was particularly encouraging considering Aloy was playing his first complete professional season. Baltimore selected him with the No. 31 overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft following an outstanding career at Arkansas, where his combination of offensive production and defensive versatility made him one of the more interesting college position players available. After a short professional introduction in 2025, the Orioles gave Aloy a much larger challenge by assigning him to Frederick in 2026.
Aloy quickly establishes himself in Frederick
Aloy wasted little time establishing himself as one of Frederick’s most dangerous hitters. He batted .300 with a .371 on-base percentage and .503 slugging percentage across 84 games for the Keys, collecting 99 hits in 330 at-bats. Aloy added 14 doubles, four triples and 15 home runs while producing 69 RBI, 57 runs, 38 walks and 12 stolen bases.
His production was not concentrated into one short hot streak. Aloy was named Orioles Minor League Player of the Month in May after batting .329 with five doubles, one triple, six home runs and 19 RBI across 22 games. Two months later, he was even better, batting .379 with seven doubles, a triple, four home runs and 18 RBI in 23 July games. The second organizational Player of the Month award helped make it clear that Aloy was ready for a more difficult assignment.
Baltimore promoted Aloy to Double-A Chesapeake on July 28, moving him from one of the lower levels of the system into what is traditionally considered one of the most important developmental tests in professional baseball. Double-A pitchers generally have better command, more advanced secondary pitches and much more detailed scouting information than players see at the lower levels. Aloy’s ability to respond to that adjustment therefore became almost as important as the numbers he accumulated with Frederick.
Aloy’s power follows him to Chesapeake
Aloy’s batting average declined following the promotion, but his power actually increased. He hit .261 with a .329 on-base percentage and .514 slugging percentage across 39 games for Chesapeake, producing six doubles, 10 home runs, 27 runs and 23 RBI. Aloy also drew 14 walks and stole eight bases, giving him 20 steals for the season. From his promotion through the end of the year, his 10 home runs tied for fourth most in the Eastern League.
That production was one of the more encouraging parts of his entire season because Aloy did not need an extended adjustment period before making an impact at Double-A. His .514 slugging percentage with Chesapeake was actually higher than his .503 mark with Frederick. The sample was considerably smaller, but the ability to continue driving the baseball against more advanced pitching provided another positive indicator regarding his offensive development.
Aloy’s performance has also resulted in growing national recognition. The Orioles’ announcement lists him as Baltimore’s No. 8 prospect according to MLB Pipeline and No. 15 according to Baseball America. Those rankings could continue changing as evaluators get a longer look at what Aloy can do against upper-level minor league pitching.
There are still areas that will determine how quickly Aloy can progress. His approach against advanced pitching and his long-term defensive home will be worth monitoring as he moves closer to the major leagues. However, a 22-year-old middle infielder producing 25 home runs, 20 steals and an .864 OPS while reaching Double-A in his first complete professional season has given Baltimore another legitimate prospect to develop.
Dzierwa named Jim Palmer Minor League Pitcher of the Year
As impressive as Aloy’s season was offensively, Dzierwa produced one of the best pitching seasons anywhere in Baltimore’s minor league system. The 22-year-old left-hander went 9-2 with a 2.27 ERA across 26 appearances, including 24 starts, between Frederick and Chesapeake. Dzierwa allowed only 88 hits and 33 earned runs over 131 innings while walking 30 and striking out 149. He surrendered just eight home runs and finished the year with an outstanding 0.90 WHIP.
Those numbers did not simply rank near the top of the Orioles organization. Among all full-season minor league pitchers, Dzierwa ranked first with his 0.90 WHIP, tied for first with a .186 opponents’ batting average and finished second with his 2.27 ERA. His .818 winning percentage ranked seventh, while his 149 strikeouts were second among Baltimore farmhands behind only Caden Hunter’s 151.
The performance becomes even more impressive when considering that Dzierwa had never pitched in an official professional game before 2026. Baltimore selected the 6-foot-8 left-hander with the No. 58 overall selection in the second round of the 2025 MLB Draft out of Michigan State. Rather than spending an extended period adjusting to professional hitters, Dzierwa immediately established himself as one of the organization’s most effective pitchers.
Dzierwa dominates immediately at Frederick
Dzierwa began his professional career with Frederick and went 5-1 with a 2.21 ERA across eight starts. He allowed only 10 earned runs over 40 2/3 innings while striking out 50, giving the Orioles little reason to keep him at High-A for long. His first month was especially impressive, as Dzierwa went 3-1 with a 2.33 ERA and 29 strikeouts over 27 innings in five April starts. Baltimore rewarded that performance by naming him the organization’s Minor League Pitcher of the Month.
The Orioles promoted Dzierwa to Chesapeake on May 19, meaning he reached Double-A barely a month and a half into his first professional season. That was an aggressive assignment for a pitcher who had only eight professional starts, but Dzierwa quickly showed Baltimore’s confidence was justified. Instead of experiencing a major statistical regression against more advanced hitters, he essentially maintained the same level of performance.
Dzierwa made 18 appearances, including 16 starts, for Chesapeake and went 4-1 with a 2.29 ERA. He threw 90 1/3 innings for the Baysox and struck out 99, giving him more Double-A innings than High-A innings by a considerable margin. His Frederick ERA was 2.21 and his Chesapeake ERA was 2.29, an incredibly small difference considering the increase in competition.
Double-A hitters struggle against Dzierwa
Dzierwa’s ability to prevent hitters from reaching base may be the most impressive part of his statistical profile. A 0.90 WHIP over 131 innings is extremely difficult to produce because it requires a pitcher to limit both hits and walks over a significant workload. Opposing hitters managed only a .186 batting average against him, while Dzierwa walked just 30 hitters compared with his 149 strikeouts.
His size also makes him one of the more unusual pitchers in Baltimore’s system. At 6-foot-8, Dzierwa creates a difficult look for hitters and combines that frame with a fastball and changeup combination that helped him miss bats throughout the season. Continued development of his secondary pitches will be important as he moves toward Triple-A and potentially the major leagues, where hitters are far more capable of adjusting when a pitcher relies heavily on two offerings.
The most encouraging part of his 2026 performance was his consistency. Dzierwa did not dominate High-A and then simply survive Double-A; his run prevention remained nearly identical after the promotion. He threw more than twice as many innings for Chesapeake as he did for Frederick and still finished with a 2.29 ERA at the higher level.
Dzierwa earns national recognition
Dzierwa’s performance eventually earned recognition beyond Baltimore’s organization. He was selected to participate in the 2026 MLB All-Star Futures Game and retired the only batter he faced. Later in the summer, Dzierwa was named Eastern League Pitcher of the Week for Aug. 10-16 after throwing six scoreless innings against Reading on Aug. 12, allowing only one hit and three walks while striking out seven.
His rapid development has also pushed him onto national prospect rankings. Baseball America ranks Dzierwa as the No. 77 overall prospect in baseball, while MLB Pipeline has him at No. 88. Both publications rank him as the No. 3 prospect in Baltimore’s organization.
That development is particularly important for an Orioles organization that has produced considerably more high-profile position players than starting pitchers through its farm system in recent years. Baltimore needs internal pitching development to complement whatever additions it makes through trades and free agency. Dzierwa’s 2026 season does not guarantee major league success, but it gives the Orioles another upper-level starting pitching prospect with legitimate momentum.
Aloy and Dzierwa share an important connection
Baltimore’s two primary award winners also share another important connection: both spent significant portions of their development under Woody at Frederick. Aloy played 84 games for the Keys before moving to Chesapeake, while Dzierwa made the first eight starts of his professional career there. Both performed well enough that remaining in Frederick for the entire season would have made little developmental sense.
Normally, losing players of that caliber would significantly weaken a minor league roster. Frederick continued winning anyway, even as Aloy, Dzierwa and other prospects advanced through Baltimore’s system. That combination of individual development and team success played a major role in Woody receiving the Cal Ripken Sr. Player Development Award.
The honor is named for the longtime Orioles coach and manager who became one of the central figures associated with “The Oriole Way.” Each year, Baltimore presents the award to a minor league staff member who demonstrates the instructional qualities associated with Ripken. Woody completed his first season managing Frederick in 2026 and his ninth full season working in the Orioles organization.
Woody oversees historic Frederick season
Frederick finished 83-46 under Woody, producing a .643 winning percentage that ranked first among every full-season affiliate in Minor League Baseball. The 83 victories were also the most in Frederick franchise history, while Woody was named South Atlantic League Manager of the Year. The Keys reached the postseason for the first time since 2017 before eventually losing to Greensboro in Game 3 of the South Atlantic League North Division playoffs.
The regular-season record becomes even more impressive when considering the purpose of minor league baseball. Winning games matters, but developing players for higher levels remains the organization’s primary objective. A successful minor league manager can therefore lose some of his most productive players in the middle of a championship race precisely because he and his staff have helped those players perform well enough to earn promotions.
That happened repeatedly in Frederick, yet the Keys continued winning. Orioles Director of Player Development Anthony Villa specifically praised Woody for creating a strong team culture and maintaining success despite promotions that included Aloy and Dzierwa. Villa also noted how rare it is for a minor league club to win both halves of its season, while crediting Woody and his staff for maintaining high expectations and providing strong support throughout the organization.
Woody’s season therefore represented more than an 83-46 record. Frederick helped develop players capable of moving deeper into Baltimore’s system while continuing to succeed after those players departed. For an organization attempting to build a sustainable pipeline of talent, that is exactly what a productive minor league environment is supposed to accomplish.
Friedrich earns Jim Russo Scout of the Year Award
Baltimore’s fourth award went to a person whose contributions generally take place far from the attention surrounding prospects and major league players. Friedrich was named the Jim Russo Scout of the Year, an award honoring the longtime Orioles scout who spent 33 years working in various scouting roles with the organization beginning when the franchise moved from St. Louis to Baltimore in 1954. Russo was also inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 2026.
Friedrich joined the Orioles as an area scout in 2019 and covers Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. Vice President of Domestic Scouting Will Robertson praised Friedrich’s commitment to scouting and the quantity and quality of information he provides Baltimore’s decision-makers. That work is becoming increasingly visible through several players Baltimore has selected and signed from Friedrich’s territory.
Recent signees from his area include 2026 seventh-round selection Ryan Piech out of Xavier and several members of Baltimore’s 2025 draft class. That group includes second-round pick Dzierwa from Michigan State, third-round selection R.J. Austin from Vanderbilt, seventh-round pick Hunter Allen from Ashland and eighth-round selection Kailen Hamson from the University of the Cumberlands.
Dzierwa makes Friedrich’s recognition particularly interesting because the connection between scouting and development is already producing results. Friedrich helped cover the area from which Baltimore selected Dzierwa in 2025, and barely a year later Dzierwa has become the organization’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year and a nationally ranked prospect. Scouting success ultimately takes years to evaluate, but Dzierwa’s rapid development represents an encouraging early return.
What the awards say about Baltimore’s farm system
Taken together, Baltimore’s four organizational awards provide a snapshot of how a farm system is supposed to operate. Scouts identify and evaluate amateur players before the draft, front-office officials acquire them, instructors help develop their skills and minor league managers create environments in which they can continue improving. The best prospects eventually advance from one affiliate to another until they are prepared to help the major league club.
Aloy and Dzierwa provide the most visible examples of that process from the 2026 season. Both were selected in the 2025 draft, began this year at Frederick and performed well enough to earn promotions to Chesapeake. Neither player was overwhelmed by Double-A competition, and both finished the season with significantly higher prospect profiles than they had when the year began.
Woody’s award provides another part of the developmental picture. Frederick was not successful because it held its best players at High-A and chased a championship at the expense of their development. The Keys continued promoting players while still finishing with the highest winning percentage of any full-season Minor League Baseball affiliate.
Friedrich’s award takes the process back to its beginning. Before Dzierwa could dominate at Frederick and Chesapeake, someone had to evaluate him at Michigan State and provide Baltimore with enough information to justify using the No. 58 overall selection on him. The fact that Friedrich and Dzierwa received organizational awards during the same season illustrates how closely scouting and development are connected.
Aloy’s 2027 season will be fascinating to watch
Aloy’s next assignment will be one of the more interesting decisions Baltimore makes during spring training. He finished 2026 with only 39 Double-A games, so returning to Chesapeake would be perfectly reasonable and would give him additional opportunities to adjust to upper-level pitching. At the same time, his .514 slugging percentage and 10 home runs during those 39 games suggest he may not require an extended stay if he begins next season producing at a similar level.
The Orioles will also continue evaluating his defensive future. Aloy was drafted as an infielder, and his ability to remain capable at a premium defensive position would significantly increase his overall value. His bat, however, is quickly becoming the part of his profile that will attract the most attention regardless of where he ultimately plays.
The strikeout rate and plate discipline against increasingly advanced pitching will also be important areas to monitor. Double-A and Triple-A pitchers are more capable of exploiting weaknesses than those at the lower levels, and Aloy will continue receiving more detailed scouting reports as his reputation grows. The next challenge is proving that his combination of average, power and speed can remain effective over a larger sample against upper-level competition.
Dzierwa could move even closer to Baltimore
Dzierwa enters a somewhat different situation because he already spent most of his season at Double-A. He made 18 appearances for Chesapeake and accumulated 90 1/3 innings there while maintaining a 2.29 ERA, meaning he has considerably more experience at the level than Aloy. If his development continues normally, Triple-A could become part of Dzierwa’s 2027 season.
There is no need for Baltimore to rush him solely because of the numbers he produced this year. Pitcher development involves workload management, command, secondary-pitch development and durability in addition to ERA and strikeouts. The Orioles will want Dzierwa prepared for major league hitters rather than simply promoted because he dominated the minor leagues.
Still, his 2026 season makes him difficult to ignore. Dzierwa finished his first professional campaign with a 9-2 record, 2.27 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 149 strikeouts in 131 innings. He reached Double-A in May and spent the remainder of the year proving his early High-A success was not simply the product of overpowering less experienced hitters.
Two very different prospects produce similar results
Aloy and Dzierwa reached their organizational awards through completely different methods. Aloy became one of Baltimore’s most productive offensive players by combining contact, power, run production and speed. Dzierwa controlled games from the mound by limiting baserunners, missing bats and preventing opponents from generating significant damage.
Their final numbers are worth remembering. Aloy finished 123 games with a .288/.358/.506 slash line, 25 home runs, 92 RBI, 84 runs and 20 stolen bases. Dzierwa completed 131 innings with a 2.27 ERA, 149 strikeouts, a .186 opponents’ batting average and a 0.90 WHIP.
Perhaps most importantly, both accomplished those numbers at age 22 while advancing to Double-A. Minor league statistics always require context, and neither player’s success guarantees anything at the major league level. However, production and advancement are exactly what Baltimore wanted to see from two significant selections from its 2025 draft class.
Baltimore’s next wave continues taking shape
Prospect development is rarely a straight line, and Orioles fans have seen enough highly regarded prospects over the years to understand that rankings do not guarantee major league success. Players encounter injuries, mechanical problems, defensive questions and increasingly difficult competition as they move through the minors. Some players rise quickly before stalling, while others develop much later than expected.
That context makes what Aloy and Dzierwa accomplished important without requiring unrealistic expectations. Aloy showed that the offensive production that made him a first-round selection could translate to professional baseball, and then showed his power could follow him into Double-A. Dzierwa demonstrated that his delivery and repertoire could dominate professional hitters and maintained virtually the same ERA after reaching Chesapeake.
Woody and Friedrich represent the infrastructure around those players. Woody helped create an environment in Frederick where prospects could develop and move forward without destroying the team’s ability to compete, while Friedrich’s work demonstrates how much evaluation happens before a player ever enters Baltimore’s farm system. Successful organizations need all of those elements working together.
The Orioles will have significant major league roster decisions to make over the coming months, but sustainable organizations cannot depend exclusively on trades and free agency. Baltimore needs its player-development system to continue producing players capable of eventually contributing at Camden Yards. Aloy and Dzierwa made significant progress toward becoming part of that group during 2026.
MSB Take
Orioles fans have heard plenty about prospect rankings over the past several years, but eventually the most important question becomes simple: Are the players actually producing? Aloy and Dzierwa answered that question emphatically in 2026. Both performed at High-A, earned promotions and continued producing after reaching Double-A, which is exactly the progression Baltimore should want from two important members of its 2025 draft class.
Aloy’s 25-home run, 20-stolen base season is impressive on its own, but his performance after reaching Chesapeake may be the most encouraging part. He hit 10 home runs in only 39 Double-A games and actually posted a higher slugging percentage with Chesapeake than he did with Frederick. That does not mean he is ready for Baltimore tomorrow, but it makes his 2027 season extremely important and gives the Orioles another legitimate upper-level offensive prospect.
Dzierwa may be even more important because of Baltimore’s need to develop starting pitching internally. A 6-foot-8 left-hander with an unusual look, a strong changeup and improving secondary pitches is intriguing before even considering his statistics. Add a 2.27 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, .186 opponents’ batting average and 149 strikeouts over 131 innings, and Dzierwa has earned every bit of the attention he is receiving.
Woody also deserves significant recognition because winning 83 minor league games while developing players is not easy. The Keys repeatedly lost talented players to promotions, including the organization’s eventual Player and Pitcher of the Year, yet finished with the best winning percentage among full-season Minor League Baseball affiliates. That is an excellent example of development and winning existing together rather than competing against one another.
Friedrich completes the story because his work demonstrates where the process begins. One of the players from his scouting territory whom Baltimore selected in 2025 just became the organization’s top minor league pitcher barely a year later. Nobody can know yet whether Aloy becomes an everyday major league infielder or whether Dzierwa eventually establishes himself in Baltimore’s rotation, but their 2026 seasons gave the Orioles something more meaningful than prospect hype: sustained production against increasingly difficult competition.
That is what makes these awards important. Baltimore is not simply recognizing four successful individuals; the Orioles are recognizing four different parts of the process required to build a productive organization. If Aloy and Dzierwa continue progressing in 2027, Sunday’s ceremony at Camden Yards may eventually be remembered as an early milestone for two players who became important pieces of the Orioles’ next wave.
