A Look Back at the 2026 Season
Season In Review: The Tides finished the 2026 campaign with a 58-89 regular season record, the third-lowest winning percentage (.395) in franchise history. That placed them last in the International League. In the split season, Norfolk went 28-47 in the First Half and 30-42 in the Second Half. The Tides
Season In Review: The Tides finished the 2026 campaign with a 58-89 regular season record, the third-lowest winning percentage (.395) in franchise history. That placed them last in the International League. In the split season, Norfolk went 28-47 in the First Half and 30-42 in the Second Half. The Tides went 29-44 at Harbor Park for a second consecutive year, while going 29-45 on the road. Of the 26 series, the Tides went 5-13-8 (W-L-S), going 3-7-3 at home and 2-6-5 on the road. By calendar month, Norfolk went 2-2 in March, 9-17 in April, 11-16 in May, 7-18 in June, 8-14 in July, 12-13 in August and 9-9 in September.
Keep It 100: Throughout the season, the Tides had two different players ranked in the Top 100 prospect rankings by MLB Pipeline (MLB) and Baseball America (BA). Samuel Basallo was ranked #8 and #9, respectively, while Dylan Beavers ranked #69 and #21. Both played for the Tides on MLB Rehab. Trey Gibson and Luis De León were not ranked by MLB Pipeline, but #72 and #96 by Baseball America respectively. It was the fifth straight season for the Tides to have multimore Preseason Top 100 prospects play for them.
Roster + Transaction Records: The Tides record 347 transactions this season, second-most in franchise history (384 in 2025). They hosted 86 different players on the roster, with 84 making at least one appearance. It's the fifth straight season the Tides have reached 300 moves. Norfolk had 98 players in 2025 (95 played), 84 players in 2024 (83 played), 78 players in 2023, 83 in 2022 (81 played) and 80 (73 played) in 2021. Six players made their Major League debut: Luis De León, Cameron Foster, Christian Franklin, Trey Gibson, Anthony Nunez, and Cameron Weston.
MLB Rehabbers: Of the 84 players to play for the Tides this season, 13 of them played for Norfolk on MLB Rehab at some point: Keegan Akin, Blaze Alexander, Samuel Basallo, Chris Bassitt, Félix Bautista, Dylan Beavers, Dietrich Enns, Christian Franklin, Ryan Helsley, Jackson Holliday, Andrew Kittredge, Heston Kjerstad, and Dean Kremer.
EBJ Stolen Base Record: Enrique Bradfield Jr. played 88 games with the Tides, batting .263 (84-for-320) with 63 runs, 12 doubles, four triples, four home runs, 33 RBI, 37 walks and 36 stolen bases, slashing .344/.363/.707. The 36 steals set the Orioles affiliate franchise record, topping Julio Borbón (34) in 2014. Overall it’s tied for the 10th-most in franchise history. Bradfield Jr.’s 42 career stolen bases with Norfolk ranks 5th in Orioles affiliate franchise history.
Follow the Creed: Creed Willems played 111 games with Norfolk, hitting .254 (97-for-382) with 53 runs, four doubles, 19 home runs, 67 RBI and 51 walks, slashing .347/.414/.761. He led the Tides with 32 multi-hit games. He also led the International League with 10 sac flies, setting an Orioles affiliate franchise record.
Hometown Hero: Trey Gibson made 20 starts for the Tides, including one as the Opening Day starter for the Tides. He went 4-7 with a 4.32 ERA (44 ER, 91.2 IP), a 1.42 WHIP, a .271 opponent’s average, and 86 strikeouts to 33 walks. He made his MLB Debut with the Orioles on May 3 at New York, becoming the first starting pitcher in franchise history to make his debut at Yankee Stadium. Gibson eventually earned his first Major League win with Baltimore on May 27 vs. Tampa Bay. Gibson is from Newport News, VA in Hampton Roads and attended Grafton High School in Yorktown, VA
Late Season Call-Ups: For the final week of the season, Ethan Anderson and Aron Estrada were promoted to Norfolk from Double-A Chesapeake. Anderson is a graduate from Frank W. Cox High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and was drafted from the University of Virginia. He was named an Eastern League All-Star, He hit .271 with 60 runs, 12 doubles, 21 home runs, 47 RBI, 41 walks, and slashed .363/.518/.881. The 21 home runs ranked tied-for-eighth in the Eastern League. Estrada played 123 games with Chesapeake, hitting .278 with 70 runs, 21 doubles, 24 home runs, 76 RBI, and slashing .321/.481/.802. He ranked among Eastern League Leaders in homers (3rd), hits (4th, 130), RBI (5th), extra-base hits (T-6th, 46), batting average (8th) and slugging percentage (8th). At 21 years, 244 days old today, he was the 2nd youngest player to play on Tides roster this season (Fernando Peguero, 21.121 on April 12).