Brandon Young wins Orioles’ Jim Palmer Minor League Pitcher of the Year award
In a meeting with Chris Holt and Justin Ramsey after his 2020 college season, the possibilities for the future became clear to right-hander Brandon Young.
To that point, in high school and at Louisiana Lafayette, Young had been a fastball thrower. His heater doesn't have blow-away speed but it draws swings and misses, no matter at what level he's competing. But Holt and Ramsey, organizational pitching coaches with the Orioles, gave Young a more detailed understanding of why what he does works well.
"They showed me on their system why my fastball was playing and how I could improve not just my fastball but my other pitches, as well," Young said, "and that was probably the main selling point, for sure."
Young found himself in a unique position that summer. The coronavirus pandemic shortened the 2020 MLB draft to five rounds, so Young had his choice as an undrafted free agent. That meeting with Baltimore sold him on its ability to develop pitching.
Four years later, Young has earned the Orioles' Jim Palmer Minor League Pitcher of the Year award. The path wasn't without stumbling blocks — including a second Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery. But Young blossomed this season, attracting notice from general manager Mike Elias and the organization as a whole.
His next stop, as early as 2025, could be the major leagues.
"I think I was definitely just fortunate enough to have the opportunity to play professional baseball. It's been my dream since I was a kid," Young said. "And, to pick my team was huge. What the Orioles were pitching me just made so much sense in my mind, so I'm glad I made that decision."
Young joins infielder Coby Mayo as the minor league organizational award winners. Mayo, who's with the Orioles now as the season comes to a close, put up gaudy numbers for Triple-A Norfolk: a .293 average and .943 on-base-plus-slugging percentage. In addition, Latin America Coordinator of Instruction Samuel Vega earned the Cal Ripken, Sr. Player Development Award; Donovan O'Dowd was given the Jim Russo Scout of the Year award.
Young excelled at Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk this season, finishing with a combined 3.48 ERA and a 1.226 WHIP across 106 innings. He'll take the mound one final time for Norfolk on Friday.
Part of what made Young so dominant this year was the introduction of a gyro slider that he can pair with his fastball to keep hitters off balance. It allowed him to average 14.7 strikeouts per nine innings for Bowie and 10 per nine innings with Norfolk.
It was a huge step forward for him after missing most of the 2022 season as he recovered from elbow surgery; 2023 was mostly focused on recovery, too. Young admitted that doubt crept into his mind upon undergoing his second elbow ligament repair surgery, but his breakout 2024 is a testament to his patience and work ethic.
"Very nice to see not just the work I put in but the patience I had for those two years, almost," Young said. "It was super tough to go by and have all my friends and teammates move up, make the big leagues and all that, and I'm sitting in Florida, just trying to get healthy. But just to have the success I had early in Double-A was nice to see."
That success drove him to Norfolk, where he holds a 3.32 ERA entering his final start of the year.
And, in early August, Elias mentioned Young's name alongside Cade Povich and Cole Irvin when describing Baltimore's rotation depth. Young didn't hear about it until his teammate, Chayce McDermott, showed him Elias' quote.
"It kind of made it more of a realization, I'd say," Young said of making it to the big leagues.
With how well he pitched this season, Young could be in line for a debut next year. The 26-year-old knows he's close, and the award he received Friday supports that.
