O's select righty Dylan Heid in Round 11 of draft (updated)

The Orioles started the final day of the First-Year Player Draft by selecting senior right-handed pitcher Dylan Heid from Division II Pitt-Johnstown after he posted some eye-popping stats during the 2021 season.

Taken No. 317 overall in round 11, Heid went 7-2 with an ERA of 1.37 in nine starts with four shutouts and six complete games. He allowed 25 hits in 59 1/3 innings with 15 walks and 105 strikeouts. He posted a WHIP of 0.67 and allowed a batting average against of just .126.

He was a five-time Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Pitcher of the Week and was the national pitcher of the week on March 11. He ranked second in NCAA Division II and led the PSAC in hits per nine (3.79), and WHIP (0.67). He was third in the NCAA Division II and led the conference in complete games, ERA and strikeouts per nine (15.93). He was 13th in the nation in strikeouts and ranked 21st in NCAA Division II in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.00).

Players taken in rounds 11 through 20 can be signed for up to $125,000. They can be signed for more, but any overage must come out of the team's draft pool. In the 2017 draft, the Orioles selected lefty pitcher Cameron Bishop in the 26th round and signed him for essentially third-round money. He got a bonus of $605,000 and this year he is 3-1 with a 3.38 ERA for Double-A Bowie.

Round 12: The Orioles added another pitcher, selecting right-hander Justin Armbruester from the University of New Mexico. As a senior this year the 6-foot-4, 235-pound Armbruester went 5-2 with a 3.58 ERA and one shutout in 13 starts for the Lobos. Over 78 innings he allowed 66 hits with 21 walks and 101 strikeouts along with a .231 batting average against. A transfer from Pacific Lutheran, in the shortened 2020 season, he went 1-0 with a 1.14 ERA in four starts for the Lobos.

Round 13: The O's added first baseman Jacob Teter from Florida Southern College. In 17 games he batted .377/.506/.787 with 19 runs, four doubles, seven homers, 17 RBIs and an OPS of 1.293. The 6-foot-6, 225-pound Teter had more walks than strikeouts (15 to 12) and stole four of four bases attempted. He is from Melbourne, Fla.

Round 14: The O's added their third pitcher so far today, selecting University of South Carolina junior right-hander Daniel Lloyd Jr. In 23 games this season (all in relief) he went 0-1 with a 3.07 ERA and 1.10 WHIP. Over 41 innings he allowed 29 hits with 16 walks, 42 strikeouts, a .206 average against and no homers allowed. He had two saves, including one in a NCAA regional game against Virginia. From Summerville, S.C., he pitched to a 3.52 ERA in Southeastern Conference games.

Round 15: The O's added another reliever, selecting Tulane right-hander Keagan Gillies. This season in 19 games he went 1-1 with an ERA of 0.96 and five saves. In 28 innings he allowed just three earned runs along with 13 hits, 17 walks, 44 strikeouts and a .133 batting average against. He gave up just one home run. A 6-foot-8, 242-pound graduate student from New Orleans, Gillies suffered a blown save on Feb. 26 against eventual national champion Mississippi State. After that game he gave up just one earned run over his last 24 innings with 40 strikeouts. In a game in the American Athletic Conference tournament against South Florida he fanned 11 in 4 1/3 innings.

Round 16: The O's added another starting pitcher in Cal-Irvine junior right-hander Peter Van Loon. In 15 games, he was 5-3 with a 4.42 ERA and 1.32 WHIP. Over 73 1/3 innings he yielded 77 hits with 20 walks, 87 strikeouts and a .268 average against. He allowed five home runs. In the shortened 2020 season, he went 2-0 with a 2.74 ERA.

Round 17: The O's take yet another pitcher, adding right-hander Ryan Long from NCAA Division III Pomona-Pitzer college in California. The 6-foot-6 Long did not have any stats listed for the 2021 season. In his career at the school he went 8-2 with a 3.61 ERA. Over 92 1/3 innings he allowed 101 hits with 19 walks and 59 strikeouts in 18 games. He is from Woodinville, Wash.

Round 18: The O's added right-handed pitcher Conor Grady from Florida State. He went 5-2 with a 4.05 ERA in 16 games. In 73 1/3 innings he gave up 66 hits with 19 walks, 99 strikeouts and a .237 batting average against. Grady allowed nine homers. In 12 Atlantic Coast Conference games, he was 4-2 with a 4.28 ERA, with 15 walks and 71 strikeouts over 54 2/3 innings.

Round 19: Yep, another pitcher. The O's added right-hander Alex Pham from the University of San Francisco. He went 3-5 with a 4.39 ERA, making 21 of his 22 appearances out of the bullpen. Over 55 1/3 innings he gave up 49 hits with 32 walks, 72 strikeouts, seven homers and a .238 average against. For his career there, Pham was 9-11 with a 3.48 ERA and 0.72 WHIP.

Round 20: With their final pick of this draft, No. 587 overall, the O's added Louisburg (NC) junior college sophomore outfielder Trendon Craig. In 41 games he batted .420/.546/.790 with 11 doubles, 53 runs, 28 steals, 14 homers and 55 RBIs. The right-handed hitter from Atlanta walked 32 times and fanned 22.

Craig has a Division I commitment to North Carolina State, which could make him tough to sign.

Final tally: So over three days of drafting, beginning with Colton Cowser and ending with the selection of Craig, the Orioles made 21 draft picks.

They selected 20 players from the college ranks and just one, eighth-round pick catcher Creed Willems, from the prep ranks.

They drafted nine pitchers, eight of them from the 11th round on, and all were right-handers. They added two catchers, four infielders and six outfielders.

The club has until a deadline of 5 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 1 to sign the picks.

Checking in with the Orioles

Orioles supervisor of domestic scouting operations Brad Ciolek spoke with Baltimore reporters via Zoom after the draft today, basically confirming that there will be some players signed for overslot deals before the signing period ends.

"In terms of the underslot/overslot discussion, I'll do the best I can to stay mum as negotiations are still ongoing," Ciolek said. "I will say, though, that we did take a lot of sophomore-eligibles yesterday, which obviously have that extra year of eligibility, and that also, in some cases, can add to increased leverage. We did take a junior college kid in the 20th round, Trendon Craig. So obviously, there might be some things we need to iron out there as well.

"Without tipping my hand too much, we are looking to utilize a very large percentage of our pool, and don't be surprised if there are some guys that are overslot."

It appears that the draft-eligible sophomores include outfielder John Rhodes, taken in round three from Kentucky, and shortstop Collin Burns from Tulane, picked up in round six.

The Orioles seemed to show strong interest in Craig ahead of the draft.

"We actually had Trendon here at a workout at Camden Yards and he showed extremely well for us," said Ciolek. "Showed some power, showed that he can run and he's actually from the same junior college that Cedric Mullins was at prior to going to Campbell University. Again, commenting further on his college commitment, I'm not going to really comment on his situation, but we're going to do the best we can to get him in black and orange as soon as possible."

As I noted above, Craig has a commitment to NC State.

Ciolek was asked about the selections today of so many college pitchers and how many of them - all of them, really - are right-handed.

"In terms of handedness, that is kind of a secondary factor," he said. "We're just looking for guys that throw strikes, throw a lot of strikes. Get more strikeouts than walks and also guys that have some secondary weapons that we might be able to hone in on and improve, in terms of an arsenal. So, a lot of these guys check those boxes and we're really happy with the group of arms we got today."

The O's had some success with third-day-drafted pitchers they selected in 2019 that are now doing well in Single-A ball. A list that includes pitchers such as Jake Lyons, Houston Roth, Jake Prizina and Griffin McLarty. They hope to repeat that with the group they added today, which included eight pitchers among their 10 picks.

"We spend a lot of time looking at these college pitching prospects," Ciolek said. "I know a lot of people say, 'You kind of wait a little bit to take them.' But that is because of all the research that we do, and we do the best job possible in order to slot them to where we think we can get them. Very confident in that strategy so far, knock on wood, it's boded well and hopefully it continues to bode well for us."