Wrapping up the draft with the O's Brad Ciolek

The Orioles completed their draft tonight, making four more selections and six total over five rounds and two days. They selected four college position players to start their draft, added a high school infielder in round four tonight and a prep pitcher in the fifth and last round. So, four of six taken were from the college ranks and five of six were position players.

The Orioles' supervisor of domestic scouting operations, Brad Ciolek, talked to Baltimore reporters on a Zoom call tonight and was asked about taking just one pitcher in this draft.

"We had pitchers all up and down our board that we thought we had in good spots," Ciolek said. "And for whatever reason, we either liked a position player at that time better or pitchers went just before our next selection."

Ciolek talked further about the makeup and drive the club likes with top pick Heston Kjerstad.

"Brandon Hyde, when he came and talked to our scouts in November, he said to keep one thing in mind," Ciolek said. "In addition to working hard and having the work ethic, his three words were 'Nice don't play.' Heston certainly has the edge to him, and that is the type of mindset and guy we need to compete in the AL East."

Ciolek would not address whether he feels the O's will go overslot on any players or spend their entire draft pool, but he expressed confidence the team would get the two high school players drafted tonight. He said there was no predraft strategy to take five position players, and that it just worked out that way.

* In the second round (No. 39), the O's added Tulane sophomore-eligible outfielder Hudson Haskin. He hit .333 in 17 games this year. As a true freshman in 2019, the right-handed hitter batted .372/.459/.647 with 19 doubles, four triples, 10 homers and 52 RBIs. The 21-year-old Haskin led all freshmen in college baseball in batting average and ranked third in slugging. He hit .432 in American Athletic Conference games. He played at the same high school in Avon, Conn., as Houston's George Springer and broke Springer's school record for stolen bases. MLBPipeline.com ranked him No. 74 and Baseball America No. 211.

Ciolek on Haskin: "The first thing that stands out is his overall athleticism. He is a double-plus runner. We believe he's going to stay in center field. He also has a knack for barreling up the ball consistently. He also has sneaky power and all around he is a very tooled-up athlete."

* In round three (No. 74) the O's drafted shortstop Anthony Servideo from the University of Mississippi. The 21-year-old lefty hitter batted .390/.575/.695 in 17 games for Ole Miss this season, leading the SEC in OBP. He is considered a plus defender and gets 60 grades for his fielding and running. He posted a career .440 OBP that was .429 last year. After hitting four homers combined his first two seasons, he hit five in 17 games this spring. He was Baseball America's No. 91 prospect and No. 110 by MLBPipeline.com's reckoning. Servideo is the grandson of the late Curt Blefary, who won the 1965 American League Rookie of the Year Award with the Orioles and played on their 1966 World Series-winning club.

Ciolek on Servideo: "We've kind of been following him since high school. He really popped up on our radar this spring. He got off to a blistering start with Ole Miss and he ran into some power. We are intrigued by his athleticism in the dirt (the infield) and how well he moves. He has more than enough arm strength to stay at shortstop."

* In round four (No. 103) the O's selected their fifth straight position player in this draft but first in the high school ranks. They selected Coby Mayo, 18, from Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. He is a big kid at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds. He has a big arm, one of the strongest arms in this draft, with some nice raw power. With a commitment to the University of Florida, this could be an overslot signing with the amount for this pick $565,500. He was ranked No. 79 by Baseball America and No. 132 by MLBPipeline.com.

Ciolek on Mayo: "He is extremely interesting. A strong, athletic, 6-foot-4 kid with a double plus arm at third base. He moves well for a bigger and also shows 70 raw power in BP. We think we'll be able to tap into that down the road. He has an extremely high ceiling. We do like his chances to stay at third base."

* In round five (No. 133) the O's closed out their draft by selecting right-handed pitcher Carter Baumler from Dowling Catholic (Iowa) High School. He is said to have a strong college commitment to TCU. He was also a kicker and punter on his school's 4-A state championship football team and he got college Division I offers. Baseball America states his fastball ranges from 88 to 92 mph, while MLBPipeline.com says it is 90 to 94. He is rated No. 102 by MLBPipeline and No. 147 by Baseball America.

In this story he told his local paper tonight "the plan is to sign" with the Orioles. The slot amount for that pick is $422,300.

Ciolek on Baumler: "He is another excellent athlete with a quick arm. His velo over the summer was 90 to 92 (mph) and it's ticked up 92 to 94. He's got a curveball with 11-5 shape and we think it's going to profile as a plus offering for him. And his changeup has made tremendous strides since the summer.

"We think we got a really good blend of guys that can move quickly through the system, and also some high-ceiling high school guys with our last two selections."

The Orioles made two selections in the draft last night. They took Arkansas outfielder Heston Kjerstad with the No. 2 pick and added infielder Jordan Westburg from Mississippi State at No. 30.