O's take USC outfielder in round three of MLB Draft (updated)

The MLB Draft resumed this afternoon as the clubs will make selections in rounds three through 10 on the second of three days of drafting. The Orioles today added another college hitter to begin their day.

In round three: With pick No. 97 overall, the O's selected University of Southern California outfielder Austin Overn. A lefty hitter and righty thrower, he is 21 and just completed his second season at USC.

Over 59 games, he hit .270/.349/.461/.810 with 12 doubles, five triples, eight homers, 57 runs, 17 steals and 32 RBIs. He was honorable mention all-Pac 12.

Overn's best tool, per MLB.com is a 75 grade run tool. The site ranks him as its No. 131 prospect.

On the streaming of the draft today, analyst Jonathan Mayo said, "he might be the fastest guy in the draft class. Not a lot of power. We are talking speed from the left side. Maybe the best defensive outfielder in the entire class."

Carlos Collazo of Baseball America said this via X: "One of the best athletes in the class. Can really run and play center field but had a down offensive season this spring. He rebounded nicely in the Cape Cod League before the draft and was a late up-arrow name."

In round four: With overall selection No. 127, the O's took their first pitcher of this draft in Auburn right-hander Chase Allsup.

Allsup, 21, went 4-3 with a 5.63 ERA for the Tigers this season in 13 games with 11 starts. Over 62 1/3 innings he allowed 72 hits with 16 walks and 74 strikeouts. He produced a 1.412 WHIP with a 1.9 homer rate, 2.3 walk rate and 10.7 strikeout rate.

Per MLB.com his best pitch is a mid 80s slider.

For his three-year career at Auburn, the Dothan, Ala. product went 6-5 with a 5.11 ERA in 141 innings with a 4.2 walk and 10.1 K rate.

Said MLB.com's Jim Callis: "He throws hard. You know, better job throwing strikes this spring. He's struggled with that. He'll sit 94-96 and he'll get up to 100 with the fastball. He needs to command the pitcher better and maybe get more life. He gets more swings and misses actually with his mid 80s slider and his upper 70s curveball. So there is stuff there. He even has some fade on his upper 80s changeup that is a bit too firm. But you see four promising pitches, it just needs a little more refinement."  

In round five: With the No. 160 selection in the draft the O's picked Cal-Poly catcher Ryan Stafford. Thus far they have taken six college players and two catchers. 

In 57 games as a junior this season, the righty batter hit .368/.444/.568/1.012 with 23 doubles, three triples, 49 runs, six homers, 10 steals and 46 RBIs.

Over 171 career games, the 21-year-old from Folsom, Calif. batted .334 with a .906 OPS. He was a first-team freshman All-American when he hit .321 in 58 games. 

Said analyst Jonathan Mayo of the player MLB.com ranked as the draft's No. 175 prospect: "He makes a lot of contact from the right side of the plate. He's a good athlete on both sides of the ball. He has put up good numbers, extra-base hits have continued to show up. He's not the biggest guy, so there is not going to be a ton of power, so some worry about the durability behind the plate. But the athleticism is interesting."

In round six: With selection No. 189, the Orioles selected a prep player, shortstop DJ Layton from Charlotte Christian High School in Fort Mill, S. Car.

He is listed at 6-foot-1, 185 pounds and is a switch-hitter that will turn 18 on July 21. He has a college commitment to Southern Miss.

In round seven: With selection No. 219 the Orioles took Florida State lefty pitcher Carson Dorsey. Age 21, he spent two years at Gulf Coast State JC before playing with the Seminoles last season.

At FSU in 23 games (11 starts) he went 8-4 with a 4.60 ERA. In 76 1/3 innings he gave up 82 hits, including 10 homers with 37 walks and 88 strikeouts. He had a 1.559 WHIP with a 4.4 walk rate and 10.4 K rate.

From Panama City Beach, Fla., his fastball sits in the mid 90s and touches 94 mph. He was drafted by Texas in round 17 of the 2022 draft.

In round eight: The Orioles took their third catcher of this draft with selection No. 249, getting Colin Tuft from Tulane. He played two seasons earlier at Virginia. But last year, the 21-year-old Tuft hit .279/.437/.509/.946 in 62 games at Tulane with 12 homers, 67 runs and 41 RBIs. Tuft, who played a few games in the outfield this season, is from Vienna, Va.

Said Mayo: "He's a good athlete, plus makeup kind of guy. Defense first. There is some projection to his frame, so if he can fill out a bit more, maybe there will be more impact with the bat."

In round nine: The O's selected their third pitcher of this draft, grabbing University of Illinois senior right-hander Jack Crowder at pick No. 279. This season he went 8-2 with a 4.88 ERA in 16 starts. Over 90 1/3 innings he allowed 72 hits with 38 walks and 80 strikeouts. He had a 1.218 WHIP with a 3.8 walk and 8.0 K rate.

In four seasons he went 16-6 with a 6.23 ERA over 182 innings.

In round 10: The O's took a pitcher with pick No. 309 getting Cal State-Fullerton senior right-hander Christian Rodriguez. He went 3-8 with a 5.45 ERA over 69 1/3 innings. He has allowed 89 hits with 29 walks and 59 strikeouts.

With Frederick this year in the MLB Draft League he has gone 3-1 with a 3.92 ERA.

Through round 10, the O's have taken seven position players and four pitchers. They have made one high school selection and 10 from the college ranks.

A few quotes now from the O's vice president of player development and domestic scouting Matt Blood.

Blood on Overn taken in round three, did his Cape Cod League performance (.947 OPS in 23 games) further sell club on him?: “We have liked Austin all year. He was a target of ours coming into this draft season. I know his head coach very well and have sort of been on him for awhile. Seeing him perform in the Cape this summer has just made it even more comfortable in getting him where we selected him. Yeah I would say that the Cape helped but this was not a player we were not on before the Cape. We were very much in on him at the very beginning."

Blood on selecting three catchers thus far: “Definitely not a particular focus. Just happened to be the players that we really liked in those spots. They were the ones at the top of our board each time. And we were happy to get them.”

Blood on their top pitcher taken, Allsup in round four: “Big strong guy from Auburn, who throws hard. Has above average stuff. He is a guy that our group sort of identified as maybe an undervalued player in the industry. A player we felt like we could work with. Sort of all along targeting him in this range. And we were happy to see he was still available and he was the top guy on our board at that time."

Blood on just one high school player taken thus far: “You know I just think it’s what the draft gave us this year, in terms of college versus high school. We’ll still be looking for high school players and there are still 10 more rounds. But it is really not about a philosophy, it’s more about the player pool and who was there. I think there were other high school players we were looking at and they just didn’t quite land or they ended up not being signable. So the college guys were the ones that were there at those spots."