A trio of O's draft picks took batting practice Friday (plus other notes)

They are a trio of players who took part in Orioles batting practice before Friday’s game. They all hope they will have another chance to do that here later in their careers and that they will be on the Orioles' active roster when that happens. 

But Friday afternoon under the Baltimore sun, the O’s first three selections in the 2024 MLB Draft took part in some pregame work.

That includes top draft pick, No. 22 overall, University of North Carolina outfielder Vance Honeycutt. Also the O’s second selection, University of Virginia infielder Griff O’Ferrall, taken No. 32 overall and catcher Ethan Anderson, Baltimore’s second-round pick, No. 61 overall, also out of UVA.

Honeycutt was asked about hitting during batting practice.

“It was cool,” he said. “Definitely nervous for the first round. But just taking this all in.”

Honeycutt hit .176 in 13 games between Low-A Delmarva and High-A Aberdeen.

He talked about his first couple of weeks in pro ball.

“It’s been a lot of fun. A great experience to kind of get your feet wet a little bit heading into the offseason. Just a lot of learning goes into it so trying to get better every day.”

“It’s a dream come true. I mean from Day 1. The first step is play in college and your goal is to get here. It’s been a really fun journey so far and looking forward to continuing it,” Honeycutt said.

O’Ferrall loved his time on the field at Oriole Park.

“It was awesome. I mean, hitting on a big league field, definitely a dream come true for sure. Came to a couple of these games when I was younger and always wondered what it would be like to hit on a field like this. It was really cool," he said.

Anderson put up solid numbers in 19 games between the Shorebirds and IronBirds. He hit .288 with a .799 OPS.

A catcher for the Cavaliers, he made nine starts catching on the farm after the draft and also made five at first base and three in left field.

He is learning that the O’s value defensive versatility.

“It’s great. I think that is what I take pride in, being athletic and playing as many positions as I can,” said Anderson. “At a young age I wanted to catch, wanted the most difficult position. But you know, whatever gets me the farthest I can I’ll play.

“In my head what I thought pro ball was going to be, is everything that it’s been. The amount of information that is given to me, the support from everyone and the coaching staff, the environment has been everything and more that I can imagine, trying to get the best out of you as a baseball player.”

Mayo gets the Brooks Robinson Award: Over the years a wide variety of players have been named the club's top Minor League Player, ranging from for instance, Cal Ripken Jr. in 1980 to Leo Gomez in 1990 and Octavio Martinez in 2000.

The last few years the award has been won by Jackson Holliday (2023), Jordan Westburg (2022) and in 2021 it was shared by Adley Rutschman and Kyle Stowers. 

Gunnar Henderson has been the No. 1 prospect in the majors and an American League Rookie of the Year, but he never got the Brooks Robinson Award that went yesterday to infielder Coby Mayo.

“It’s a really cool award," said Mayo. "Especially with the guys in the past who’ve won it. It is something that I haven’t thought about throughout the year, but now that I have gotten the award it is something I can appreciate and just feel honored.

“I know Jackson won it last year. Was it Stowers and Westburg together or Adley. The list is great players and I was happy to see that Brandon Young won it too. Congratulations to him."

Mayo is ranked as the O's No. 1 prospect and is No. 8 in the top 100 by both Baseball America and MLBPipeline.com.

In 87 games at Triple-A Norfolk – he played four games, hitting three homers with High-A Aberdeen - Mayo hit .293/.369/.574/.943 with 23 doubles, three triples, 22 homers, 61 runs and 67 RBIs.

“I think just being an overall good player (was key to winning this)," he said. "Trying to be good with all parts of my game – defense, offense and providing a good leader to my teammates. Especially with guys that have come up recently like (Samuel) Basallo and Jud (Fabian). Just trying to you know, give my knowledge to them of what I’ve learned throughout Triple-A so far."

O's win in Detroit series opener: The Orioles hit a season-high five home runs and Corbin Burnes again threw seven scoreless versus Detroit as the Orioles beat the Tigers 7-1 Friday night.

Colton Cowser and James McCann each hit two homers and Anthony Santander hit No. 43. Burnes improved to 15-8 with a 2.95 ERA and has an ERA of 1.20 his last five starts.

The Orioles remain four games out in the AL East as the Yankees won 4-2 in 10 innings at Oakland. But Kansas City lost again, 2-1 to the Giants and trails the Orioles by four games for the top AL wild-card spot.