SALISBURY, Md. - Collin Woody can relate to his players with the O’s Low-A affiliate the Delmarva Shorebirds. He was once a Shorebirds player himself, for 115 games in 2017.

An O’s 38th-round draft pick in 2016, Woody, who just turned 31, is in his second season as the manager at Delmarva. He played in 228 games on the O’s farm from 2016-2018.

He spent a couple of seasons coaching in the Florida Complex League and now has settled in as manager of the Shorebirds.

Just like the O’s roster got a bit of a positive jolt recently with the additions of Dylan Beavers and Samuel Basallo, the Delmarva roster recently got its own energy boost and influx of talent.

On Aug. 12 the Shorebirds added six 2025 O’s draft picks. All are playing well in their first handful of Delmarva games. Now these players are with Delmarva:

* O’s top pick, Auburn catcher/outfielder Ike Irish was taken No. 19 overall.

* O’s second pick, Coastal Carolina catcher Caden Bodine was taken No. 30.

* O’s third pick, shortstop Wehiwa Aloy was selected No. 31.

* Outfielder RJ Austin was taken in round three.

* Infielder Colin Yeaman was taken in round four.

* Infielder Brayden Smith was selected in round 13.

All the players are off to solid hitting starts. Irish is batting .333 (10-for-30), hit his first professional homer Wednesday night and has an OPS of .861 in seven games.

Over eight games, Bodine is batting .333 with an .796 OPS.

Aloy, the Golden Spikes Award winner while at Arkansas, is batting .333 with five doubles in six games and an OPS of .990.

Austin is batting .400 (8-for-20) with an OPS of 1.000 and with three RBIs in seven games.

Yeaman is hitting .263 with a .778 OPS and four walks to five strikeouts over six games.

Smith is hitting .318 with a homer, five RBIs and OPS of .848 in five games.

While the Shorebirds are only 43-73 on the season, Delmarva has seen numerous players promoted to High-A Aberdeen to recently include outfielder Nate George.

We discussed him during this podcast and also talked about right-handed pitcher Esteban Mejia, age 18 from the Dominican Republic, who has made three Delmarva starts. With a fastball that has touched 102 mph, Mejia is already a Baseball America top 100 product, ranked No. 95.

This interview with Woody was taped pregame yesterday at Perdue Stadium in Salisbury.

Enjoy the latest Steve on Baseball podcast!

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