​The Orioles navigated rounds 5 through 20 on day two of the MLB draft, continuing the surge they started with four selections on Saturday. When the dust settled, their draft strategy looked surprisingly similar to how it began: their top pick, Eric Booth Jr., hailed from the high school ranks, and overall they chose eight high school players and one junior college player. That distribution marks an unprecedented approach for the Orioles under the Mike Elias regime, and, as with any draft, there’s hope it will pay off.
Typically, Elias has leaned toward stockpiling pitchers and avoiding an overreliance on his very first picks for that position. This draft followed that pattern: 11 of the 20 selections were pitchers. The earliest pitcher came in the third round, and only four pitchers were taken within the top ten rounds where a signing is almost assured. If the Orioles get lucky, they may have unearthed the 2026 version of Joseph Dzierwa, who has already become one of the organization’s better prospects after a dominant pro debut following his second-round selection last year.
Every GM, scouting director, or the person in charge of the draft within a franchise tends to gush about how much talent their class has and how unbelievable it is that it dropped to them. Prospect outlets echo that sentiment with reports that inflate many players into potential future stars or even All-Stars. But the reality is that neither you nor I nor the Orioles can know with certainty which prospects will reach the majors. For now, any of them could pan out, which is part of the allure of the draft and of prospects in general. The thrill comes with dreaming, tempered by the understanding that disappointment is a real possibility.
Notes on the Orioles’ picks: First-round pick Eric Booth Jr. is a fast center fielder whose father was a late-round Blue Jays draft pick in 1993 before departing to play college football. Booth, who just turned 18 on July 4, is the younger brother of the Booths’ lineage and comes in as the sixth-ranked prospect on MLB Pipeline’s list for this class. He’s described as having “an excellent feel to hit, even with an unusual setup at the plate.” FanGraphs praised the selection, saying Booth “has an electricity to him that is unmatched in this draft. The quickness of his hands and his speed for his size are both show-stopping.”
In the second round, the Orioles continued their college route with outfielder Ty Head from NC State. Head is notable for his remarkably low strikeout rate, fanning just 23 times in 56 games for the Wolfpack this season while drawing 57 walks. That combination of contact ability, speed, defense, natural launch, and baseball IQ is uncommon and not typically a hallmark of the Orioles’ higher picks, according to early assessments. FanGraphs noted that while Head may need to add strength, his complementary tools—contact, speed, defense, and overall game awareness—are already in place.
The third round brought the club’s first pitcher, Dominic Voegele, a name that might be optimized for search engine results but represents a solid addition to the pitching stockpile. As the draft wound through rounds five to 20, the Orioles kept their emphasis on depth at pitching while continuing to add position players with upside from younger backgrounds. The ultimate impact of these selections remains to be seen, but the day’s work reflected a cohesive, practical plan designed to maximize talent across the system, even if the outcome will hinge on how these players develop in the coming years.