The Orioles’ first two picks in the 2023 MLB draft Sunday night weren’t surprising. The third was.

After taking Vanderbilt center fielder Enrique Bradfield Jr. No. 17 overall, the Orioles selected North Carolina’s Mac Horvath with the 53rd pick in the second round, continuing the organization’s prioritization of position players over pitchers in the draft since executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias took over in November 2018.

But with their third pick, the Orioles bucked that trend, choosing Florida State right-handed pitcher Jackson Baumeister. At No. 63 overall in the Competitive Balance Round B, Baumeister is the highest Baltimore has taken a pitcher since selecting Grayson Rodriguez in the first round of the 2018 draft, before Elias took over.

In 96 1/3 innings at Florida State in 2022 and 2023, Baumeister, who turns 21 Monday, posted a 5.23 ERA and 1.464 WHIP. But the 6-foot-4, 224-pound righty struck out 31.4% of the batters he faced and cut his 15.8% walk rate in 2022 down to 9.4% in 2023.

The only other time Elias and company have drafted a pitcher in the first four rounds was in 2022 with Oklahoma State’s Nolan McLean in the third round, but the Orioles and the right-hander didn’t come to an agreement after the draft.

Horvath, 21, mostly played third base at UNC and worked out in the infield at the MLB draft combine in June, but he was drafted as an outfielder, a position he played in the wood-bat Cape Cod Baseball League in the summer.

After hitting below .270 in his first two college seasons, Horvath broke out in 2023 with a .305/.418/.711 slash line — good for a 1.129 OPS. In 60 games, the 6-foot-1, 200-pound junior hit 24 home runs and stole 25 bases.

The Orioles will add nine more players Monday in Rounds 3-10 and 10 more in Rounds 11-20 on Tuesday.

This story will be updated.

MLB draft

At Seattle’s Lumen Field

Rounds 3–10: Monday 10, 2 p.m.

Rounds 11–20: Tuesday 11, 2 p.m.

TV/Stream: ESPN (Round 1), MLB Network, ESPN+

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