Signed as an undrafted free agent out of Auburn after the 2020 MLB Draft, Double-A Bowie right-hander Ryan Watson is making a name for himself in the Orioles organization thanks to an uptick in velocity.
Watson pitched for Low-A Delmarva and High-A Aberdeen during his first professional season in 2021, posting a 3.48 ERA with 79 strikeouts and 16 walks in 64.2 innings between the two stops. Then he got to work during the offseason ahead of his age-24 season, with a focus on getting stronger.
“I put in a lot of work this offseason with my trainer down in Florida,” Watson said on Glenn Clark Radio May 6. “Put in some really solid work and was feeling really good going into spring training, had a pretty good spring training and was just looking forward to the season. I felt like I had definitely made some improvements from last year and was ready to get after it.”
Chief among those improvements is an uptick in fastball velocity. Watson said he worked 91-93 mph with his fastball last year while touching 94 and 95. This year, he’s working 93-95 mph and touching 96 and 97.
That has translated to big success at the Double-A level. The 6-foot-5, 215-pound right-hander has posted a 2.28 ERA with 28 strikeouts and five walks in 23.2 innings (three starts and two relief appearances). He retired the first 28 batters he faced this year and earned Orioles minor league pitcher of the month honors for April.
“I knew I had it in me. It was just trying to unlock it,” Watson said. “I think this offseason the work I put in helped me get to that point where I could unlock the extra velo. It was more of like a good feeling knowing that the work in the offseason paid off. I went out for my first outing and looked up and saw that I was throwing harder.”
Watson got a chance to work with catcher Adley Rutschman, who was briefly in Bowie as part of a rehab assignment after suffering a strained right triceps in camp, during his May 3 outing against Harrisburg. Though the game didn’t go as Watson hoped it would — 5.2 innings, five runs, two homers — he enjoyed throwing to Rutschman, who is now at Triple-A Norfolk.
Watson said he had only met Rutschman a few hours before the outing, but that didn’t matter, as Rutschman was able to quickly get on the same page with Watson.
“He’s a great guy off the field and in the clubhouse. From the interactions I had with him, he’s just a super dude,” Watson said. “Everything about him is big league. He works hard. He’s sound behind the plate. He’s obviously got a great bat. He’s just one of those players you’re around for a short amount of time and you already know that’s what it looks like. He’s definitely going to help the big league team win some games here in the near future.”
Watson said the outing went sideways on him because he left pitches up in the zone that got hit, but he appreciated how Rutschman helped him through it with his trademark post-inning, on-field meetings.
“After the first inning, I gave up a couple runs and he met me at the [foul] line and he was like, ‘Hey man, you’re fine, going to get right back in it next inning,'” Watson said. “It’s relieving, almost. The first guy you talk to is the guy you’re working with coming off the field.”
All statistics are entering Watson’s May 17 start.
For more from Watson, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Patrick Cavey/Bowie Baysox