Ike Irish

A lefty-hitting catcher/right fielder/first baseman from Auburn, Irish arguably had the best combination of hit and power from the college ranks in last year's class and was selected by Baltimore with the 19th overall pick. The same could have been said of Henry Davis back in 2021, so it doesn't guarantee anything for Irish, and like in 2021, this was a down year for college hitters. Irish had an .871 OPS with a wood bat on the Cape in 2024 and slashed .364/.469/.710 with 19 home runs, 11 steals and a 37:33 K:BB in 55 games as a junior. His 108.1 mph 90th percentile exit velocity, 80.3 percent contact rate and 22.5 percent chase rate were all very strong marks relative to his peers. Defensively, Irish has a plus arm, and given the Orioles' catching depth, he could potentially play more right field and a bit of first base in 2026. He slashed an underwhelming .230/.296/.297 with a 7.4 percent walk rate and 23.5 percent strikeout rate in 20 games at Single-A. The other top college hitters in the class - Aiva Arquette and Andrew Fischer - were assigned to a higher level at High-A and they outperformed Irish, so his stock is down relative to where it was pre-draft. Read Past Outlooks