O’s prospect Vance Honeycutt (oblique) goes on IL

Honeycutt has four plate appearances and four homers for the Orioles in Grapefruit League action. His latest went a whopping 471 feet off Astros reliever Miguel Ullola. It’s one of the few times you’ll see a 5.000 OPS extend beyond a couple plate appearances. Honeycutt struggled mightily last year in A-ball, finishing with a .171/.284/.275 line in 435 plate appearances. But perhaps he’ll make a renewed push towards prospectdom in his third professional season.

It’s reportedly a sprain. It’s been a tough year for Honeycutt, as he’s hit just .172/.295/.266 with three homers and a horrid 40 percent strikeout rate in 76 games in the South Atlantic League. A big-time power bat at UNC, He thus far has 83 total bases and 155 strikeouts in 381 plate appearances as a pro.

The two sides were able to reach an agreement on a $4 million slightly above-slot deal for the 22nd overall pick just a few hours prior to Thursday’s signing deadline, according to MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis. Honeycutt possesses one of the widest range of potential outcomes of any prospect from the 2024 MLB Draft as he pairs an impressive power/speed combo with clear contact issues. The 21-year-old is an elite potential Gold Glove Award-caliber defensive center fielder, which might be enough by itself to carry him to the big leagues. He’ll obviously need to make some improvements with his plate skills, but the path to fantasy relevance is abundantly clear if he’s able to make some strides with his swing decisions.

Honeycutt is considered one of the more volatile prospects in this class, but the fantasy upside is obvious. This is a player that hit 65 homers in his three years with the Tar Heels, and he swatted 28 roundtrippers while stealing 28 bags in 32 attempts over his 62 games in 2024. He also hit .318, but that type of average seems unlikely because of contact issues. Contact issues is a bit of an understatement considering he struck out 83 times in 255 at-bats and 224 times over his 176 games with UNC. The power/speed combination is very appealing, but just keep in mind that it comes with a great deal of risk.