Orioles baseball No. 1 in prime time across the Baltimore DMA 

Viewership up over 35 percent 

Amplifying their first-place spot in the American League East, the Baltimore Orioles on MASN are dominating prime time, outpacing every other local broadcast station and cable network by a wide margin, according to the latest Neilsen ratings. Orioles viewership is up by double digits compared with the 2023 season as the team posted a 58-38 record in the first half of the 2024 campaign. 

The Orioles on MASN are averaging 100,000 viewers, per quarter hour, each night across the Baltimore DMA. This is an increase of more than 35 percent over the same period last season. The groundswell of interest is widespread, as the Orioles on MASN are by far the No. 1 viewed program in prime time across the entire demographic spectrum.   

“Marylanders love Orioles baseball, and they are coming to MASN every night to be a part of something special," said MASN senior executive John McGuinness. "This young team is talented, exciting and they play the game with the same grit and enthusiasm fans can appreciate and can identify with. Five Orioles just played in the MLB All-Star Game, the farm system is loaded – the future is indeed bright in Birdland. We expect viewership to only grow as the pennant races heat up.”

The latest MLB Draft has come and gone. The Orioles, since Mike Elias and his staff took over, are known for scoring well in the draft.

Once again this year they showed they tap into the college ranks much more than the high school ranks, getting 17 of 21 drafted players from college.

But that is actually twice the number of high school players the club drafted in the last two years, when they took just two high school players among 22 selections in 2022 (including Jackson Holliday) and two last year. Their first high school pick last year came in round 15 and they did not sign Qrey Lott.

This year they selected prep players in rounds six, 12, 16 and 19. They seem quite high on sixth rounder, DJ Layton, the shortstop from Charlotte. He hit .449 and also is said to have a big arm.

From 2019 to 2023, the O’s selected just nine high school players among 91 draft picks in the first 20 rounds. But a few of those nine were high picks and are premium prospects with the likes of Holliday, Gunnar Henderson and Coby Mayo. No one is putting this kid in that class, but he sounds promising. Catcher Creed Willems was another high school pick and he is a top 30 O’s prospect.

ARLINGTON, Texas – Corbin Burnes jogged from the American League dugout to the mound tonight to begin his warmup tosses, paused and conducted a television interview. He smiled, gave the network what it wanted and got down to business.

The 94^th All-Star Game remained a glamorized exhibition, but Burnes tried to find his competitive fire, tossing a scoreless first inning on 19 pitches and retreating to the clubhouse.

A one-out walk to Shohei Ohtani and Bryce Harper’s two-out double down the left field line extended Burnes’ stay. He fielded William Contreras’ grounder, threw to first and wrapped his arms around his former Brewers catcher as they converged along the line.

It truly is an exhibition.

“It was fun,” Burnes said before the AL's 5-3 win. “I wish I wouldn’t have walked Shohei, but it was fun. I mean, there’s really no words to express just the atmosphere playing around the best players in the game. I told them to be ready, I’m going to let them put it in play, so they were ready out there, and fortunately, we got out of it with a scoreless inning.”

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Orioles haven’t hosted baseball’s All-Star Game since 1993, the second year of Camden Yards' existence. Back when they wanted to show it off to the world.

They’re on the radar again, which promises nothing but keeps them in the conversation.

Commissioner Rob Manfred said this morning that the club has “definitely” expressed an interest in the Midsummer Classic. The next available date is 2027, after Atlanta next year and Philadelphia in 2026.

A new ownership group headed by David Rubenstein has made securing the event a priority.

“We hope by that time the stadium will be rehabilitated a bit, and therefore, we’d like to show it off,” Rubenstein said on March 28. “Once we have the rehabilitated Camden Yards, I think it would be a great time to then show it off. We’ll make sure we have it completed, though, but we are interested in it and I am familiar with the situation.”

The 2024 MLB Draft resumed today shortly after 2 p.m. as the clubs began making selections in round 11. Today the three-day draft will conclude with selections in rounds 11 through 20.

The Orioles will have one pick in each round today and they selected a lefty college pitcher in round 11.

Round 11 (No. 339) - O's took Louisville senior lefty Sebastian Gongora. This season over 15 starts he went 5-4 with a 6.14 ERA. Over 77 2/3 innings he allowed 86 hits with 29 walks and 89 strikeouts. He produced a 1.481 WHIP with a 3.4 walk rate and 10.3 strikeout rate.

He had a better season in 2023 at Wright State with a 3.17 ERA in 93 2/3 innings and a 22.4 strikeout rate. He was the Horizon League Pitcher of the Year.

Gongora is ranked as this draft's No. 353 prospect on the Baseball America Top 500.

The Baltimore Orioles made 10 selections on Day Three of the 2024 First-Year Player Draft, completing Rounds 11-20. This year, the Orioles selected 21 players overall: 11 pitchers and 10 position players, with 17 of the selections being college athletes and four from the high school ranks. The Orioles selected eight right-handed pitchers, three left-handed pitchers, four outfielders, two infielders, and four catchers.

RD             PICK             PLAYER               POS          B/T         HT         WT           DOB                     SCHOOL                           SCOUT

1                 22           Vance Honeycutt        CF            R/R         6-3       205         5/17/2003    University of North Carolina           Boyd

PPI              32            Griff O'Ferrall            INF           R/R        6-1       195        2/2/2003          University of Virginia                 O'Dowd

2                 61           Ethan Anderson          C              S/R        6-2       215        9/21/2003        University of Virginia                 O'Dowd

ARLINGTON, Texas – Corbin Burnes is having an All-Star experience that’s more like a flyby.

Burnes arrived in Dallas around 11 a.m. this morning and he’s boarding a flight back to Phoenix as soon as his start is over and he can shower and change clothes. The entire experience will last fewer than 12 hours if the plan is executed.

Get three outs and get back to his wife Brooke and twin daughters Charlotte and Harper.

Burnes is making his first career start among four consecutive selections to the All-Star Game. He’s the first Orioles pitcher to receive the honor since Steve Stone in 1980.

“It’s awesome to find out I was going to get the opportunity to start the game,” Burnes said. “There’s very few people that have gotten to start All-Star Games for the length that the All-Star Game’s been around. The join that group is special, and obviously there’s some pretty cool names that have been able to do it. Getting that opportunity to do that was awesome, and excited to get out there.”

There was a lot for the Orioles to like about their second day of draft picks. They saw third rounder, USC outfielder Austin Overn, move up some draft boards when he produced a .947 OPS in the Cape Cod League.

They saw Auburn pitcher right-hander Chase Allsup, their fourth rounder, sit mid 90s with his fastball in the SEC and touch 100 mph.

They like the three catchers they selected but did not set out to draft three, it just worked out that way. They had some high school players they liked on their board but have only selected one thus far.

But the O’s sure do like that young man, DJ Layton, a sixth round pick shortstop from Charlotte Christian High School. Layton, who has a college commitment to Southern Miss, turns 18 in a few days.

“DJ is a young, very athletic, switch-hitting shortstop from Charlotte, North Carolina,” said O’s vice president of player development and domestic scouting Matt Blood. “He’s a great kid with a lot of tools and we feel like there is upside to his game when it comes to coming into our organization and helping him get stronger and helping him offensively while continuing to build his defensive skill set. Where we got him, we felt like this was a really good bet for us. I’ll give credit to our scouting department and people put a lot of work in on this kid to get to know him and his family and the coaches at his high school. The whole room was ecstatic when we were able to get him in that round.”

The Baltimore Orioles today made eight selections on Day Two of the 2024 First-Year Player Draft, completing Rounds 3-10. The Orioles started the day by selecting outfielder AUSTIN OVERN at No. 97 overall from the University of Southern California. The Orioles also selected right-handed pitcher CHASE ALLSUP at No. 127 overall from Auburn University (AL), catcher RYAN STAFFORD at No. 160 overall from California Polytechnic State University, shortstop DJ LAYTON at No. 189 overall from Charlotte Christian High School (NC), left-handed pitcher CARSON DORSEY at No. 219 overall from Florida State University, catcher COLIN TUFT at No. 249 from Tulane University (LA), right-handed pitcher JACK CROWDER at No. 279 from the University of Illinois, and right-handed pitcher CHRISTIAN RODRIGUEZ at No. 309 from California State University, Fullerton. 

Overn, 21, slashed .270/.349/.461 (65-for-241) with 12 doubles, five triples, eight home runs, 57 runs scored, 32 RBI, 19 walks, and 17 stolen bases in 59 games during his sophomore season at Southern California. He paced the team in runs, triples, home runs, runs scored, and stolen bases and was the only Trojan to start all 59 of the team’s games. He was a two-time All-Pac-12 All-Defensive Team selection and an All-Pac-12 honorable mention in 2024. As a freshman, he set the program single season triple record with 14, helping him earn Freshman All-American honors. He was a member of the 2022 USC football team as a wide receiver. Overn attended Foothill High School (CA). He was ranked as the No. 85 overall draft prospect by Baseball America and No. 131 by MLB Pipeline.

Allsup, 21, pitched to a 4-3 record with a 5.63 ERA (39 ER/62.1 IP) and 74 strikeouts in 13 appearances (11 starts) for the Tigers during his junior season, leading the team in wins, innings, and strikeouts. In 2023 at Auburn, he made 20 appearances (eight starts) and owned a 1-2 record with a 5.47 ERA (30 ER/49.1 IP) while striking out 49 batters and securing two saves. Allsup made 23 appearances for Auburn in 2022 and posted a 3.38 ERA (11 ER/29.1 IP), notching 32 strikeouts with two saves. He attended Dothan High School in his hometown of Dothan, Ala. He was ranked as the No. 241 overall draft prospect by Baseball America.

Stafford, 21, slashed .368/.444/.568 (86-for-234) with 23 doubles, three triples, six home runs, 49 runs scored, 46 RBI, 26 walks, and 10 stolen bases in 57 games during his junior season at Cal Poly. He paced the team in hits, doubles, triples, total bases (133), and slugging, and was one of two Mustangs to play in all 57 of the team’s games. He was the 2024 All-Big West Defensive Player of the Year, a former Freshman All-American, and a one-time first and second team All-Big West honoree. He set the Cal Poly program record with 59 career doubles. Stafford attended Folsom High School (CA), where he was named first-team All-League. He was ranked as the No. 175 overall draft prospect by MLB Pipeline and No. 202 by Baseball America.

Layton, 17, attended Charlotte Christian High School (NC). He slashed .449/.532/.719 (40-for-89) with six doubles, three triples, four home runs, 30 runs scored, 34 RBI, and 18 walks in 30 games. Layton was named a 2024 Perfect Game Atlantic Region Preseason All-American honorable mention. He is committed to the University of Southern Mississippi.

Asked this morning what the Orioles must do after the break to recapture the success that defined previous months, third base coach Tony Mansolino replied, “I think just get back to being who we are.”

That would be a team producing quality at-bats, hitting in the clutch and scoring runs in bunches. That gets more out of the rotation than reasonably expected with so many injuries, as well as important outs from the bullpen.

Be the team that swept the Rays in four games and won consecutive series against the Braves, Phillies and Yankees. Be those 2024 Orioles.

They sort of got there today. They weren't going to quibble.

After imploding in gut-wrenching fashion in the ninth, the Orioles watched the Yankees misplay two balls with two outs in the bottom of the inning. Charity began at home.

The Baltimore Orioles tonight selected center fielder VANCE HONEYCUTT from the University of North Carolina with their first selection as the 22^nd overall pick of the 2024 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. The Orioles also selected infielder GRIFF O’FERRALL at No. 32 overall from the University of Virginia and catcher ETHAN ANDERSON at No. 61 overall out of the University of Virginia.

Honeycutt, 21, slashed .318/.410/.714 (81-for-255) with 13 doubles, two triples, 28 home runs, 88 runs scored, 70 RBI, 36 walks, and 28 stolen bases in 62 games during his junior season. He is the first two-time ACC Defensive Player of the Year in league history (2023 & 2024). He broke the UNC record for home runs in a career (65) and single season (28, 2024). Honeycutt was named a First-Team All-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), College Baseball Foundation, D1Baseball.com, and Perfect Game and recognized as a Second-Team All-American by Baseball America. A native of Salisbury, N.C., Honeycutt attended Salisbury High School, where he helped the school win the 2021 North Carolina High School Athletic Association baseball 2A state championship. He was drafted in the 20^th round of the 2021 First-Year Player Draft by the San Francisco Giants but did not sign. He was ranked as the No. 13 overall draft prospect by Baseball America and No. 22 by MLB Pipeline.

O’Ferrall, 21, slashed .324/.367/.454 (92-for-284) with 20 doubles, one triple, five home runs, 64 runs scored, 52 RBI, 22 walks, and 17 stolen bases in 63 games during his junior season. He won the Brooks Wallace Award in 2024, annually bestowed on the nation’s top shortstop by the College Baseball Hall of Fame, becoming the first Wallace Award winner in program history. O’Ferrall earned First-Team All-ACC honors for the second consecutive season. He struck out once every 11.8 at-bats, statistically the toughest hitter to strike out in the ACC. He attended St. Christopher’s High School (Va.), where he was named Virginia Gatorade Player of the Year. He was ranked as the No. 38 overall draft prospect by MLB Pipeline.

Anderson, 20, slashed .331/.435/.508 (82-for-248) with 20 doubles, eight home runs, 67 runs scored, 40 RBI, 40 walks, and five stolen bases in 63 games during his junior season. He earned First-Team All-ACC honors at utility and was recognized as a semifinalist for the Buster Posey Award, given annually to the nation’s top catcher. Anderson was also named a 2024 D1Baseball.com Preseason Second Team All-American after setting the program record with 26 doubles in 2023. He attended Frank W. Cox High School (Va.). He was ranked as the No. 59 overall draft prospect by Baseball America and No. 78 by MLB Pipeline.

The Draft continues with Day Two on July 15, with rounds 3-10, and Day Three on Tuesday, July 16, with rounds 11-20, with each day beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET on MLB.com.

On the first night of the 2024 MLB Draft, the Orioles seemed to play into the strength of this draft in adding three college position players, all three from the Atlantic Coast Conference.

For the sixth straight draft since Mike Elias took over in his role with the club, the O’s did not take a pitcher in the first round. Or any among the three selections Sunday.

With their first round pick, No. 22 overall, they added center fielder Vance Honeycutt from North Carolina. The righty batter hit .318 with an OPS of 1.124 and hit 28 homers, a UNC single-season record. He also was named the ACC’s Defensive Player of the Year two straight years, a first in the conference.

He was ranked the No. 13 prospect for this draft by Baseball America and No. 22 by MLB.com.

A player with some loud tools, the one area to clean up for him on the stat sheet is strikeouts. He had a 30 percent K rate as a freshman and 28 percent last season.

For the fifth time in six years since his first draft in 2019, O's executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias took a college bat with his first draft selection.

With the No. 22 overall pick in round one, the Orioles selected University of North Carolina outfielder Vance Honeycutt, a right-handed batter and thrower from Salisbury, N.C.

In 62 games this season for the Tarheels in his junior season, Honeycutt hit .318/.410/.714/1.124 with 13 doubles, two triples, 28 homers, 88 runs, 28 steals and 70 RBIs. His 28 homers is a UNC single-season record. 

He was ranked by Baseball America as the No. 13 player in this draft and was rated No. 22 by MLBPipeline.com.

In three seasons at UNC, over 176 games, he hit .293/.412/.638/1.050 with 65 homers and 170 RBIs. He hit 25 homers and stole 29 bases as a freshman. He had four multi-homer games this season.

The All-Star break for the Orioles arrives after today's series and homestand finale against the Yankees. They are not exactly charging into the break. The Birds are 0-5 this homestand and have have been outscored 31-4.

They have scored two, zero, zero, one and one run in the five games and have scored just two runs their past 42 innings. The O's have gone a season-high four straight games without a home run.

The Orioles (57-38) and Yankees (58-39) are tied for the American League East lead, which will be held at the break by the winner of today's game. Technically the O's enter this game leading the division by percentage points, playing .600 ball to the Yankees' .598.

Until the Orioles were swept by the Cardinals on May 20-22 on the road, they had gone 106 straight regular season series of at least two games without being swept. Their most recent sweep in the regular season before that St. Louis series was May 13-15, 2022 at Detroit. That was easily an O's club record and the third-longest sweepless streak in major league history. The previous O's record was 46 straight series in 1971-1972.

But after losing to the Yankees 4-1 Friday and 6-1 yesterday, a loss today would mean the Orioles have been swept in two straight series and in three of their past seven series.

Kyle Stowers has a locker inside Camden Yards again. He’s just doesn’t know for how long.

That’s typical with Stowers going back and forth between the Orioles and Triple-A Norfolk, but the current situation is more unusual due to the timing of it.

Stowers was recalled yesterday with Heston Kjerstad placed on the seven-day concussion injured list. The All-Star break begins on Monday and Kjerstad is eligible to return Saturday in Texas.

Kjerstad could miss only three games, which leaves Stowers more unsure about the duration of his stay and whether he plays. He’s out of the lineup again this morning.

“Obviously, the reality of life is you never know what the next day holds, right?” Stowers said. “The only thing God promises us is today, so just trying to take care of today and then we’ll handle tomorrow when it comes.”

The Orioles close out the first half this morning with Austin Hays in the lineup after he left yesterday’s game with hip soreness.

Colton Cowser is in center field, starting again versus a left-hander. James McCann is catching and Adley Rutschman is the designated hitter.

Jorge Mateo is playing second base.

Kyle Stowers is here but on the bench again today.

Dean Kremer has a 4.42 ERA and 1.186 WHIP in 11 starts. He faced the Yankees on April 30 in Baltimore and allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings. Austin Wells and Juan Soto homered.

After drafting with a top five pick every year from 2019 through 2022 – twice selecting No. 1 overall – Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias and his staff this year will draft lower down the board for the second year in a row.

With the No. 17 pick in round one last year, they selected Vanderbilt outfielder Enrique Bradfield Jr., who now plays at High-A Aberdeen. Tonight, as another the three-day draft begins, they will have three selections at Nos. 22, 32 and 61.

The draft is heavy in college bats, scarce at the top in high school talent and not considered a great draft.

“It’s kind of a mess to be honest,” said MLB.com’s Jim Callis, who will be on MLB Network's coverage tonight. “This draft is kind of a slightly below average draft. The strength of the draft is college hitters. There is just not depth in terms of everything else.

“By the time we get to pick 22, there are about 10 guys on the first tier of the draft and they will all be gone. There could be 20 college hitters taken the first round. That is the strength of the draft. So that reflects the strength and that the other demographics are not particularly strong.”

The Orioles are playing a game today that starts before noon, and it isn’t Patriots Day in Boston. The season is a marathon, but that’s it.

The Roku Channel is streaming from Camden Yards with first pitch at 11:35 a.m. Pajamas are acceptable attire.

The media had lots to report yesterday with the roster move that returned Cade Povich to Triple-A Norfolk, Heston Kjerstad scratched from the lineup after being hit on the batting helmet the previous night and later going on the seven-day concussion injured list, the follow-up questions about the bench-clearing incident, and executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias being made available in the dugout.

Elias wouldn’t bite when asked to share his draft board – can’t blame a guy for trying - but he noted how it’s a “thin” high school class in the first round. The Orioles hold the 22^nd and 32^nd picks.

Baseball America’s 6.0 mock has the Orioles selecting University of North Carolina outfielder Vance Honeycutt with their first selection. An earlier mock had University of Iowa right-hander Brody Brecht.

The Orioles have made the following roster moves:

• Recalled OF Kyle Stowers from Triple-A Norfolk.
• Placed OF Heston Kjerstad on the 7-day concussion Injured List.

Can a team struggling to score runs get them today against a pitcher they hit hard less than a month ago?

We're going to find out as the Orioles again face Yankees right-hander Luis Gil (9-5, 3.27 ERA), who is making his 19th start of the season.

When Gil faced the Orioles May 1, he pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings on just two hits. But the rematch June 20 at New York was very different. The righty entered that game with a 2.03 ERA.

He allowed eight hits and seven runs - both season highs - in just 1 1/3 innings as the Orioles won 17-5 to take that series.

They scored in the first inning that night on Ryan O'Hearn's single to lead 1-0 and knocked Gil out by scoring six runs in the second inning. An inning that featured Cedric Mullins' two-run homer and Ryan Mountcastle's bases-clearing, three-run double.