College pitchers dominate Orioles’ 2nd-day draft

The Orioles’ 2026 draft is complete, and though their first pick, high school outfielder Eric Booth Jr., is the most noteworthy, they’ll try to develop contributing players from the draft’s later rounds.

On Sunday, the Orioles took 16 players—half of whom were college pitchers.

Their sixth-round pick was left-hander Zane Adams from Alabama. Adams was 8-5 with a 4.58 ERA in 17 starts for the Crimson Tide. He struck out 100 and walked 30 in 90 1/3 innings. While he allowed more than a hit per inning, he averaged less than one home per nine innings.

“He’s been a really productive three-year starter in the SEC,” Orioles vice president of domestic scouting Will Robertson said. “A 6-foot-4 lefty up to 96 with a swing-and-miss changeup with kind of the size and left-handedness and durability, track record that usually isn’t available where we got him. We were thrilled that that one landed our way.”

Other second-day collegiate pitchers were right-hander Ryan Piech (7^th round, Xavier), right-hander Collin McKinney (9^th round, Arizona), right-hander Ross Norman (11^th round, Coastal Carolina), right-hander Garrison Sumner (13^th round, Brigham Young), right-hander Miguel Hugas (14^th round, Mercer), right-hander Braden Smith (16^th round, Central Florida), and right-hander Diego Gutierrez (17^th round, San Diego).

“We really flushed out the depth of college arms,” Robertson said. “We ran out of rounds and we still had professional level talent.”

On Saturday, the Orioles’ third-round pick was right-hander Dominic Voegele from Kansas.

Some of the college pitchers the Orioles drafted had high ERAs. McKinney had a 6.27 ERA for the Wildcats, Norman had a 6.46 ERA this year for the Chanticleers and Sumner had a 6.78 ERA for BYU.

“ERA is definitely something that we’re aware of,” Robertson said. “The run environment in college baseball, particularly some of the  players that we took, is different than the scale where we associate with major league or professional levels.

“There’s a whole host of things that we look at from the pitch velocity, movement profiles, from the release point. We’re definitely focused on what kind of prospect and eventual major leaguer rather than how effective they are today.”

Piech from Xavier is one who had a low ERA of 3.18 in 14 starts this year.

“It gives you a good sense of comfort when they’re already preventing runs and getting through innings,” Robertson said. “We definitely do value that. We’re trying to put the holistic picture together and value a lot of other things that we find to be predictive.”

Robertson is especially intrigued with fifth-rounder Jimmy Anderson, a shortstop from Heartland Community College in Normal, Illinois. The Orioles picked Anderson in the 19^th round in 2025, but he returned to school.

“Had an even bigger season, We stayed on him the whole time,” Robertson said. “We stayed close to the player and situation and got even more confident in the talent evaluation.”

Anderson hit .465 with a 1.574 OPS, 26 home runs and 88 RBIs.

“When it was clear he was at the top of the board, we worked something out,” Robertson said. “I think that was one that stood out as a big team effort.”

Other second-day picks were Mamaroneck, New York high school shortstop Will Plunkett (8^th), utility player Carlos Sanchez (LSU Shreveport (10^th), Wauchula Florida high school catcher Leo Marrero (12^th), New Jersey high school shortstop Brayden Fry (16^th), Eaton, Colorado high school right-hander Gunnar Garrison (18^th), Texas high school centerfielder Victor Salazar (19^th), and Texas high school right-hander Ross Davis (20^th).

Overall, the Orioles took eight high school players among their 20 selections.

“The way we attacked it this year we were looking for some opportunities other teams weren’t on,” Robertson said. “[The draft] presented some opportunities  to get interesting high upside talent and get them in the organization young and start their development.”

The Orioles have $13,140,000 to sign the 20 picks and must sign players by July 27^th at 5 p.m.

In the recent past, the Orioles haven’t had any pitchers debut in pro ball the year they were drafted. They also haven’t had high school position players play. Robertson declined to say whether they’d follow that model with Booth, a Mississippi high school outfielder who was the seventh player taken in the draft.

“I don’t have an idea yet,” Robertson said. “We’re going to see what all of the information we’re gathering tells us is the best for his development long-term.”

Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com