O's add a college left-hander as MLB Draft resumes (updated and quotes added)

The 2024 MLB Draft resumed today shortly after 2 p.m. as the clubs began making selections in round 11. Today the three-day draft will conclude with selections in rounds 11 through 20.

The Orioles will have one pick in each round today and they selected a lefty college pitcher in round 11.

Round 11 (No. 339) - O's took Louisville senior lefty Sebastian Gongora. This season over 15 starts he went 5-4 with a 6.14 ERA. Over 77 2/3 innings he allowed 86 hits with 29 walks and 89 strikeouts. He produced a 1.481 WHIP with a 3.4 walk rate and 10.3 strikeout rate.

He had a better season in 2023 at Wright State with a 3.17 ERA in 93 2/3 innings and a 22.4 strikeout rate. He was the Horizon League Pitcher of the Year.

Gongora is ranked as this draft's No. 353 prospect on the Baseball America Top 500.

Gongora, 22, who is 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds, pitched his first two college seasons at Wright State. One report said his fastball is up to 94 mph.

The players drafted today can sign for up to $150,000 each. A team can go over that amount but any overage must come out of its draft pool to sign the picks from the first 10 rounds.

During the first two days of the draft, the Orioles made 11 selections over 10 rounds. Their top selection, No. 22 overall, was UNC center fielder Vance Honeycutt, who hit .318 with an OPS of 1.124 in 62 games for the Tarheels this season. 

Among those 11 picks, the O's selected seven position players and four pitchers and 10 of the 11 came from the college ranks. 

Round 12 (No. 369) - With this selection the O's selected their second high school player and fourth catcher in this draft taking righty hitter Andrew Tess from Calvary Christian High School in Clearwater, Fla. He reportedly has a college commitment to Pitt. 

Round 13 (No. 399) - The O's add another college pitcher here getting junior right-hander Brandon Downer from California Baptist University. Downer is 6-foot-5, 225 pounds and pitched for that school for three seasons.

This year he went 6-6 with a 4.35 ERA over 16 games. In 82 2/3 innings he allowed 76 hits with 32 walks to 63 strikeouts. He had a 1.306 WHIP with a 3.5 walk rate and 6.9 strikeout rate. 

In three seasons he was 13-16 with a 5.61 ERA over 181 1/3 innings. 

Round 14 (No. 429) - The O's pick here was right-handed pitcher Cohen Achen from Lindsey Wilson College in Kentucky. As a senior this year he went 5-5 with a 4.90 ERA. Over 64 1/3 innings he allowed 76 hits with 25 walks and 101 strikeouts, producing a 1.570 WHIP, a 3.5 walk rate and 14.1 K rate.

For his four-year career there, Achen, from Alberto, Canada, went 23-12 with a 3.66 ERA and 11.4 strikeout rate.

Round 15 (No. 459) - The O's selected right-hander Carter Rustad from Missouri. This season as a senior he went 5-6 with a 6.37 ERA over 14 games with eight starts. In 65 innings he allowed 72 hits with just 10 walks to 58 strikeouts for a 1.262 WHIP, a 1.4 walk rate and 8.0 K rate.

He began his college career at San Diego and over five seasons, went 17-9 with a 4.82 ERA and 2.5 walk rate with an 8.0 K rate in 192 1/3 innings.

Rustad was drafted in round 23 by Milwaukee in 2019.

To this point, eight of the O's 16 picks have been pitchers and six of their past seven selections thus far are pitchers. 

Round 16 (No. 489) - The O's went back to the prep ranks here to get outfielder Nate George from Minooka Community High School in Minooka, Ill. He has a college commitment to Eastern Illinois.

George, listed at 6-foot and 195 pounds, is said to have double-plus speed and produced exit velocity at 104 mph according to one article on him. He is also said to have produced some mid-90s velocity on outfield throws. He also competed on the track and football teams.

Round 17 (No. 519) - The O's grabbed another lefty pitcher here, selecting Iziah Salinas from Cowley County (Ks) Community College. In 15 games this season he went 6-0 with a 4.21 ERA with 90 strikeouts and a 1.24 WHIP over 62 innings. 

Round 18 (No. 549) - The O's added right-handed pitcher Michael Caldon from Div. 11 Felician College (N.J). As a junior this season he went 6-3 with a 3.58 ERA over 17 games. In 75 1/3 innings he gave up 75 hits, but just three homers, with 23 walks to 109 strikeouts. He allowed a .254 batting average and was Div. II All-East Region first team.

Caldon, from Matawan, N.J., is listed as 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds. In three seasons at Felician, he went 12-7 with a 3.99 ERA. 

Round 19 (No. 579) - The O's went back to the prep ranks here for lefty-hitting outfielder Braylon Whitaker from Cox Mills High School in Concord, North Carolina. 

Round 20 (No. 609) - The O's final pick was Cal-State Fullerton right-hander Evan Yates. He went 3-2 with a 3.75 ERA this season and had a 1.534 WHIP over 74 1/3 innings.

He pitched for Frederick in the MLB Draft League, going 3-0 with a 1.27 ERA and 1.078 WHIP in 21 1/3 innings.

Final tally: The O's made 21 draft picks, 17 from the college ranks and four from high school. They selected 11 pitchers and 10 position players. Just one of their first seven picks was a pitcher. Then between rounds nine and 15, they took pitchers with six out of seven selections. 

The Orioles selected eight right-handed pitchers, three left-handed pitchers, four outfielders, two infielders, and four catchers.

The deadline to sign these draft picks is Aug. 1 at 5 p.m. ET.

Now, a few quotes from Matt Blood, the Orioles' vice president of player development and domestic scouting.

Blood on 21 picks over 20 rounds: “We are just really excited about the group we were able to bring in. I think we were able to one, accomplish our goal of getting some of the best players that we wanted at each pick while also some balance and some variety in the profiles of the players we were able to select.”

Blood on drafting a lot of pitchers today: “Think we took what (seven) out of 10. It was not necessarily a focus, but we obviously need pitching and we found some pitchers that we like. And you know feel like the balance we got in this draft was the right fit for the org and I think we’re excited about everybody that we got."

Blood on getting pitchers today from big schools and smaller ones: “I think something that we know, pitching can come from anywhere and everywhere. Players can develop at different rates. We look for players with performance, or players with major league traits. For example, the kid from Felician, we had him come into our pitching lab and we evaluated him there. He did some things that we really liked, so getting him where we were able to get him was in our opinion a big win.”

Has the team signed any picks yet or gotten close to that?: “We’re working on it. We want to get it done as fast as possible. And we want to get these players into the org and start developing them as efficiently as we can.”