Orioles Prospect Profile: Tyler Townsend

A few thing you might not have known about Orioles first base prospect Tyler Townsend:

• Tyler Pierson Townsend is currently 22 years old (as of 2011), and was born on May 14, 1988 in Lewes, Delaware.
• He's listed at 6'3" 215 lbs, bats left-handed, and throws right-handed.
• He's the son of Wallace and Cindy Townsend, and has one brother (Scott), and two sisters (Brandi & Paige).
• Played four years of baseball and two years of basketball at Cape Henlopen High School, in Lewes.
• In 2006, he earned both the Gatorade Player of the Year and the Louisville Slugger Player of the Year for the state of Delaware, and was also selected as a Baseball America First Team All-American, after hitting .600 with 8 home runs, 34 walks and 32 RBI as a senior.
• Had surgery on his throwing shoulder during the 2007 off-season.
• Regardless of his stats and the accolades, he wasn't highly recruited coming out of high school; he chose Florida International University (FIU) over Delaware State and Towson.
• Was named as a Sun Belt Conference First Team All-Star, and a Louisville Slugger NCAA Division I 1st Team All-American as a junior in 2009, when he mashed Sun-Belt pitching for a .434 AVG, 24 HR, and a sick 1380 OPS.
• He also logged 77 RBI and 182 total bases that year, both FIU single-season records. He also holds the FIU career RBI record, with 164.
• Was consistently recognized for academic achievement throughout his college career.
• He was drafted by the Orioles in the 3rd round of the 2009 draft, the 85th player taken overall.
• Was the 2nd-highest drafted FIU player ever, second only to Josh Banks, who was selected in the 2nd round by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2003.
• Signed with the team for a bonus of $417,600.
• Was absolutely terrible in his debut as a pro in 2009, posting a .143/.226/.303 line in 130+ plate appearances at Low-A Aberdeen. A lot of people speculated that his poor production was largely the result of a July wrist injury.
• Healthy again (for awhile), Townsend improved dramatically in 2010, knocking pitchers around at Low-A Delmarva to the tune of  a .342/.398/.556 line, in 128 PAs. He was promoted to Frederick, but then got hurt again (hamstring), and didn't come back until August.
• Went back and forth between playing in Arizona or Australia this off-season; but he played only one game in the AFL before electing to have surgery on a cyst in his hand.
• Will most likely start the season at Low-A Frederick, as he hasn't had enough ABs as a pro to justify moving him all the way up to Bowie (AA).
• Was recently ranked as the Orioles #12 overall prospect by John Sickels @ Minor League Ball.