The Orioles made three selections on the first night of the 2024 MLB draft. First, they continued their trend of taking college hitters by picking North Carolina outfielder Vance Honeycutt at No. 22. Then, Griff O’Ferrall, a shortstop from Virginia, went at No. 32, with his teammate Ethan Anderson following closely behind at No. 61.
“We’re extremely excited about this group,” Orioles vice president of player development Matt Blood said. “We’ve 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.”
Here are 10 things to know about Baltimore’s newest additions.
Vance Honeycutt led the Tar Heels to the College World Series
Honeycutt guided North Carolina to its first College World Series appearance in six years in his final season. The fourth-seeded Tar Heels beat Virginia, then fell to eventual national champion Tennessee and Florida State and were eliminated.
Honeycutt went 5-for-13 with two home runs and five RBIs in three CWS games. His walk-off single pushed North Carolina past the Cavaliers in the opening round, and he also slugged a walk-off homer in the Super Regional to steer UNC past West Virginia.
He boasts a rare combination of power and speed
The 6-foot-3, 205-pound Honeycutt finished his college career as the only player in major NCAA Division I conference history with 60 home runs and 70 steals.
He hit 28 homers, a single-season school record, and stole 28 bases last season. In just 50 games in 2023, Honeycutt slugged 12 long balls to go with 19 steals. He hit 25 home runs and stole 29 bases as a freshman.
He’s a premier defensive outfielder
Honeycutt patrolled center field in Chapel Hill and was one of the best in the college ranks.
He became the first player to win the Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year Award twice. He was also awarded the Rawlings Gold Glove and tallied 16.9 defensive runs saved during his junior season, the most among Division I outfielders.
“He was one of those guys that we sort of were dreaming would get to us, but we weren’t going to get too optimistic about it,” Blood said. “And it happened, and so we’re very happy.”
He strikes out at historic rates
The Orioles were attracted to Honeycutt’s aforementioned plus tools. They’ll have work to do improving his swing-and-miss tendencies.
Honeycutt posted a 27.5% strikeout rate as a junior last season, the highest of any college hitter to ever go in the first round of the MLB draft. He struck out 224 times in three seasons with North Carolina.
ESPN analyst Kiley McDaniel called Honeycutt the “most polarizing player in the first round.” The combination of power, speed and defense is tantalizing, but Baltimore needs the strikeouts to subside.
“It’s absolutely something he’s going to have to work on,” Blood said. “It’s something that we feel like with our player development system and the people that we have here, it’s something we’re going to be able to work with him on and help him along.”
He’s the fourth outfielder the Orioles have taken in the first round in the past five drafts
The Orioles love college position players. And in recent years, they’ve leaned heavily toward outfielders.
Baltimore took Heston Kjerstad second overall in 2020, then Colton Cowser fifth in 2021. They added No. 17 pick Enrique Bradfield Jr. last season, and he’s since become the organization’s No. 8 prospect, according to Baseball America.
Most of the Orioles’ minor leaguers on the precipice of major league promotions are infielders. With Bradfield and now Honeycutt, the club hopes its latest picks replenish the farm system’s outfield depth.
He’s the Orioloes’ latest first-round pick since 2016
The last time the Orioles picked this late in a draft, Dan Duquette was the one making the choice.
The Orioles picked in the top five for four consecutive years, the first four of the Mike Elias era, and used those selections to lay the foundation for the current roster. All four picks — Adley Rutschman, Kjerstad, Cowser and Jackson Holliday — have reached the major leagues.
After the Orioles won an American League-best 101 games last season, Honeycutt became the club’s latest first-round selection under Elias. The last Baltimore pick beyond No. 22 was right-handed pitcher Cody Sedlock (No. 27) eight years ago.
He worked out at Jackson Holliday’s private training facility this winter
The Holliday family’s property in Stillwater, Oklahoma, has just about everything an athlete could want. An indoor batting cage, golf simulator and basketball and pickleball courts are among its many amenities.
Honeycutt visited last winter to work out with Orioles top prospect Jackson and his younger brother Ethan, a potential top pick in next year’s draft. Honeycutt joined Kjerstad and MLB All-Stars Cody Bellinger and Joey Gallo as players to train at the facility this offseason.
Griff O’Ferrall is an Oriole because of Gunnar Henderson
The Orioles were awarded the No. 32 pick, one of two selections from MLB’s Prospect Promotion Incentive, for Henderson winning the American League Rookie of the Year Award last season. The Arizona Diamondbacks were given No. 31 for outfielder Corbin Carroll winning the award in the National League.
An addition to the latest collective bargaining agreement, the program awards teams with extra draft selections if they promote a top prospect to the majors at the start of the season and they go on to win a major award. The Orioles promoted Henderson in 2022, but he maintained his rookie eligibility to qualify in 2023.
And with the extra pick, Baltimore added another shortstop.
He was Virginia’s Iron Man
O’Ferrall started every game of his three-year Virginia career and hit leadoff in all but one. In 186 games, the 6-1, 195-pound shortstop became the Cavaliers’ all-time leader among three-year players in career hits and runs.
He set Virginia’s single-season hit record as a sophomore in 2023 with 108, and he’s one of just two Cavaliers to post two 90-hit seasons, joining former Washington Nationals All-Star Ryan Zimmerman.
“He’s a gamer,” Blood said. “He’s a really good baseball player. He can impact the game defensively, on the basepaths and he just wreaks havoc with his bat — ton of line drives, a ton of contact, he’s a really tough out. He’s the kind of guy that fans are gonna love, and I think that’s what you see when you see him play.”
His former teammate is now an Oriole, too
Baltimore’s third selection of the opening night of the draft was Cavaliers catcher Ethan Anderson, who played alongside fellow Virginia native O’Ferrall for the past three seasons.
The 6-2, 215-pound Anderson played catcher, first base and designated hitter in four seasons with the Cavaliers. He slashed .341/.441/.560 with 28 home runs over 178 career games.
“He has a very interesting and exciting offensive profile — gets on base a ton, makes a lot of quality contact,” Blood said. “He’s a switch-hitter and can do a lot of things to impact the game on the offensive side. The defensive side, he wasn’t able to catch as much this year as he probably would’ve liked, and we’re looking forward to helping him develop into that role with us.”