Baltimore Orioles Top Prospect Showing Some Concerning Signs When Hitting

With the No. 22 overall pick in the 2024 MLB draft, the Baltimore Orioles selected outfielder Vance Honeycutt out of North Carolina.

He is already the No. 5 prospect in the organization, possessing immense potential. Outside of his hit tool, which received a 40 grade, his power, run, arm and field all received grades of at least 60.

Entering his first full minor league season, he is looking to improve upon what was a rude welcome to the professional ranks in 2024.

Honeycutt played in 13 games, making 56 plate appearances, between Single-A Delmarva and High-A Aberdeen. He had an underwhelming .177/.250/.196 slash line with one double, five RBI and four stolen bases.

Improvements have been shown thus far in 2025, upping his slash line to .245/.413/.367. He has hit his first professional home run, adding one double and triple to his stat line as well, with three RBI and seven stolen bases.

Speed is the best asset he possesses currently, going 11-of-14 on stolen base attempts thus far in his minor league career. That translates well defensively, where he is considered elite while playing center field.

Those attributes make for a very strong base. There are players who have carved out lengthy MLB careers because they can steal bases efficiently and play an elite level of defense.

But Honeycutt’s ceiling is much higher than that because of the immense power potential that he possesses.

During his time with the Tar Heels, he set the single-season program record for home runs with 28. He also holds the all-time career record for long balls with 65.

That power has yet to shine through in the minor leagues because Honeycutt is failing to make enough contact.

Right now, he is swinging and missing way too often for a player with his level of talent. Incredibly early in his career, there is plenty of time for him to figure things out because he has a solid grasp of the strike zone.

“He needs some kind of overhaul or reset to be able to hit, and all I have are facile explanations like “it looks like he doesn’t see the ball.” Maybe it’s a pitch recognition issue, but if that were all, wouldn’t he also be flailing at breaking stuff out of the zone?” wrote Keith Law of The Athletic (subscription required) in a piece that he scouted prospects of the Orioles and New York Mets during a matchup over the weekend.

While he isn’t flailing at pitches outside of the zone, it is a concern how much he is striking out in the early going of 2025.

Honeycutt has struck out 22 times in 64 plate appearances for a way too high strikeout rate of 34.4%.

As Law noted, this seems to be a contact issue because he can discern balls and strikes rather well. His walk percentage of 20.3% is off the charts elite at any level of baseball.

Swinging consistently at strikes is half the battle, and normally, the tougher part for a player to improve upon. Honeycutt already has that part down; now he just has to take advantage and make more contact when swinging at balls in the zone.

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