The Baltimore Orioles have assigned RHP Luis Ortiz, C Brett Cumberland and LHP Bruce Zimmermann to Double-A Bowie after making a pair of deals at the trade deadline Tuesday afternoon. Ortiz comes from the Milwaukee Brewers system as part of a trade for INF Jonathan Schoop, while Cumberland and Zimmerman arrives in Maryland from the Atlanta Braves as part of a trade for RHP Kevin Gausman and Darren O’Day.
Ortiz, 22, made 11 starts (16 appearances) for Double-A Biloxi this season, going 3-4 with a 3.71 ERA (28 ER/68.0 IP) and 65 strikeouts. In 70 career minor league starts (82 games), he has gone 18-21 with a 3.20 ERA (115 ER/323.1 IP) and 287 strikeouts. He was selected to the 2018 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game, tossing 0.1 of an inning and retiring the only batter he faced. He was invited to his first Spring Training in 2018 as a non-roster invitee. He was named a South Atlantic League Mid-Season All-Star in 2015, his first full season in professional baseball. He is currently ranked as the Brewers seventh-best prospect, according to MLB.com. Ortiz was acquired by the Brewers on August 1, 2016 in a five-player trade that sent C Jonathan Lucroy and RHP Jeremy Jeffress to the Texas Rangers. He was originally selected by Texas in the first round (No. 30 overall) of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft.
Cumberland, 23, batted .228/.357/.389 (68-for-298) with 15 doubles, 11 home runs, 41 runs, 39 RBI, and 53 walks in 87 games between Class-A Advanced Florida and Double-A Mississippi. He spent the majority of the season with Florida, appearing in 82 games and hitting .236/.367/.407 (66-for-280) with 15 doubles, 11 home runs, 40 runs, 39 RBI, and 52 walks. He is a two-time Mid-Season All-Star and was named a South Atlantic League Player of the Week in 2017 with Class-A Rome. In 243 career minor league games, he has batted .242/.373/.404 (198-for-817) with 53 doubles, 25 home runs, 100 runs, and 138 RBI. He currently ranks as the 30th-best prospect in the Braves organization according to MLB.com. He was originally selected by Atlanta in the competitive balance round (No. 76 overall) in the 2016 First-Year Player Draft.
Zimmerman, 23, split the season between Class-A Rome and Double-A Mississippi, going a combined 9-4 with a 2.86 ERA (36 ER/113.1 IP) with 125 strikeouts in 20 starts. He began the season with Rome in the South Atlantic League, posting a record of 7-3 with a 2.76 ERA (26 ER/84.2 IP) and 18 walks against 99 strikeouts in 14 starts. He was promoted to Mississippi on June 28, and went 2-1 with a 3.14 ERA (10 ER/28.2 IP) in six starts at the Double-A level. Zimmerman was named the SAL Pitcher of the Week for the period ending on May 20 (7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K) and was a SAL Mid-Season All-Star. In 31 career minor league starts, he has gone 9-5 with a 2.90 ERA (44 ER/136.2 IP). He was originally selected by the Braves in the fifth round of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft. Zimmerman is a native of Baltimore and attended Loyola Blakefield High School.
Schoop, 26, batted .244/.273/.447 (85-for-349) with 18 doubles, 17 home runs, 45 runs, and 40 RBI over 85 games with the Orioles this season. Over 635 career games with the Orioles, Schoop hit .261/.296/.450 with 126 doubles, two triples, 106 home runs, 306 runs, and 312 RBI. His 106 home runs are the most by a second baseman (primary position) in Orioles history (since 1954). Became the fourth second baseman in Major League history to have career totals of at least 600 hits, 300 runs, and 100 home runs before turning 27. He was named a first-time All-Star in 2017. Schoop was originally signed by the Orioles as a non-drafted free agent on August 20, 2008. Playing in a Baysox uniform for the entirety of the 2012 season, Schoop batted .245 with 24 doubles, 14 home runs and 56 RBI in 124 Double-A games. He led the team in home runs and at-bats (485) that season.
Gausman, 27, went 5-8 with a 4.43 ERA (61 ER/124.0 IP) with 104 strikeouts in 21 starts for the Orioles this season. He went 39-51 with a 4.22 ERA (358 ER/763.2 IP) with 697 strikeouts in 150 games (127 starts). He tied for the Major League lead in starts in 2017 with 34. Gausman was originally selected by the Orioles in the first round (No. 4 overall) of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft. While in Bowie during the 2013 season, Gausman made eight starts for the Baysox, striking out 49 batters in 46.1 IP and compiling a 3.11 ERA before making his MLB debut in Baltimore later that season.
The Bowie Baysox 2018 season is presented by Money One Federal Credit Union. The team returns home for a seven-game homestand, beginning Thursday, July 19, at 7:05 p.m. against the Erie SeaWolves. Baysox single game tickets are available online at baysox.com, via phone at 301-464-4865 or in person at the stadium ticket office. The Baysox ticket office is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on non-game days, until the top of the 7th inning on non-fireworks game days and at the end of the fireworks show on fireworks game days.
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