2022 MLB Draft Orioles Tracker

The first day of the MLB Draft is the day full of excitement, especially for a team that was picking at #1 overall like the Orioles. That’s where a team can land the players with the big upside, with general recognition right now of their potential as perennial All-Stars or superstars. Hitting on the high-round picks is important! Orioles fans will be hoping that #1 pick Jackson Holliday, especially, can live up to that top billing.

Also important is being able to collect future useful prospects or big leaguers in the later rounds of the draft. The later rounds of the draft are where a lucky/good team can pick up a player like Trey Mancini (8th round, 2013), John Means (11th round, 2014), or Cedric Mullins (13th round, 2015).

The Orioles farm system has made big strides under Mike Elias so far. As of yet, the most noise has been made from prospects who were picked in the first two rounds of the draft. There are some interesting third round or later guys in the system, including Coby Mayo, the fourth round pick from 2020. 2019 fifth rounder Darell Hernaiz is having a nice 2022 season as well.

Beyond that, Elias hasn’t gotten a big later round hit yet. Part of that is because one of his three drafts before now stopped at five rounds due to COVID-related fallout. You can’t get a nice surprise seventh rounder if there’s not a seventh round. Maybe today will be his day to set up cashing in on a day 3 pick surprise a few years down the road.

The Orioles picks so far

• Round 1, #1: Jackson Holliday - SS - Stillwater HS (Oklahoma)
• CB Round A, #33: Dylan Beavers - OF - University of California
• Round 2, #42: Max Wagner - 3B - Clemson
• CB Round B, #67: Jud Fabian - OF - University of Florida
• Round 3, #81: Nolan McLean - RHP(/3B?) - Oklahoma State
• Round 4, #107: Silas Ardoin - C - University of Texas
• Round 5, #137: Trace Bright - RHP - Auburn
• Round 6, #167: Douglas Hodo III - OF - University of Texas
• Round 7, #197: Preston Johnson - RHP - Mississippi State
• Round 8, #227: Cameron Weston - RHP - University of Michigan
• Round 9, #257: Adam Crampton - SS - Stanford
• Round 10, #287: Wyatt Cheney - RHP - McClennan CC (Texas)
• Round 11, #317: Zack Showalter - RHP - Wesley Chapel HS (Florida)
• Round 12, #347: Bradley Brehmer - RHP - Indiana University
• Round 13, #377: Jared Beck - LHP - Saint Leo University
• Round 14, #407: Adam Retzbach - C - Lehigh University
• Round 15, #437: James Hicks Jr. - RHP - University of South Carolina
• Round 16, #467: Graham Firoved - RHP - Virginia Tech
• Round 17, #497: Carter Young - SS - Vanderbilt
• Round 18, #527: Andrew Walters - RHP - University of Miami
• Round 19, #557: Alden Mathes Jr. - OF - University of Richmond
• Round 20, #587: Reese Sharp - RHP - Indiana University

For more information about the Orioles day 1 picks, check out my posts about Jackson Holliday as the #1 overall pick and about the rest of the first day picks, Beaver, Wagner, and Fabian. If that’s not enough to slake your thirst, you can read my recap of the players chosen by the Orioles in rounds 3-10.

Some quick notes about the day 3 picks:

Zack Showalter, the 11th round pick, is not known to be related to former Orioles manager Buck Showalter. As a high school player, he’ll probably be getting an overslot bonus if he signs. From the 11th round on, the first $125,000 of a player’s signing bonus does not count against their signing pool, and no pool money is lost for failing to sign a day 3 player.

Bradley Brehmer, the 12th round pick, had been drafted by the Orioles as a high school player in the 23rd round in 2018.

Jared Beck, the 13th round pick, is listed at 7’0”. Seven feet tall! According to The Baltimore Sun’s Nathan Ruiz, if Beck managed to make it to MLB, he would become the tallest player in MLB’s history. Mark Hendrickson and Kam Mickolio, each 6’9”, stand as the tallest Orioles to date.

James Hicks Jr., the 15th round pick, had his junior season cut short when UCL damage required Tommy John surgery in March.

Carter Young, the 17th round pick, checks in at #237 on MLB Pipeline’s top 250 draft prospects. It’s a little surprising to see a college junior with that ranking taken as a day 3 pick. Then again, he struck out 29.2% of the time this season, so maybe it’s not that surprising.

Andrew Walters, the 18th round pick, sits at #130 on Pipeline’s draft prospect ranking. As with Young above, it’s surprising he hadn’t been drafted before this. Used exclusively as a reliever this season, Walters struck out 62 batters, and only walked six, in 32.2 innings.