BOWIE, Md. – When the Orioles promoted Aron Estrada at age 20 late last July to Double-A from then High-A Aberdeen, the kid from Venezuela did what he’s always done – he hit.
From the Dominican Summer League to the Florida Complex League and the lower minors, he showed a solid bat with low strikeout rates. He flashed some speed and the power was starting to come too.
Then he began this season with Double-A Chesapeake, but he didn’t hit to expectations. There was an April OPS of .624. However, when the calender flipped, his stats got going. He started to hit and hasn’t stopped much since.
With an OPS of .800 plus every month but one since May, the 21-year-old Estrada is showing again that he is one of the Orioles top young international talents. He’s having a strong year in the Eastern League. Whenever he gets his Triple-A chance, this switch-hitting second baseman will be a call away from joining another international talent, Samuel Basallo, in Baltimore.
BUT ABOUT THAT SLOW START
I interviewed Estrada recently in Bowie with interpreting help from Baysox strength and conditioning coach Juan Sanchez.
“I started to make better decisions at the plate,” Estrada said of his early-season struggles and what turned it all around. “That was one of the main things I was struggling with. Seeing some of those results right now.
“I know I’m not perfect and there will be some struggles. But I kept my head up and kept battling and it was a good turnaround.”
This year Estrada has become the youngest player in Baysox history to record a 20-homer season. He is the second to get to 20 or more homers with the Baysox in their age 21 year. He turned 21 on Jan. 13. Calvin Pickering did that first when he bashed 31 homers in 1998.
Estrada is ranked as the club’s No. 13 prospect by MLBPipeline.com and No. 25 via Baseball America. They both list his power tool at 45, which seems selling that tool a bit short.
After posting an .813 OPS last season, mostly at High-A before ending the year with 27 Double-A games, he has spent the entire 2026 season with Chesapeake.
Over 105 Double-A games through Friday night, Estrada has hit .285/.319/.495/.814 with 20 doubles, one triple, 21 homers and 69 RBIs.
This kid’s slugging has been on a steady incline. His slugging percentage was .416 in 2024, .447 last year and is now .495.
The young man who hit nine homers in 2024 and 10 last year has 21 now.
“Whenever I step to the plate, I’m looking to barrel the baseball. Making good decisions at the plate helps me do that.
“I’m not trying to hit homers. Just make good decisions up there and the homers happen when you make good contact. Just trying to get to barrels and whatever happens, happens,” Estrada told me at Prince George’s Stadium.
The minor league stats page lists Estrada at 5-foot-11, 142 pounds. That is not close to accurate. When I profiled him last June in Aberdeen, I reported he then weighed 202. He now checks in around 210 or 212.
This is no slap-hitting middle infieder. This is a youngster getting bigger and stronger, producing some nice exit velocities and now seeing more power than ever in his pro career.
Estrada OPS this year by month:
April - .624
May - .860
June - .883
July - .883
August - .799
Estrada’s 21 homers rank second on the O’s farm behind the 25 hit by first baseman Victor Figueroa, who began the year with High-A Frederick and is now his teammate in Bowie.
Among Eastern League batters, Estrada ranks tied for fourth in homers, fifth in RBIs, seventh in batting, 10th in slugging and 15th in OPS.
Estrada started August going just 3-for-29. Then in a recent series at Reading, he went 9-for-19 with five homers and 10 RBIs. That week included his first career five-hit game and his first career multi-homer game on Aug. 15.
I asked Estrada what he still needs to work on? What will take him from Double-A success to the big leagues?
“I just want to continue to play hard and play my best. Keep working and improve my defense and batting skills. Eventually I can get there if I keep doing what I’m doing.
“Very happy with how this season has been going. Just need to continue to be myself. Don’t change anything to chase the big league goals. I know my strengths and just want to keep having fun out there.”
Estrada was signed by the Orioles for $175,000 out of Venezuela in January of 2022.
While he plays in a good hitter’s park in Bowie, this year he’s actually hit 12 of his 21 homers on the road. But as a switch-hitter he’s hit just one homer off lefty pitching with an OPS of .611. He has 20 homers off right-handers with an OPS of .894.
A player that is Rule 5 eligible this coming December, Estrada’s strikeout rate is solid again but he is walking less than in 2025.
Last year he posted a 9.9 walk percentage and 16.9 K rate. Those numbers this season are 4.7 and 17.4.
He was formerly a versatile defender who last year played a lot at second base, but also played short, third, left and right field. This season, with the glove, he has played exclusively second base.
“Second base is my favorite positon and where I feel the most comfortable. So very happy to play there,” he said.
MLBPipeline rates Estrada with 50 grades for arm and fielding while Baseball America puts a 45 grade on his fielding and 50 for his arm strength.
Estrada takes a lot of pride in the O’s international program. For one game recently he got to join Basallo in a Baysox lineup when he rehabbed last Sunday with Cheapeake.
When you ask him if he can be the next international player to break through with the Orioles, he smiles and says one word.
“Yes.”
If you want to really see Estrada smile, ask him about his family back home in Venezuela.
“It’s hard being away from my family. Sometimes you just need a hug from your mom or want to see your brother. But I know this is part of the process. Hopefully soon they can be here.
“They are watching every day. When they can’t see the game they watch a replay.
“I am proud to carry my family’s name. I am the first to play pro ball,” he said once again with pride and flashing that smile.
Soon it was time to return to the field to continue the process of getting better as a player and moving closer to his goal of playing big league baseball.
Pictures for this story are courtesy of Joe Noyes and the Chesapeake Baysox
AND, IN BALTIMORE
The Orioles snapped a four-game losing streak and once again beat Tampa Bay. The 5-3 score Friday night at Oriole Park gave the O’s a record of 62-67 as they take the series opener.
The Orioles are 7-4 this year versus the Rays, winning seven of the last eight meetings.
Pete Alonso drove in three runs, hit his 30th homer and extended his hitting streak to 13 games. He became the eighth Oriole to hit 30 or more in his first year with the club joining Mark Trumbo, JJ Hardy, Nelson Cruz, Mark Reynolds, Miguel Tejada, Albert Belle and Frank Robinson.
The Rays are 2-6 since the end of their nine-game win streak.
Radio day: Join me later this afternoon in my new role as Saturday co-host of the Bruce Cunningham show on 105.7 FM the Fan. We’ll be on between Noon and 3 p.m.
After that show I will stick around and host for two more hours from 3-5 p.m.
Long day!
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