The Orioles announced that they have signed their first-round pick from this year’s draft Ike Irish. Jim Callis of MLB.com reports that the signing bonus was just over $4.4MM, right around slot value for the 19th overall pick.
Irish spent the past three years with Auburn. He was primarily a catcher in his earlier years with the Tigers but spent more time in right field this year. That was due to a fractured scapula he suffered when he was hit by a pitch, but there were already questions about his ability to stick at the position even before that happened.
There appear to be less questions about the bat. He slashed .350/.435/.625 across his three seasons at Auburn, with a .364/.469/.710 line this year. He also has some experience with a wood bat, having played in the Cape Cod League in 2023 and 2024 with a combined .307/.414/.396 line.
Keith Law of The Athletic ranked Irish fifth in the class. MLB Pipeline and ESPN both had him at #11 and Baseball America at #13. All outlets praise his left-handed swing, which can produce hard contact to all fields, though his future power potential is a bit less certain.
As mentioned, it’s a question whether or not Irish should be behind the plate or if he should be moved to right field or perhaps first base. For what it’s worth, the Orioles announced him as a catcher, so it seems the door is still open for him to be a backstop.
The Orioles have Adley Rutschman behind the plate, though he’s only controlled through the 2027 season. Samuel Basallo is at Triple-A and is considered one of the top prospects in the league, though there’s a chance he ends up at first base in the long run.
Photo courtesy of Mickey Welsh, Imagn Images
Nice pick for the O’s, a Rutchmann trade could be knocking too.
In a bit over one year, Rutschman will be an expiring contract and absolutely a trade candidate. But not til then. 20 year old Basallo is making headway but doesn’t block or frame well enough yet. By the time the two just drafted catchers hit the show, Adley will be well established as the starting catcher for the Mets?Phils?Astros?
What does framing matter. The ABS system starts next year and there will be no calls from the ump within a few years.
The problem in my opinion is, Adley’s career caught stealing % is 22%. Which is below average. And while some blame also has to go to his pitchers for either not keeping runners honest or having slower deliveries to the plate, I dont think you can allow that caught stealing percent to be that low unless you are a super offensive oriented catcher i.e. Raleigh who’s cs% career wise is about average. Obviously I’m comparing Adley to the best offensive catcher if not one of the best offensive players right now so its probably not a fair comparison completely.
At this point for my O’s you have to consider moving on from Adley if you can get a decent return from trading him. He’s not a bad offensive player, he’s run into some bad luck this year from what I see. His blocking seems to be average, his pitch framing seems to be above average, his pop time is slightly above average, his caught stealing is below average. So there is an argument to be made that its more on his pitchers for his lack of throwing guys out. But he and the current roster that keeps having so many injured starting pitchers may benefit from moving on. Side note, baseballsavant.mlb.com/ is a pretty good source of info.
They’re not trading Adley. He’s too valuable to the MLB club trying to win a WS…trading him leaves a massive hole in the team behind the plate. And while Adley might not be the best Framer (which will matter less with ABS next year), he’s a genius at blocking which will be become more valuable. The amount of runners-advancing Prevented because of Adley is big.
Basallo, Willems, Irish…all very fringy Catchers at the MLB level. Maverick Handly is very good defensively too, but…
Only Adley is Adley, enjoy the last 2 years of All Star catching while being a competitive club, maybe get a comp pick as a parting prize in 2 years (which Elias loves!) and by then, maybe a Catcher presents themselves.
Planing for the future, now. That’s good Front Officing!
Between them drafting Irish and Bodine they couldn’t be screaming “See you later Adley” any louder. I actually really liked the Orioles draft but this team is lame. No sense in rebuilding and then not spending once its time to spend.
HUGE dropoff from last year to this year makes not signing an extension look better. His offensive performance has declined since stellar rookie year…now, what player are you paying for, as they have his prime years controlled rather inexpensively.
I don’t see Irish as they’re moving on from Adley. Most teams with above average offensive C typically move them out eventually to preserve their bat, so them having Basallo – another bat-heavy C – means they can really take advantage of C/DH. That’s the ideal if Basallo performs well at ML level.
Thats not the point. If Ruschman takes a step back he will get less as a free agent. Like I said them drafting Irish and Bodine, who you seemed to ignore, is a clear signal they are not going to pay him regardless of what hes worth.
Irish I didn’t ignore, but I’m going with what the article stated – that Irish has already started transitioning away from C in college, so thinking he’s being drafted to be an everyday C while hoping his bat plays is presumptuous, if even to think he’d be a better option than Adley anytime soon. I get not thinking they’re going to pay him, but drafting some C depth isn’t much evidence as much as the fact they really haven’t paid much of anyone since new ownership took over.
Bodine was the highest ranked catcher available in the draft if you dont count Irish. Why you STILL ignore him i dont know. They didnt draft depth they drafted the 2 highest rated catchers in the entire draft pool.
I must have not remembered correctly, I saw reports showing Luke Stevenson listed as the top catcher available. The Mariners drafted him.
they have too many extensions to consider, they’d take a couple guys for their grounds crew in exchange for Rutschmann.
Maybe, but this isn’t the NFL or NBA. These guys wont be up for like 3 years, if they even make it.
Both are first round college players. They could both easily be up before 3 years. Easily.
There are 6 guys from last years draft in the majors and bunch knocking on the door. Three years for a college top pick is very slow.
Orioles really cornering the OF market via draft in the first round huh.
Irish
Kjerstad
Cowser
Bradfield
Honeycutt
How about some pitching? Just spend an entire draft drafting pitching. Enough OFs
I like the O’s pitching prospects – Povich and McDermott, and Bradish could be good in return from IR. Rodriguez and Rogers to round out the rotation, they don’t have to break the bank, they do need some more potential on the farm. Rutschmann could land them Boston Bateman or Kash Mayfield, either would be a nice add, Padres are in need of a catcher and Rutschmann fits the bill.
O’s are in great shape on the payroll side of things, if they can’t get both Henderson, Holliday, Westburg and Cowser extended on team friendly deals, they will have a nice window for a more than a few years.
I love Bradish and Grayson as well, not to mention Wells. I’m not sure how much we can count on them coming back at the top of their game after their injuries. McDermott hasn’t shown much at the MLB level, admittedly a small sample size. Povich you see flashes of the talent, coupled with some pretty bad outings. He needs some consistent work at the MLB level to see what he has. Adley for some prospective starting pitching isn’t a bad idea, especially in a season that in my opinion is lost for the O’s barring a literal miracle.
If “all it takes” is Mayfield or Bateman, then start looking for a condo in San Diego Adley!!
Easy — To be fair, most Organizations have a strength, and playing to your strengths is…well, strong.
The Draft is one means of aquireing MLB pitching. Elias has acquired MLB pitching through other means.
… the Orioles have drafted pitching, but not in the first 3 rounds.
I mean, Skubal is a 9th round pick. There aren’t too many 9th round MVP’s (hitters). Bats are easier to project than Arms, and bats are quicker to develop (or not).
Play to orginzational strengths. Develop bats, trade/claim/buy arms.
(and with the injury rates of pitching rising, all the more reason to develop/draft bats).
I’m not trying to throw this back in your face at all so I apologize if it looks that way. The only guy that has stuck through our rotation since 2022 is Dean Kremer. The other guys who have had way more potential than he has have all gotten injured to varying degrees. Not to mention the only real trade for an arm that we benefitted from was Burnes, Rogers in my opinion the jury is still out on, had a terrible awful debut for us last year but he has been lights out this year. Personally I think you have to make an adjustment to your drafting based on how your development of pitchers has gone. McDermott, Povich, and Young have not proven themselves at all. And since Elias seems to have no desire to commit to trades for top arms that are expensive for sure, you have to start going after the potential in the draft in my opinion.
Pitching is always volatile. Moreso in the draft. Draft SSs and OFs.
Every draft pick is volatile. Why only 3% make it.
While a good draft generally, I was hoping they’d target a college starting pitcher to help their rotation sooner than later.
Draft the bats. Buy the arms.
When was the last time Baltimore’s ownership spent on a top of the rotation starter?
Basallo is too tall and slender to stick as a catcher. He’ll have massive back problems if he continues, 1B is his future destination. As far as adley don’t see the orioles sticking with him as catcher as he’s kind of over rated. This kid Irish is their future catcher in 3 years
Please. If he can hit, just put him in the OF. Catcher ruins prospects.