Feeling a draft: O's make three picks tonight as MLB Draft begins

After drafting with a top five pick every year from 2019 through 2022 – twice selecting No. 1 overall – Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias and his staff this year will draft lower down the board for the second year in a row.

With the No. 17 pick in round one last year, they selected Vanderbilt outfielder Enrique Bradfield Jr., who now plays at High-A Aberdeen. Tonight, as another the three-day draft begins, they will have three selections at Nos. 22, 32 and 61.

The draft is heavy in college bats, scarce at the top in high school talent and not considered a great draft.

“It’s kind of a mess to be honest,” said MLB.com’s Jim Callis, who will be on MLB Network's coverage tonight. “This draft is kind of a slightly below average draft. The strength of the draft is college hitters. There is just not depth in terms of everything else.

“By the time we get to pick 22, there are about 10 guys on the first tier of the draft and they will all be gone. There could be 20 college hitters taken the first round. That is the strength of the draft. So that reflects the strength and that the other demographics are not particularly strong.”

But the Orioles feel good about scoring well with their picks, knowing they have selected good players in the range of those first two selections tonight. Jordan Westburg was the No. 30 pick and Gunnar Henderson No. 42, for instance.

“Our history in some other places that a lot of us have worked, we’ve managed to do OK down in this part of the draft, and I hope we can this year, too,” Elias told reporters on Saturday.

Orioles vice president of player development and domestic scouting Matt Blood is in his first year in his new dual role where he heads up the club's draft preparations. The O's front office brass and numerous area scouts have been in meetings the last several days in the Warehouse.

“I think we’re going to have some good players to choose from,” said Blood. “Think you’ve got a combination of some interesting college hitters, potentially college pitchers and you know some of the higher-upside high school guys that we like. So we’ll see what happens. At 22 there are a lot of different scenarios of what could happen. We’ll be ready for all of them."

Since Elias’ first O’s draft in 2019, 10 players have accumulated Wins Above Replacement at the big league level, even if it’s currently negative WAR. The leaders there are Henderson at 13.5, Adley Rutschman 13.0 and Westburg at 3.6, all of which will play in the All-Star Game on Tuesday night.

The O’s probably drafted more pitchers than some might think under Elias. They selected 18 pitchers among 40 picks in 2019, one from their six selections in the shortened 2020 Draft, eight of 20 in 2021, 12 of 20 in 2022 and 13 of 20 last year. They have never taken a pitcher however with their top pick or a first-round selection.

Tonight's No. 22 overall selection is the lowest for the Orioles since they drafted pitcher Cody Sedlock No. 27 in 2016. Since they they selected DL Hall No. 21, Grayson Rodriguez No. 11, Adley Rutschman No. 1, Heston Kjerstad No. 2, Colton Cowser No. 5, Jackson Holliday No. 1 and Bradfield last year. 

The first two rounds and comp picks will be selected tonight when the O’s will pick three times. Rounds three through 10 are Monday beginning at 2 p.m. and rounds 11-20 wrap up this draft on Tuesday beginning at 2 p.m.

The O’s listed slot amount for pick No. 22 is $3,802,200 and for pick No. 32 is $2,835,400.

O's lose again: For the second time in 22 days, the Orioles have a five-game losing streak. They lost again to the Yankees, this time by a 6-1 score Saturday afternoon and now these teams are tied for first place. The Orioles do have a lead in percentage points at 57-38 (.600) to New York's 58-39 (.598).

The Orioles have scored two runs the last four games and four runs during the losing streak. They've scored just two runs their last 42 innings.

They've been outscored 31-4 during the streak. In the five games of their homestand, all losses, they are 1-for-31 with runners in scoring position. 

Since June 21, the Orioles are 8-13 and the Yankees are 7-13. In this span of 21 games the O's team ERA is 5.72 and they have scored 3.7 runs per game. Through June 20 their team ERA was 3.13 and they averaged 5.3 runs per game.