{"id":105174,"date":"2025-07-31T01:33:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T05:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=105174"},"modified":"2025-07-31T01:33:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T05:33:11","slug":"juaron-watts-brown-new-orioles-pitching-prospect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/07\/31\/juaron-watts-brown-new-orioles-pitching-prospect\/","title":{"rendered":"A Closer Look at New Orioles Prospect Juaron Watts-Brown"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays closed an intradivision trade that sends bullpen pitcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/dominse01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-07-31_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Seranthony Dom\u00ednguez<\/a> north of the border. In exchange for the bullpen asset, the Blue Jays sent pitching prospect Juaron Watts-Brown to Baltimore. The trade marks the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/07\/26\/breaking-down-orioles-gregory-soto-trade\/\" target=\"_self\">second<\/a> pitcher from the bullpen that the Orioles have traded away before the deadline this year.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\" wp-image-105075\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26736878_168400885_lowres-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"The Blue Jays added &lt;a rel=\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26736878_168400885_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26736878_168400885_lowres-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26736878_168400885_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26736878_168400885_lowres-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26736878_168400885_lowres-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26736878_168400885_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26736878_168400885_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Earlier in July, the Orioles made their priorities known by trading <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sotogr01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-07-31_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gregory Soto<\/a> for two pitching prospects to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/07\/26\/breaking-down-orioles-gregory-soto-trade\/\" target=\"_self\">New York Mets<\/a>. The team again makes a similar trade here to invest in a future rotation piece.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">OFFICIAL: We\u2019ve acquired RHP Seranthony Dom\u00ednguez and cash considerations from the Orioles in exchange for RHP Juaron Watts-Brown.<\/p>\n<p>Welcome to the Blue Jays, Seranthony! <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7dSIsJm6xw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/7dSIsJm6xw<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BlueJays\/status\/1950310026616459715?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 29, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Juaron Watts-Brown&#8217;s Pitching Stats<\/h2>\n<p>Following the trade to the Orioles, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=watts-000jua&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-07-31_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Watts-Brown<\/a> becomes the team&#8217;s number eight prospect in their farm system and the fourth-highest pitching prospect. The Blue Jays selected the 23-year-old in the third round of the 2023 MLB draft despite posting a 5.03 ERA and a 1.409 WHIP at Oklahoma State.<\/p>\n<p>Watts-Brown is currently in the middle of what appears to be a <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=watts-000jua\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">breakout year<\/a>. Between 2024 and 2025, his ERA has dropped to 3.54 while his WHIP sits at 1.213, down from 4.72 and 1.427, respectively. At the same time, his walk rate and strikeout rates moved in the right directions as well, marking a gradual improvement across the board.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The Orioles got back Juaron Watts-Brown, a 23-year-old RHP, in the Seranthony Dom\u00ednguez trade.<\/p>\n<p>He has a low-mid 90s fastball, a plus slider (best pitch), a slow curveball and a changeup.<\/p>\n<p>JWB has a 30.5% K rate and 3.54 ERA this season between A+ and AA. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/E1o7etmXY0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/E1o7etmXY0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jacob Calvin Meyer (@jcalvinmeyer) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jcalvinmeyer\/status\/1950306295686299663?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 29, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In 89 innings this year, Watts-Brown has cut his home run rate in half while maintaining his command and control. His stuff is also still as good as ever, striking out 11 per nine innings. Overall, he seems to be in a good spot to succeed as a bullpen piece or a number five starter in a rotation.<\/p>\n<p>The jump from High-A to Double-A for Watts-Brown has been successful to a degree. While he has seen some regression in his walk rate and strikeout rate, they&#8217;re still at manageable levels. He has a tool set that could benefit the team if they develop him properly for Triple-A and beyond.<\/p>\n<h3>New Prospect&#8217;s Arsenal<\/h3>\n<p>Per <a  href=\"https:\/\/prospectsavant.com\/player\/695033\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Prospect Savant<\/a>, Watts-Brown holds a five-pitch arsenal that features a plus-grade slider-changeup combo and a developing four-seamer. The 23-year-old garners a whiff rate of 37.4%, ranking in the 91st percentile, while holding a 30% strikeout rate, ranking in the 71st percentile.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The Orioles acquire pitching prospect Juaron Watts-Brown. No statcast data on him from this year, but he spent some time in <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FloridaStateLg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@FloridaStateLg<\/a> last year &#8211; here\u2019s how he performed in Class A. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/0wXCld7NyP\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/0wXCld7NyP<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/R83ge2bhL2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/R83ge2bhL2<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Prospect Savant (@ProspectSavant) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ProspectSavant\/status\/1950303604046434631?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 29, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>He has advanced metrics for someone who is in Double-A this year, showcasing an ability to make bats miss and keep contact soft. He&#8217;s only surrendered 19 extra base hits in 57 2\/3 innings pitched at Class A, according to Prospect Savant. This is a player that could become their next-best prospect if the farm system continues to develop him properly.<\/p>\n<p>According to MLB Pipeline, Watts-Brown&#8217;s slider grades at a 60, while his other three pitches grade around average. The only downside he has is a lack of velocity on his fastball, which sits around the low-90s. If he can bring it up to 94 or 95 miles per hour at least and add some spin, he has the definitive makings of a starter.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: \u00a9 NATHAN J. FISH\/THE OKLAHOMAN \/ USA TODAY NETWORK<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays closed an intradivision trade that sends bullpen pitcher Seranthony Dom\u00ednguez north of the border. In exchange for the bullpen asset, the Blue Jays sent pitching prospect Juaron Watts-Brown to Baltimore. The trade marks the second pitcher from the bullpen that the Orioles have traded away before the deadline [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5304,"featured_media":58932,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,926,1071],"tags":[2760,6443,5885],"class_list":["post-105174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-orioles","category-milb","category-mlb","tag-gregory-soto","tag-juaron-watts-brown","tag-seranthony-dominguez"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5304"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105174"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105208,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105174\/revisions\/105208"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}