Orioles infield prospect Carter Young is looking to improve at the plate throughout the 2023 season. The 22-year-old is in his first full professional season and wants to become a more consistent hitter and raise his on-base percentage.
The 6-foot, 180-pound infielder has played 80 games for Low-A Delmarva this season and is hitting .232/.325/.317 with three home runs, 27 RBIs, 49 runs scored and six stolen bases entering play Aug. 2.
“What I’m critiquing right now — I mean, there’s a lot, there’s always something that needs to be critiqued — but I think what I need to work on right now is just the overall hitting aspect and just getting on base more often,” Young said on Glenn Clark Radio July 21. “Obviously, my batting average is low, and it’s obviously not where I want it to be, but we’re doing some things that are very drastic, and I actually like it a lot.”
Young was drafted by the Orioles in the 17th round of the 2022 MLB Draft. After signing, he split time between the Florida Complex League and Delmarva. He hit .253/.302/.380 with seven extra-base hits in 18 games between the two stops last summer, then returned to the Eastern Shore this year.
Young credits Shorebirds hitting coach Josh Bunselmeyer for helping him continue to improve as a hitter. Young said that Bunselmeyer helps him not only with hitting but also the mental aspect. Bunselmeyer has helped Young establish an approach every time he steps up to the plate.
“We’ve been working on seeing a lot of off-speed pitches,” Young said. “Just working on hitting fastballs and fastballs that rise … that start low and rise into the zone. That really is something that we’ve been working on as a whole [organization], and especially where I’m at with Delmarva.”
Young played his college ball at Vanderbilt University. In his junior season at Vanderbilt, Young hit .207/.327/.383 with 39 hits, 26 RBIs, 34 runs and seven home runs, a down year after a promising start to his college career.
After his junior year at Vanderbilt, Young transferred to LSU for his senior year. However, Young decided to sign with the Orioles just before the deadline for teams to sign their drafted players. Young signed with the Orioles for $1.325 million, an indication of the upside the Orioles saw in the infielder.
Even with his struggles at the plate, Young has maintained his patience and discipline at the plate he has always had.
“I’d say that’s one of the main things that stayed consistent with my game play throughout all of the time I’ve played baseball, really,” Young said. “Just my ability to pick up good pitches and swing at the right pitches, and I feel like throughout college obviously there was a little bit of strikeout [and] doubt, and I feel like coming here this year to Delmarva and getting drafted and playing professional baseball, getting more at-bats, I think that has helped a lot with just overall pitch recognition and swinging at the right pitches.”
Young wants to improve his power-hitting numbers this season, just like he was able to during his time at Vanderbilt. He hit 16 home runs as a sophomore in 2021.
“Hopefully, doing the same things and just having the same routines and being able to go in and do the same thing every day, hopefully I can have one of those seasons again,” Young said. “… I’m hoping for it to happen again.”
For more from Young, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Joey Gardner