Orioles prospect Connor Norby, now with Double-A Bowie, has only been with the organization for a year, but he has already shown fans the kind of power he has.
Norby, 22, recently hit two home runs 444 feet, including one with a 107 mph exit velocity. No one even bothered to move during this play:
“I kind of black out when I hit one,” Norby said on Glenn Clark Radio Aug. 4. “There wasn’t too much going on in my head. It was just making sure I touched every base.”
Norby played in 48 games for High-A Aberdeen this year, hitting .237/.311/.425 with eight home runs. In 36 games for Bowie, he is hitting .273/.377/.510 with eight homers. He has played mostly second base and a little left field this year.
Norby’s development came from continuously getting good swings in even when the venue was not the best place for hitting balls out of the park. Ripken Stadium is known as a pitcher’s park, but this knowledge pushed Norby to work hard on his batting.
“In Aberdeen, I know for sure the field is a little bigger and the ball just doesn’t carry that well there. For some reason, it just doesn’t carry that well there,” Norby said. “Everyone’s like, ‘Just get to Bowie because the ball carries in Bowie. You’re going to get rewarded for balls you hit hard. They’re going to go.'”
But the 5-foot-10, 187-pound Minnesota native did not have the easiest time getting to the Double-A level. From a power perspective, Norby seems at ease when he steps up to bat in Bowie. During his time with Aberdeen, it was not as simple.
“I struggled in Aberdeen a little, especially at the end,” Norby said. “My last month there wasn’t great. It’s baseball. You’re going to hit stretches where you’re feeling really good. There’s going to be stretches where you’re not going to have anything fall for you.”
Despite showing off some power during the 2022 season, Norby’s college career did not go as planned at first. He didn’t start as a freshman in 2019, then most of his sophomore campaign was canceled due to COVID-19.
Norby used the time off to work out with his father.
“I was working out every day,” Norby said. “… We hit every day, did defensive stuff every single day. Then I came back in the fall and the homers started to come up a little bit. I hit five homers in six fall scrimmages, one off [current Giants prospect] Carson Whisenhunt.”
Norby suffered a partially torn quad during the 2021 season with East Carolina, but he managed to play through it. He hit .415/.484/.659 with 15 homers as a junior and was drafted by the Orioles in the second round of the 2021 MLB Draft.
A year into his minor league career, Norby is focused on the big picture when it comes to baseball. Instead of worrying about the little things, he has prioritized helping his team win. Norby noted that a year ago he and teammate John Rhodes were playing in the Florida Complex League and now they are in Double-A. This helped him see just how much effort goes in baseball.
“In the moment you’re like, ‘I want to perform today, I want to continue to advance,’ but when you look at the grand scheme of things it’s crazy how far we’ve come so quickly,” Norby said. “… Whatever we’re doing has been working. We’ve been playing well and we’ve earned the right to be here. It’s a good feeling.”
Norby’s mindset going to play for Aberdeen after spring training this year was to focus on the game and his love of baseball, and that has paid off.
“I’m just going to play — had success, had failure, had struggles, had everything in between and now I’m here,” Norby said. “Got the chance to come up here and join Bowie. It’s been a lot of winning this year, that’s for sure.”
For more from Norby, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Bert Hindman