Vance Honeycutt arrived in Scottsdale with something to prove and some time to reclaim. Baltimore’s 2024 first-round center fielder has never lacked the kind of speed, pop and defensive range that turn heads around a ballpark. The question has been whether his bat can stay in the strike zone often enough to let those gifts play every day. His early work with the Peoria Javelinas suggests he is carrying late-season momentum into the Arizona Fall League.
A draft class already making noise
The 2024 Draft has moved fast for a group that was expected to need time. Thirteen first-round picks have already reached the Major Leagues, and several have made an immediate mark.
- Top overall selection Travis Bazzana and No. 2 pick Chase Burns each earned All-Star recognition this season.
- Jac Caglianone, taken sixth, was named American League Player of the Month for August.
- No. 5 selection Hagen Smith has emerged as a rookie postseason standout.
- Trey Yesavage, drafted 20th, made his own October impact a year earlier.
Honeycutt went 22nd to the Orioles out of North Carolina, carrying a reputation as perhaps the most electric all-around athlete in the college class. Evaluators believed that an average offensive profile could make him a 30-homer, 30-steal threat because the tools were so loud.
Two professional seasons later, the projection remains dependent on his contact rate. Honeycutt, 23, owns a career strikeout rate of 40 percent, and the Orioles sent him to the Fall League both to sharpen the hit tool and to recover developmental ground lost to a series of minor injuries.
The tools still show up every night
Even with the swings and misses limiting his chances to reach base, Honeycutt has stolen at least 30 bases in each of his first two seasons. Since the beginning of 2025, his 70 steals rank fourth among Baltimore minor leaguers.
His raw power surfaced loudly during Grapefruit League action in early March. Honeycutt homered in four straight plate appearances, a streak that included a blast measured by Statcast at 471 feet.
That stretch gave him something to lean on once the season began to grind.
“It gave me confidence going into the year,” Honeycutt said. “When things are not going well over such a long season, you try to find something you can draw from and use to get yourself going again.”
Double-A reset changed the finish
Honeycutt’s year took a turn after Baltimore promoted him from High-A Frederick to Double-A Chesapeake on Aug. 15, shortly after he homered for Frederick. He collected a hit in each of his first five Double-A games, then put together an 11-total-base outburst on Aug. 28.
| Stop | Production | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| High-A Frederick | .185 average, .644 OPS | First four and a half months of the season |
| Double-A Chesapeake | .288 average, .997 OPS | 10 steals in 11 attempts |
He viewed the new affiliate as a chance to clear his head and begin again. The better at-bats traveled with him to Arizona. On Monday, Honeycutt hit his first Fall League home run, leaving the bat at 106.6 mph, while also stealing a base and making a running catch in center.
“The goal is to help the club win, and that is not limited to hitting,” Honeycutt said. “Baserunning and defense matter, too. Working on them in drills and in games helps because the important things are not always the things printed in the box score.”
Center field remains his calling card
There has been little debate about Honeycutt’s glove. He was a two-time ACC Defensive Player of the Year at North Carolina and entered professional baseball with a 70-grade fielding evaluation on the 20-to-80 scouting scale.
The contact concerns pushed him out of Baltimore’s Top 30 prospects, but his value in center has not disappeared. When he was last included on that list, he still carried that 70 fielding grade. Only eight ranked prospects across baseball currently hold the same mark, with Orioles prospect Enrique Bradfield Jr., ranked No. 18 in the organization, among them.
Honeycutt said the defensive standard requires daily attention, not simply reliance on natural ability.
“I keep taking reps before games and during the day,” he said. “Even if you are already good defensively, there is another level to reach. I do not want to give away a pitch. I want to stay locked into each moment and improve every day.”
