Tides Named Minor League Team of the Year by Baseball America

Baseball America today announced the Norfolk Tides as their 2023 Minor League Team of the Year. The Tides had the best record in the International League at 90-59 and won the league championship series in three games vs. the Durham Bulls for their first International League Championship since 1983. Norfolk went on to represent the league in the Triple-A National Championship at Las Vegas vs. Oklahoma City and won ,7-6.

Throughout the season, the Tides had seven different players ranked in the Preseason Top 100 prospect rankings by Baseball America. Highlighting the Top 100 was Grayson Rodriguez (#6), who started Opening Day for Norfolk to make him the first Top 100 pitcher to start Opening Day in Orioles affiliate franchise history and the first since Aaron Heilman (#45) in 2003. Jackson Holliday (#15) started the season with Single-A Delmarva but crawled his way through the farm system and arrived in Norfolk in early September while being ranked as the #1 prospect. He joined Adley Rutschman (2021 – 22) and Gunnar Henderson (2022 – 23) as the third #1 prospect to be on the Tides in three straight seasons. Into his second Triple-A season, Jordan Westburg (#76) cracked the Top 100 for the first time in his career while DL Hall (#75) remained listed in the Top 100 for a fifth straight season. After joining the Tides late in 2022, Colton Cowser (#41), Joey Ortiz (#95) and Connor Norby (#93) each earned a spot in at least one Top 100 list. On top of Holliday, the other Top 100 player to join the Tides midseason was Coby Mayo, who finished ranked #23. In all, seven prospects (Rodriguez, Holliday, Cowser, Hall, Westburg, Norby and Ortiz) that were on BA’s Top 100 Prospects list in the preseason played for the Tides. Since 1990, it’s the second-most to ever appear on a Tides roster (1995 had eight).

The 90 wins set the record for the most in Norfolk’s Triple-A franchise history, and the second-best winning percentage (1975 | 86-55, .610). The most recent time the Tides won their division was in 2015 (IL North, 78-66), while the most recent time they owned the best regular season record was in 1995 (86-56). They recorded the best home record in Orioles affiliate franchise history (48-27), while going 42-32 on the road. Of the 26 series, the Tides went 14-2-10 (W-L-S) and went 8-1-3 at home, 6-1-7 on the road. As for the calendar months, the Tides went 1-0 in March, 18-7 in April, 18-9 in May, 14-10 in June, 12-11 in July, 16-12 in August and 11-10 in September. The Tides also went 3-1 in the postseason. For the season halves, the Tides clinched the First Half of the season with a 48-26 record, while going 42-33 in the Second Half. It’s the second 2023 Minor League Team of the Year Award won by Norfolk this season, with MLB Network giving them the same honor back.

The Tides had one of the best offensive seasons in franchise history, breaking 11 records in 2023. The Tides set records in on-base percentage (.360), slugging percentage (.462) and OPS (.822) while recording the most plate appearances (5804) and at bats (5042) in a single season. The on-base percentage topped 1970 (.356), while the slugging and OPS topped 1969 (.434, .789). Norfolk also set records in runs (876), hits (1384), total bases (2327), doubles (284), home runs (201) and RBI (828). The runs (800), total bases (2041), home runs (175) and RBI (748) were set in the prior season, while the hits record beats 1987’s (1331) and the doubles record beat 2019’s (270). At a per game rate, the Tides set five offensive records in plate appearances (38.95), runs (5.88), total bases (15.62), home runs (1.35) and RBI (5.56).

Ticketing Information

Fans can purchase 2024 season tickets now by reaching 757-622-2222. Individual game tickets will go on sale at a later date. Follow the Tides on social media and at norfolktides.com throughout the off-season for the most up-to-date information.