Both Vance Honeycutt, the Orioles’ No. 1 draft pick in 2024, and Ike Irish, the team’s top pick in 2025, made excellent impressions during Grapefruit League games.
Honeycutt was 5-for-10, hitting four straight home runs while Irish was 4-for-5.
Last year, Irish played 20 games at Single-A Delmarva, hitting .230 with a home run and 12 RBIs.
Irish is expected to play the outfield, first base and catch for High-A Frederick. The Keys have Honeycutt, Irish, the Orioles’ No. 1 prospect, outfielder Nate George, and shortstop Wehiwa Aloy, who was also an Orioles first-round pick. All are 22 except for George, who is 19.
Irish spoke to Orioles’ media before last month’s Spring Breakout game. Here are excerpts:
Question: How is it moving from position to position?
Ike Irish: “It’s a lot of fun. You get to learn and do new things almost every single day. I think it just grows you as a player. You see things from different perspectives, whether it be the outfield, first base, catching, a totally different perspective on the game, moving around so much. I think it’s a blessing to be moving around and having fun with it.”
Q: What was it like to get into Grapefruit League games with the Orioles as an extra player?
Irish: “It’s a lot of fun. It’s a lot of learning. Most of the games, we’re just trying to soak in information, be a sponge. It’s a copycat league. We’re trying to copy what the big leaguers are doing. They’re doing it at the highest level, but it’s been a lot of fun getting in there sometimes, seeing Vance do what he did was pretty sick. It’s been so much fun hanging around with the guys, just being a ballplayer.”
Q: What kinds of adjustments did you have to make to pro ball?
Irish: “Last summer, the hardest part was to restarting the body again. Having a full offseason, being able to hammer out the little things because little things snowball into big things eventually. Crossing my t’s, dotting my i’s with swing mechanics, with defensive positions, and now I feel I’ve grown in all those categories.”
Q: What did you get from those 20 games at Delmarva?
Irish: “It’s hard. Baseball’s still hard, and it doesn’t get any easier. It’s just the daily grind. I think in Delmarva there was so much that I wanted to do, and we knew our season was short. I tried to accomplish things there, and I just did too much.
“Even though we only played 20 games, it’s still a long month. Taking it day-by-day and not putting too much on the body, not doing too much. It’s a long season. You can do stuff over weeks.”
Q: Would you prefer to concentrate on a position or do you like moving around?
Irish: “I don’t really care personally. I just love to play baseball. As long as I’m in the lineup, it doesn’t matter where I play. If they have an EH, I would love to be an EH, too. I’m just so young. I don’t think I’ve played enough in all three spots, four spots, the corners, first base, catching. I haven’t played enough baseball in my life yet to be like, ‘This is where I’m really good at.’
“So just taking it day-by-day, soaking up from the coaches and just trying to be the best player that I can.”
Q: Utility players aren’t usually catchers. They’re generally infielders and outfielders. How did you develop this skill where you could catch as well as play the infield and outfield?
Irish: “I think it came in college. That’s really where I started to move around a lot. In college, my freshman year, I DH’d and played first base. Sophomore, I caught and played the outfield. Last year, I played the outfield and caught. Just honing in, and just getting experience. There’s nothing like experience, so just trying to gain as much as I can and just play baseball.”
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