Baltimore Orioles select Eric Booth Jr., go big on pitchers in MLB Draft
The team also headed into the break with some new Birdland members. Here’s *** look at the Orioles’ 2026 draft class. The O’s used their 7th overall pick on high school outfielder Eric Booth Jr. Booth is known for his speed, and he’s expected to play center field. There have been some questions about his swing mechanics, but the O’s don’t anticipate that being an issue. We’re very comfortable with what his swing’s able to do right now, and it’s really, you know, they had *** positive trajectory from when we saw him last summer to early in the spring to what we’re seeing at the end. Um, we think the swing is in *** good spot and should continue to have success. And, you know, if we do need to make some adjustments, we, we’re confident that he has the aptitude, intelligence, and, uh, and work ethic to, to, um, you know, make anything, you know, make any changes required. To wrap up day one of the draft, the O’s selected two center fielders, Ty Head from NC State and Kevin Roberts, uh, Junior from Jackson Prep. They also picked up Kansas pitcher Dominic Vogley. He has just been *** really durable, uh, workhorse pitcher, throwing 96 and 97 innings, uh, in the last two seasons at Kansas, uh, with really good strikeout to walk numbers. We like the fast arm, um, producing mid 90s, up into the upper 90s, uh, fastball while providing that length and then *** really high spin breaking ball. Uh, pitching was *** focus for the O’s second draft day. The Birds selected college players Zane Adams, Ross Norman, Diego Gutierrez, and Ryan Peach, uh, among others.
Baltimore Orioles select Eric Booth Jr., go big on pitchers in MLB Draft
Updated: 6:02 PM EDT Jul 13, 2026
The Baltimore Orioles headed into the All-Star break with some new players joining Birdland.The Orioles used their seventh overall pick for high school outfielder Eric Booth Jr., who is known for his speed. He’s expected to play centerfield.There had been questions about Booth’s swing mechanics, but the Orioles don’t anticipate it being an issue.”We’re very comfortable with what his swing’s able to do right now, and it’s really had a positive trajectory from when we saw him last summer to early in the spring to what we were seeing in the end. We think the swing is in a good spot and should continue to have success, and if we do need to make adjustments, we’re confident that he has the aptitude, intelligence and work ethic to make any changes required,” said Will Robertson, the team’s vice president of domestic scouting.To wrap up the first round, the Orioles selected two centerfielders, Ty Head from North Carolina State and Kevin Roberts Jr. from Jackson Prep.The Orioles also picked up Kansas pitcher Dominic Voegele.”He has just been a really durable workhorse pitcher throwing 96 and 97 innings in the last two seasons at Kansas with really good strikeout-to-walk numbers. We like the fast arm producing the mid-90s up into the upper-90s fastball,” Robertson said.Pitching was a focus for the Oriole’s on the second day of the MLB Draft. The O’s selected college pitchers Zane Adams, Ross Norman, Diego Gutierrez and Ryan Piech. Also slated to join Baltimore include shortstops Jimmy Anderson and Will Plunkett, and Carlos Sanchez.
BALTIMORE —
The Baltimore Orioles headed into the All-Star break with some new players joining Birdland.
The Orioles used their seventh overall pick for high school outfielder Eric Booth Jr., who is known for his speed. He’s expected to play centerfield.
There had been questions about Booth’s swing mechanics, but the Orioles don’t anticipate it being an issue.
“We’re very comfortable with what his swing’s able to do right now, and it’s really had a positive trajectory from when we saw him last summer to early in the spring to what we were seeing in the end. We think the swing is in a good spot and should continue to have success, and if we do need to make adjustments, we’re confident that he has the aptitude, intelligence and work ethic to make any changes required,” said Will Robertson, the team’s vice president of domestic scouting.
To wrap up the first round, the Orioles selected two centerfielders, Ty Head from North Carolina State and Kevin Roberts Jr. from Jackson Prep.
The Orioles also picked up Kansas pitcher Dominic Voegele.
“He has just been a really durable workhorse pitcher throwing 96 and 97 innings in the last two seasons at Kansas with really good strikeout-to-walk numbers. We like the fast arm producing the mid-90s up into the upper-90s fastball,” Robertson said.
Pitching was a focus for the Oriole’s on the second day of the MLB Draft. The O’s selected college pitchers Zane Adams, Ross Norman, Diego Gutierrez and Ryan Piech. Also slated to join Baltimore include shortstops Jimmy Anderson and Will Plunkett, and Carlos Sanchez.