Mountcastle starts off a step from O's

After a standout 2018 season with Double-A Bowie, Baltimore's No. 2 prospectRyan Mountcastle will begin the 2019 season in Triple-A with the Norfolk Tides.
Mountcastle made the jump after spending parts of two seasons in the Eastern League. After missing the beginning of 2018 with a right wrist injury, baseball's No. 70 overall prospect posted a .297/.341/.464 line with 13 home runs through 102 games and was selected to the Futures Game last July. The non-roster invitee batted .282 with an OPS of .748 and one home run in Grapefruit League action this spring.

Originally drafted as a shortstop and currently ranked as the No. 9 third base prospect in the game, the 22-year-old is expected to see considerable time at first in the International League. At present, Norfolk does not have a true first baseman on its roster.
Mountcastle will be joined on the Tides by the Orioles' No. 4 prospect Austin Hays (outfielder), No. 6 Keegan Akin (left-hander), No. 8 Zac Lowther (left-hander), No. 16 D.J. Stewart (outfielder), No. 19 Luis Ortiz (right-hander) and No. 22 Branden Kline (right-hander). 

The club's top-ranked prospect, Yusniel Díaz, will start off with Double-A Bowie. The No. 63 prospect overall struggled with a .239 average and a .329 on-base percentage after joining the Baysox in the latter part of last season. DL Hall, the Orioles' first-round Draft pick in 2017, was assigned to Class A Advanced Frederick. Baltimore's third-ranked prospect posted a 2.10 ERA with 100 strikeouts over 94 1/3 innings in the South Atlantic League in 2018. 

In other prospect news:

Bart jumping up to Cal League: On Friday, the Giants reportedly confirmed No. 22 overall prospect Joey Bart will skip Class A and open the season in the California League with Class A Advanced San Jose. The second overall pick in the 2018 Draft and top catching prospect in the game bashed a .350/.381/.600 slash line over 15 Cactus League games.