O's select UNC outfielder Vance Honeycutt with pick No. 22 (updated)

For the fifth time in six years since his first draft in 2019, O's executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias took a college bat with his first draft selection.

With the No. 22 overall pick in round one, the Orioles selected University of North Carolina outfielder Vance Honeycutt, a right-handed batter and thrower from Salisbury, N.C.

In 62 games this season for the Tarheels in his junior season, Honeycutt hit .318/.410/.714/1.124 with 13 doubles, two triples, 28 homers, 88 runs, 28 steals and 70 RBIs. His 28 homers is a UNC single-season record. 

He was ranked by Baseball America as the No. 13 player in this draft and was rated No. 22 by MLBPipeline.com.

In three seasons at UNC, over 176 games, he hit .293/.412/.638/1.050 with 65 homers and 170 RBIs. He hit 25 homers and stole 29 bases as a freshman. He had four multi-homer games this season.

Honeycutt, age 21, was also the Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year the last two seasons.

"I love the pick," said MLB Network analyst Harold Reynolds. "This guy is a tremendous baseball player. I will say this again, this guy's a baseball player, you can put him anywhere you want. You talked about the defense already. But I watched the growth in his swing. Gone back through the year and you see a guy develop.

"I know I have been saying this a lot, but he looks like an Oriole. He fits with what they look like."

MLBPipeline.com gave him a 40 grade for his hit tool, 60 for power, 65 for running, 60 for arm and a 70 for fielding. 

"Such an interesting pick here for the Orioles," said MLB Pipeline writer Jim Callis. "This is a power-over hit guy. He's got the best tools in college baseball. He has a 28 percent strikeout rate. The hitting is the reason, the question, why he lasted this long."

"If they can get Vance Honeycut to be an average hitter (meaning for batting average) he's a 30-30 guy."

Honeycutt was drafted out of high school in round 20 of 2021 by San Francisco but obviously did not sign.

The listed slot amount to sign the No. 22 pick is $3,802,200. 

This selection was the O's lowest in the first round since 2016 when they took University of Illinois right-handed pitcher Cody Sedlock No. 27 overall. 

With their next pick: The Orioles' second pick tonight was No. 32 overall and they selected University of Virginia shortstop Griff O'Ferrall. 

In 63 games, the righty batter hit .324/.367/.454/.821 with 20 doubles, one triple, five homers, 64 runs, 17 steals and 52 RBIs. 

He is ranked as the draft's No. 38 prospect via MLBPipeline.com. That outlet gives O'Ferrall 55 tool grades for hit, running and arm, a 40 for power and 50 for fielding.

O'Ferrall, age 21, is from Richmond, Va., and played for Team USA last summer.

The O's got the No. 32 pick as a Prospect Promotion Incentive pick when Gunnar Henderson was named Rookie of the Year in the American League last November.

"Scouts could make a pretty good argument he's the best defensive shortstop in college baseball this year," said MLB Network analyst Dan O'Dowd. "High contact hitter. Not a ton of power. He has tremendous speed. But this guy is a premium, premium defensive shortstop."

In June O'Ferrall was named the 2024 Brooks Wallace Shortstop of the Year award winner. He also was a Rawlings Gold Glove Award Winner for shortstops in Division I. 

The listed slot amount for this pick is $2,835,400.

In round two: With overall pick No. 61 in round two the O's took another UVA product in catcher Ethan Anderson.

Anderson, 20, played in 63 games as a junior, batting .331/.435/.508/.943 with 20 doubles, eight homers, 67 runs and 40 RBIs. The switch-hitter walked more times than he struck out this season, 40 to 32. 

From Virginia Beach, Va. he was not previously drafted and is ranked as the draft's No. 78 prospect by MLB.com. He was first-team all ACC. 

“We’re extremely excited about this group," said Matt Blood tonight, the Orioles vice president of player development and domestic scouting via a team Zoom call. "We got three guys that are quality baseball players with a lot of skills and also incredible makeup. All three of these guys are players that their coaches rave about on and off the field. And so, not only did we get some high-level baseball players but we also got some really good people.”

The Orioles were surprised Honeycutt was still on the board when they selected.

“We sort of all along thought that he was not going to be a player that would get to us," he said. "But, you know, obviously made sure to see him and I’ve been watching him play since he was a freshman in college. But, he was one of those guys that we were sort of were dreaming would get to us but we weren’t going to get too optimistic about it. It happened, so we’re very happy." 

For all the tools Honeycutt has on his resume, the strikeout rate can be challenging. It was 30 percent his freshman year and 28 percent last year.

Was the strikeout rate concerning for the team?

“That all goes into it," said Blood. "I think, without those strikeout numbers he has the tools to go in the top of the draft. And so for a player like that to get down to where we were picking, we were surprised and we were very, very happy.

“His ceiling – he can do everything. A plus runner, plus power, plus defense. He impacts the game in so many different ways and he is really, really exciting to watch.”

In the Monday morning entry in this space, more with Blood on tonight's draft and his take on the selections of O'Ferrall and Anderson.