Checking in with a few 2024 O's draft picks at Aberdeen

ABERDEEN, Md. - After a junior year at North Carolina where he batted .318 with an OPS of 1.124 and hit a school-record 28 homers, outfielder Vance Honeycutt has gotten off to a slow start to his pro career with the Orioles.

He is not the first high draft pick to take some early 0-fers and he began his run this week at High-A Aberdeen going 0-for-16 with 10 strikeouts in four games. He did not play last night for the IronBirds. Before moving up he went 7-for-31 (.226) with Low-A Delmarva.

“I’m taking it in stride, but there is also room for improvement,” Honeycutt 21, told me Friday at Aberdeen’s Ripken Stadium. “Working on some simple things here and there to clean up some stuff and simplify things a bit. Just some physical things we are working on, nothing major.”

The Orioles made Honeycutt their top draft pick, No. 22 overall in round one, in the draft in July. He had a big career at UNC and is ranked as the current O’s No. 3 prospect behind Coby Mayo and Samuel Basallo by MLBPipeline.com. He is No. 5 via Baseball America.

“We are working on stuff every single day, whether there is success or failure. It’s a long journey and it’s not defined by a couple of days,” said Honeycutt.

I asked Honeycutt what he would draw on earlier in his playing days when he had a rough stretch.

“I think we are attacking similar things (I would do in the past),” he said. “There are also things we are doing that is a bit new. And what I mean by that, it’s adjustments that I am younger and just haven’t had that experience. The staff has so much knowledge and experience to be able to give me. It’s all good things and exciting just to play every single day. It’s a blessing.”

MLBPipeline.com provides Honeycutt a 40-hit tool, 60 for power, 65 for running, 60 for arm and 70 for fielding.

Considered an elite defender in center field, Honeycutt is the first player in ACC history to win back-to-back conference Defensive Player of the Year awards.  

Honeycutt was joined in Aberdeen by several 2024 draft picks that moved up from Delmarva.

They include round five pick, Ryan Stafford from Cal Poly, who had a 1.012 OPS in college this year and has been swinging it pretty well to start his pro career.

He is 2-for-13 with three RBIs in four Aberdeen games. Counting his earlier time with Delmarva he is batting .290 with an OPS of .736 in 19 games. 

Stafford, who has already played catcher, second base and corner outfield, said the O’s orientation for the draft picks – they went to Sarasota after they signed for a few weeks – was quite productive as the new players learned a lot about the organization and the coaches.

“First off a lot of meetings and onboarding of course, some long days starting with morning meetings,” said Stafford. “Besides that we had a meet and greet and a team-building activity with the coaches and players one of the first days. Just getting to know each other.

“But I think a lot of it comes from outside the field where we had a core group of guys that already kind of knew each other like the group that came up here from A-ball (at Delmarva). We got to hang out a lot outside the field, at the hotel and going around Sarasota. I’d say just making those connections off the field are always the most important. You get to know the guys better and use those relationships on the field.”

Another 2024 draft pick with Aberdeen is round three selection, outfielder Austin Overn from USC. He produced a .947 OPS right before the draft in the Cape Cod League which might have raised his draft stock and the O’s selected him with the No. 97 overall pick. He is ranked as the club's No. 17 prospect by MLBPipeline.com and No. 26 via Baseball America. 

Overn is batting .278 with an .851 OPS over 20 games between Delmarva and Aberdeen. In five games with Aberdeen only, he is 4-for-17 with two triples. With what some scouts say is 75-grade speed, he has stolen 14-of-20 bases already.

Overn also said the orientation process was a real plus for him before he headed to join Delmarva where he played his first pro game on Aug. 13 for the Shorebirds.

“I loved it. I felt like I didn’t really know what to expect, pro ball is different from college. But it was good being around guys I’ve watched through college, seen how they play, their different strategies through college. Now some of these guys are close friends. It panned out perfectly,” said Overn.

He said he already had some knowledge of some of his new O’s teammates by watching YouTube videos of games during the college season.

In the next several days I will have much more with these three O's draft picks.