Orioles’ ‘thrilled’ with 7 players selected in draft’s Day 1

The Orioles were excited about having four early picks in the 2025 Major League Baseball draft, and seven among the top 93. They seemed to follow the pattern of the other drafts in the Mike Elias era by taking college players early and not using a first-round pick on a pitcher.

The Orioles chose Auburn catcher Ike Irish with the 19^th overall pick. With their two compensatory choices at 30 and 31, they went with Coastal Carolina catcher Caden Bodine and Arkansas shortstop Wehiwa Aloy.

Oregon high school outfielder Slater de Brun was the 37^th pick in the competitive balance round A. That’s the selection the Orioles received on Thursday from Tampa Bay in exchange for reliever Bryan Baker.

College pitchers Joseph Dzierwa from Michigan State and JT Quinn from Georgia, and Vanderbilt outfielder RJ Austin were the other picks.

“We are thrilled with the talent we got,” Orioles vice president player development and domestic scouting Matt Blood said in a video conference call.

“We feel like we got a bunch of players that we really like, a bunch of players that we weren’t expecting to get access to. And just having that many picks on Day 1 gives you the ability to capitalize whenever these things happen. We’re just really over the moon with the haul we were able to get today.”

Irish was the second catcher in the last six years to be taken with the Orioles’ first selection. In 2019, Adley Rutschman was the overall No. 1 pick.

“First and foremost, we love his bat,” Blood said. “He’s a very polished bat, both on, really on all aspects of how you would want a hitter to be. Contact, power, swing decisions. Just really, really exciting hitter. He has the ability to catch, he has the ability to play corner outfield, he has the ability to play some first base, and we’re pretty big on defensive versatilities, so we’ll probably explore all those options.”

Bodine, the Coastal Carolina catcher, is also a player Blood is high on;

“He’s just a very polished player,” he said. “He was a high-level competitive wrestler when he was in high school, and you can see that athleticism and body control and just awareness using the ground when he’s catching and he’s very good behind the plate.

“He’s one of the better receivers in the country. He’s a very accurate thrower. He’s just a very effective catcher. And then when you think about him being a switch-hitter and having really high contact rates and hitting line drives and just being a guy who’s going to be productive, you start to add all that up and think, ‘Yeah, this is a guy who’s going to be a major leaguer and has a chance to a real impact player for the team.’”

While the Orioles didn’t take a pitcher among the first four picks, they took Dzwiera, a 6-foot-8 left-hander, and Quinn, a 6-foot-6 right-hander.

“They’re both big guys,” Blood said. “They’re both guys that our group was excited about, and that we were targeting and hoping were going to get to those picks. You never know who is going to be at the top of your board when your picks come around.

“They were there at the top of our board when it was our turn to pick. We were really excited to get them. They were both … one’s a lefty with pitchability with a really good fastball and changeup. The other is a big righty with a big fastball and a full arsenal. He’s been working underneath Wes Johnson there at Georgia. He’s been a big stock up guy in the second half of this season. They’re both guys our group is very excited about.”

The Orioles also like Aloy, who hit 21 home runs in 65 games this season.

“This guy won the Golden Spikes this year, went to the College World Series finals and hit a million home runs and played really nice defense at a premier program at the University of Arkansas,” Blood said.

“He’s been a trend-up guy, he’s gotten better each year in college. We really like just the way he goes about playing the game and his skill set. So we see a lot of upside with him, and we did not expect to him to get where we were able to draft him, and we’re very excited to be able to get him.”

Rounds 4-20 are Monday beginning at 11:30 a.m.

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