Staff report
A wild trade-deadline Thursday for MLB had an impact that reached all the way to Rowan County, as the Baltimore Orioles added several hundred new fans in towns such as Rockwell, Granite Quarry, Gold Hill and Faith.
East Rowan High graduate Cobb Hightower, a record-setting shortstop for the 2024 3A state champions and a two-time winner of the Mark Norris Memorial Award as Rowan County Player of the Year, was traded on Thursday, shortly before MLB’s deadline. The San Diego Padres are contenders and shipped sent six minor leaguers, including Hightower, to the Baltimore Orioles, a talented but struggling team that is having an awful season and is out of the running. The Orioles sent the Padres Ryan O’Hearn, a slugging left-handed DH, and Ramon Laureano, an inconsistent but powerful outfielder. O’Hearn and Laureano are veteran major leaguers.
Hightower and 6-foot-8 left-hander pitcher Boston Bateman, San Diego’s No. 4 prospect, were the key elements in the deal for the Orioles.
Hightower, a right-handed hitting shortstop, was ranked sixth on the most recent Padres prospect list. He was a third-round pick last summer, and the Padres offered him a signing bonus of $800,000 to get this pro career started immediately. He had signed with UNC.
Hightower, 20, got off to a rough start this season, as a hamstring injury cost him about a month.
After he joined the lineup, he struggled for a while, but had gotten very hot lately with a flurry of three-hit games.
The 20-year-old isn’t a can’t-miss prospect, but he has a good chance to make it to the majors. At 5-foot-11, 180 pounds, he has enough athletic ability to stay at shortstop long-term and to steal bases, although he may move eventually to third base, second base or even left field, as he gets older and bigger.
Through Wednesday’s games, Hightower was batting .239 in Class-A ball for the Padres’ team in Lake Elsinore, Calif. That doesn’t sound impressive, but his walk rate is unusually high and his strikeout rate is unusually low. He makes contact and he gets on base. All those walks have keyed a strong .363 on-base percentage. He had seven doubles, one triple and one homer in 190 plate appearances. He had 38 hits in 40 games for Lake Elsinore, while scoring 30 runs and driving in 21.
Hightower is expected to be assigned to the Delmarva Shorebirds, Baltimore’s team at the Class-A level. Delmarva competes in the same league as the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers. Delmarva is playing in Kannapolis through Sunday.
The next step up from Delmarva for Baltimore prospects is the Aberdeen (Md.) IronBirds. That’s where former Salisbury High and UNC star Vance Honeycutt, a first-round pick last summer, plays.
The Padres traded Hightower to the Orioles on Thursday as part of the package for Ryan O’Hearn and Ramon Laureano, Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports.
Hightower, one of six prospects headed to Baltimore in the trade, has gotten off to a slow start in Single-A this season, slashing .239/.363/.314 with 21 RBI, 30 runs scored and seven steals through 40 games. The 20-year-old infielder will likely remain in Single-A with his new organization.
The Padres traded Hightower to the Orioles on Thursday as part of the package for Ryan O’Hearn and Ramon Laureano, Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports.
Hightower, one of six prospects headed to Baltimore in the trade, has gotten off to a slow start in Single-A this season, slashing .239/.363/.314 with 21 RBI, 30 runs scored and seven steals through 40 games. The 20-year-old infielder will likely remain in Single-A with his new organization.√
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