The Orioles didn’t stray from their preference for college bats in the first round of the 2025 draft. Only their season can be described as unpredictable.

With the 19^th overall pick tonight, the Orioles selected Auburn catcher Ike Irish.

Irish, a 21-year-old left-handed hitter and Michigan-native, homered six times in his last eight games. He slashed .364/.469/.710 with 13 doubles, two triples, 19 homers, 58 RBIs, 33 walks, 37 strikeouts and 11 steals in 12 attempts over 55 games this season.

In three college seasons, Irish hit .350/.435/.625 with 48 doubles, five triples, 39 homers and 167 RBIs in 160 games. He batted .325/.438/.433 in the Cape Code League last summer.

Irish, listed at 6 foot 2 and 210 pounds, also plays the outfield. He caught in only 12 games this year, compared to playing 41 in right and four in left.

The last catcher drafted by the Orioles in the first round was Oregon State’s Adley Rutschman at one/one in 2019. They took Ken Thomas in 1972, Drungo Hazewood in 1977, Jayson Werth in 1997, Brandon Snyder in 2005 and Matt Wieters in 2007.

They don’t all stay behind the plate.

Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias selected Rutschman with his first pick in 2019, outfielder Heston Kjerstad in 2020, outfielder Colton Cowser in 2021, shortstop Jackson Holliday in 2022, outfielder Enrique Bradfield Jr. in 2023 and outfielder Vance Honeycutt in 2024. The attraction to college bats early in the draft is pronounced, with Holliday the only high school player in the bunch.

The Orioles have seven picks tonight, including Nos. 30 and 31 as compensation for losing Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander, respectively, in free agency, and 37 from the Bryan Baker trade with the Rays. 

They also choose at 58, 69 and 93. Day 2 goes from fourth to 20^th, with the draft’s third day eliminated.

Since 2020, the Orioles have taken only 11 high schoolers.

The last pitcher selected in the first round is Grayson Rodriguez in 2018 under the previous regime. But there’s a solid chance that an arm is called somewhere within the club’s top four picks.

The highest drafted pitcher under Elias is Florida State right-hander Jackson Baumeister at 63rd overall in 2023. Oklahoma State’s Nolan McLean didn’t sign after he was chosen 81st in 2022.

Next for the Orioles after Monday is signing their picks. They have an unprecedented $19,144,500 in bonus pool funds.

The deadline for signing players is July 28.

Tonight’s draft began with the Nationals passing on Ethan Holliday, younger brother of Jackson Holliday, and taking Oklahoma prep shortstop Eli Willits. Ethan went fourth to the Rockies, who selected his father, Matt, in the seventh round in 1998.

The Hollidays could have been the first brothers taken first overall.

Prep third baseman Gavin Fien was considered a possibility for the Orioles, but the Rangers selected him 12^th overall. MLB Pipeline was one of the outlets predicting that Fien would go to the Orioles.

* The Orioles selected another catcher with the 30^th overall pick – Coastal Carolina’s Caden Bodine. Arkansas shortstop Wehiwa Aloy fell to them at No. 31, and they selected Oregon prep outfielder Slater de Brun at 37^th.

Bodine is a 21-year-old switch-hitter from New Jersey who batted .318/.454/.461 with 18 doubles, a triple, five home runs, 42 RBIs, 47 walks and 24 strikeouts in 67 games as a junior. In three seasons, he hit .337/.440/.528 with 55 doubles, two triples, 25 homers, 160 RBIs, 112 walks and 68 strikeouts.

Bodine helped lead Coastal Carolina to the College World Series, where it lost to LSU in the finals.

Bodine, listed at 5 feet 10 and 200 pounds, earns a 60 hitting grade from scouts but a 40 grade for power. He’s more of a line drive hitter. Bodine posted a .367 average as a freshman and followed with a .384 average in 26 games in the Cape Cod League.

Behind the plate, Bodine threw out 39 percent of runners attempting to steal this year.

Aloy was viewed as a possibility in the first round, with some mocks having the Orioles selecting him. He’s a 21-year-old right-handed hitter from Hawaii who was Western Athletic Conference freshman of the year at Sacramento State in 2023 before transferring to Arkansas and leading the Razorbacks with 14 homers as a sophomore.

Aloy won the Golden Spikes and Southeastern Conference Player of the Year awards this year. He slashed .350/.434/.673 with 19 doubles, two triples, 21 home runs, 68 RBIs, 81 runs scored, 93 hits, and 68 RBIs. He also led the team in slugging percentage, OPS and total bases (179).

He also delivered a .978 fielding percentage at shortstop. 

In three seasons, Aloy hit .332/.406/.609 with 43 doubles, seven triples, 49 homers and 170 RBIs in 181 games.

De Brun committed to Vanderbilt. He’s an 18-year-old left-handled hitter and a 65-grade runner and 60-grade fielder.

MLB Pipeline praises him for his advanced eye at the plate and impressive bat-to-ball skills. Deemed a bit undersized at 5 feet 10 and 187 pounds but it hasn’t hurt him. Shows impressive speed and range in center field. His arm also is above average.

Corbin Carroll comps are prevalent.

Baseball America had the four Orioles picks ranked 13th, 16th, 29th and 30th.

* The Orioles use the 58th pick on 6 foot 8 left-hander Joseph Dzierwa from Michigan State. He’s a 21-year-old native of Toledo, Ohio who made 15 starts this season and went 8-3 with a 2.36 ERA, 0.982 WHIP, 22 walks and 104 strikeouts in 91 2/3 innings. He allowed only four home runs.

Dzierwa had a 3.92 ERA and 1.172 WHIP in 45 games over three seasons. He was the Spartans’ No. 1 starter since his freshman year. MLB Pipeline ranked him No. 74 in the draft.

Here’s what Pipeline wrote about him:

Dzierwa's size and arm angle help him hide the ball well and create deception without compromising his ability to throw strikes. The Big Ten Conference Pitcher of the Year, he can pinpoint his entire arsenal wherever he wants, pounding the strike zone and also working the edges well. He offers a high floor as a near-certain starter and could fit in the middle of a rotation if he can find a reliable breaking pitch.

This is the highest that Elias has drafted a pitcher.

At No. 69 overall, the Orioles selected Georgia right-hander JT Quinn, who’s listed at 6 foot 6 and brings a fastball that touches the high 90s.

Quinn is a Tampa native who was a part-time starter for the Bulldogs – 22 out of his 45 appearances. He averaged 5.5 walks and 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings and finished with a 5.86 ERA and 1.654 WHIP.

* The Orioles used the last of their seven first-day picks, the 93^rd overall, on Vanderbilt outfielder RJ Austin.

The Georgia native bats and throws right-handed and is listed at 5 foot 11 and 199 pounds. He hit .257/.353/.383 in 59 games this season, with 15 doubles, four triples, two homers, 42 RBIs and 22 steals in 27 attempts.

In 181 games, Austin hit .283/.369/.415 and stole 54 bases in 67 attempts. He mostly plays center field and second base.

Austin was a teammate of Enrique Bradfield Jr. in 2023.

* Here are some comments from vice president of player development and domestic scouting Matt Blood:

On Irish: “First and foremost, we love his bat. 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.”

On how impressed he is with talent level of picks: “We are thrilled with the talent we got. 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.”

On the allure of Aloy: “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 premiere program at the University of Arkansas. 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.”