Cardinals' Cesar Prieto: Dealt to Cardinals for Flaherty
Rotowire
The Cardinals acquired Prieto, left-hander Drew Rom and right-hander Zack Showalter from the Orioles on Tuesday in exchange for right-hander Jack Flaherty.
Prieto looks like he has a big-league future, but he was sufficiently blocked in the Orioles organization. A 24-year-old Cuban infielder, Prieto is hitting .317/.365/.471 with two home runs, two steals and an 8.7 percent strikeout rate in 27 games at Triple-A Norfolk. He'll likely report to the Cardinals' top affiliate in Memphis but could be in the mix for a late-season call-up to the big leagues.
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Orioles' Cesar Prieto: Hitting for average with Tides
Rotowire
Prieto is hitting .324 with two home runs, one steal and eight strikeouts in 80 plate appearances since getting promoted to Triple-A Norfolk on June 20.
Hitting for a very high average is nothing new to the 24-year-old Cuban infielder, as he hit .364 for Double-A Bowie this season and hit .340 for High-A Aberdeen in 2022. Prieto has a 21.7 percent hard-hit rate, and most of his six home runs on the season have been wall scrapers, but his 7.7 percent strikeout rate is elite enough for him to project for some sort of role in the big leagues.
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Orioles' Cesar Prieto: Lowest K-rate at Double-A
Rotowire
Prieto has a .364/.411/.485 slash line with two home runs, three steals and more walks (seven) than strikeouts (five) through 107 plate appearances with Double-A Bowie.
The lefty-hitting Cuban infielder got $650,000 in January of 2022 due to the strength of his hit tool, and thus far he has shown major improvements in a repeat of Double-A, where he was below league average (77 wRC+) in 90 games last year. Prieto's 4.7 percent strikeout rate is by far the best mark in all of Double-A -- next best is Domingo Leyba's 10.1 percent strikeout rate. Prieto, who turns 24 this week, has seen time at second base (11 starts), shortstop (six starts) and third base (five starts).
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Orioles' Cesar Prieto: Advances to Double-A
Rotowire
The Orioles promoted Prieto from High-A Aberdeen to Double-A Bowie on Monday, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.
A two-week stint on the injured list earlier this season wasn't able to derail Prieto, who moves up to Bowie after slashing .340/.381/.619 across 105 plate appearances in 25 games with Aberdeen. The 23-year-old infielder showed impressive contact skills, as he struck out in only 15.2 percent of his plate appearances.
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Orioles' Cesar Prieto: Back from 7-day IL
Rotowire
High-A Aberdeen activated Prieto (hamstring) from the 7-day injured list ahead of Wednesday's game against Hudson Valley.
He'll start at second base and bat sixth as he makes his return to the Aberdeen lineup following a two-week absence due to a strained right hamstring. Before picking up the injury, the 23-year-old slashed .328/.378/.701 with seven home runs and two stolen bases across 74 plate appearances with Aberdeen.
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Orioles' Cesar Prieto: Lands on injured list
Rotowire
Prieto (hamstring) was placed on the 7-day minor-league injured list Monday, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.
Prieto sustained a Grade 1 right hamstring strain Friday and will miss at least a week due to the injury. However, the Orioles are optimistic that the 22-year-old will be back in action following a short-term stay on the injured list.
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Orioles' Cesar Prieto: Injured Friday
Rotowire
Prieto (hamstring) was hurt in High-A Aberdeen's game Friday, Dan Connolly of The Athletic reports.
It's a disappointing injury for Prieto, whose timeline to return hasn't been established. He's swatted seven home runs with 17 RBI and two stolen bases while batting .328 with Aberdeen.
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Orioles' Cesar Prieto: Earns weekly honors
Rotowire
Prieto was named the South Atlantic League Player of the Week, Rich Dubroff of BaltimoreBaseball.com reports.
Prieto hit .368 with four home runs, nine RBI and four runs scored last week. The 23-year-old is playing his first season of affiliated baseball at High-A Aberdeen, and the early results are encouraging. If he keeps it up, the second baseman could be in line for a move up to Double-A later in the campaign.
