The Bowie Baysox don’t have games on Mondays. On those days, Orioles pitching prospect Trace Bright and his teammates often make the trip to Camden Yards and watch their major league counterparts play from the stands.
Double-A baseball players are typically not recognizable figures. Amid the tens of thousands of people at the ballpark, Bright and his teammates blend into the crowd.
“Sometimes you have to put it in perspective,” Bright said on Glenn Clark Radio on May 16. “You don’t really think about it on a daily basis in the daily routine that we’re in. But when you can step back and realize where you are and how blessed you are, it’s definitely awesome to see how close you are.”
Bright sees Camden Yards outings as more than just an enjoyable evening. They motivate him toward his ultimate goal of playing at the highest level.
“You love to see them play at the high level that they play at and you envision yourself hopefully being there one day, living up to that expectation of what the team has built and what they’re building toward,” Bright said.
Bright has taken plenty of strides toward that goal in the last year. The 23-year-old was called up to the Baysox last August and immediately burst on to the scene, putting up a 2.12 ERA in 17 innings. This year, the 6-foot-4, 199-pound right-hander spearheads the starting rotation with a 3.10 ERA in 40.2 innings entering play on May 29.
Bright said his brief 2023 stint in Bowie prepared him for the caliber of talent he’d face full-time in 2024, both mentally and physically.
“One through nine, you’re facing good hitters,” Bright said. “You can’t take an at-bat off as a pitcher. So I think it gave me a head start into knowing what I needed to do this year. Obviously last year the walk numbers were a big focus for me, wanting to lower those. And staying in the strike zone more which, sometimes that gets turned around into they’re getting more hits off of you, but for me I’d rather them earn a base off a hit than me give them a free pass.”
The results of this work are clear. Bright is walking 3.98 batters per nine innings this season compared to 5.06 per nine innings in 2023. That said, opponents have a .275 batting average facing Bright — up from .213 last year in Double-A — and his WHIP sits at 1.45, a jump from last season’s 1.31.
“I have been getting hit a little bit more than I’ve wanted to in the first few games,” Bright said. “But obviously [we’ve] been able to get some double plays, limit the damage. The defense behind me has been great, and my catchers have been throwing out just about anybody that tries to steal on us.”
Bright grew up in Montgomery, Ala., but became an Orioles fan because of family ties to Maryland. That made his first full season of pro ball — which began with High-A Aberdeen IronBirds, just down the road from family — even sweeter.
“My grandmother is originally from the Havre de Grace area, so they’re pretty close,” Bright said. “They were able to come down to pretty much all the home games. Obviously it was a lot closer in Aberdeen but they can still make it to Bowie.”
Some Orioles fans may remember Bright from his performance in the 2024 Spring Breakout game, which featured the best of Baltimore’s farm system.
Bright pitched the final three innings of the game, a 3-1 loss to Pittsburgh. He allowed one run and three hits while punching out four, including a three-pitch strikeout of top infield prospect Termarr Johnson. Bright’s fastball topped out at 96 mph, while he also threw a curveball, cutter and changeup.
“To be thrown in with the names that are in our [organization] is a compliment in and of itself,” Bright said. “It’s very humbling. Because top to bottom at every level in our system, we have outstanding players. So to experience that for the first time and to be a part of that group was just such an honor. It was a blast. I think that was probably the highlight of spring training for a lot of people, but it was a lot of fun to get in.”
For more from Bright, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Joe Noyes