Scouting Report MiLB High-A affiliate - Ironbirds (Orioles) vs. BlueClaws (Phillies)

5/9/2025 - Ironbirds defeat BlueClaws 8-6

Chris Boz

May 11, 2025

Report Type : Scouting Report

Level : Professional, MiLB High-A affiliate

Game Date & Location : 5/9/2025, Lakewood, NJ

Teams : Ironbirds (Orioles) & BlueClaws (Phillies)

Pitchers :

Nestor German P |B/T: R/R|6' 3"/225|Age: 23 : I thought he threw really well…Quick delivery - breaks hands high then rides his hips with glove tucked tight to his body. Mechanics showed some similarities to Joe Blanton and Jack Morris… Joe had that quick step motion to start his motion, then broke his hands high then carried a tucked glove. Some similarities in the upper half leading up to release…German’s a little more rigid, dropped into his ride then finishes with a little extra tilt/lean like Jack Morris.

…Game Impressions : I liked how he pitched out of some trouble in the earlier innings. I really liked the intensity to start the final inning and how he dug deep with runners on 2nd and 3rd to get what I thought was going to be his last batter for the final out of the inning…I thought he had some of his best stuff to start off his last inning - you could tell he was emptying the tank. In his 4th and final inning of work he touched 96 multiple times and had some tight off-speed to start that inning. He bounced breakers as the inning went on, but there were signs of really good action and location on some…For the most part his FB sat 93… Those were my impressions. Good pitchers frame. Well put together…Excited for his growth.

Next Pitcher was Hayden Nierman P | B/T: S/R |6' 2"/170 | Age: 25 ….left the game with injury after 5 pitches. Sidearm was touched 90.

In for relief for Nierman was …

Dominic Freeberger |P |B/T: R/R | 6' 0"/205 |Age: 25

Freeberger comes in for the injury. Threw really well I thought especially given the circumstances. Clean body and arm action. Arm really came through well looks repeatable. Feels like there’s room for more velo to build on. He threw a really nice power change that he got some swing and miss on. He also broke like 2 or 3 bats, in 1.2 innings. That tells you what you need to know…Showed ability to locate well.

Here’s the CU:

Here’s the Slider:

release point near identical for his off-speed offerings. FB sat low 90’s…excited for his development. Interested to see how he develops his pitch usage % and if he can build some velo on the heater.

After Freeberger was

Alejandro Méndez… B/T: R/R | 6' 5"/254 | Age: 24

I’ve seen Mendez throw a few times and he has a live arm. Tonight he was definitely working on his off-speed offerings…Looked like he was trying to throw a split and slider. He really rides his backside well on his fastball and does not on his off-speed offerings.…It’s discernible…FB touched 98.

FB : Look at how well he rides his hip. Holding - creating great separation. No surprise he throws 98.

Splitter? : There is minimal ride, he just rushes right through it. He just drifts into his hips, peeling out almost immediately to his front side. This was a majority of his off-speed offerings, appears to be a split.

Slider :

In the first inning of work I thought he threw one really excellent off-speed pitch…it was this slider and he really rode the hip nicely, and you can tell the difference immediately. It was located well…If he can do it once he can do it again.

The difference between his fastball and off-speed was noticeable to my eye as a hitter. There was a rush to his delivery on a majority of the off-speed. If he can iron that out to minimize the difference to hitter I think you’ll see hitters putting worse and worse swings on pitches. Really live arm. I would never discourage a player from trying to learn pitches, but coming out the pen you don’t need 3 or 4 pitches. You are only facing batters once. Harness the fastball and slider mechanics and location, location, location.

That’s all for this Scouting Report, stay tuned for my MiLB Rates & Ranks Report #2 this Monday!!

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Side note, it takes a lot for me to call someone out. I’ve only ever left one bad yelp review in my life. The umpire for these past 2 minor league games were bad yelp review worthy. Specifically the HP umpire from the 4/6/25 who was brutal behind the plate, who was the field umpire last night that managed to call 8 balks in one game. EIGHT BALKS…EIGHT… IN ONE GAME! Hats off to BlueClaws pitching coach Ryan Buchter for getting ejected. You have to have you guys backs.

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