Just like I noted with last week’s SotW, the way Nik Balog began the season suggested he would be demoted to Aberdeen once their season started in June. But unlike a 2nd round selection who’s considered one of the big club’s top 10 prospects, Balog is yet another of those players who eluded the eyes of most scouts and worked his way into the Orioles system as a non-drafted free agent. Unlike many of the others the Orioles picked up off the street, though, Balog has no Maryland ties; instead, the California native played his college ball for four years at the University of San Francisco.
Coming into the month of May, Balog was hitting just .214 and getting spot duty as the designated hitter and occasional backup to Christian Walker at first base. But Walker’s promotion to Frederick cleared the way for Nik to play every day and since May 4 he’s hit safely in all nine games he’s played, going 15-for-35 (.429) and raising his average all the way to a .286 mark. Included in that stretch was his first professional home run, hit Tuesday at Lakewood.
Perhaps it can be argued that the 23-year-old Balog is a little old for the SAL, but he certainly tore up a league perhaps not up to his level by hitting .376/0/10/.971 OPS in 28 games with the GCL Orioles last season. With those kinds of numbers, Delmarva seemed a more appropriate challenge than Aberdeen and Balog’s bat seems to be heating up with the weather.
Obviously there are areas where Balog needs to improve his game, particularly in drawing walks. But the left-handed hitter is now making his contribution to the Shorebirds lineup at a time when several of their best hitters are injured or promoted.