Orioles first-round pick finally showing signs of career turnaround down at spring training

Sometimes, a highly touted first-round draft pick lays an egg in their first foray into professional baseball. That’s exactly what happened to young prospect Vance Honeycutt after the Baltimore Orioles selected him in the first round of the 2024 MLB Draft. Yet, he is showing some signs of life down in spring training.

The outfielder struggled in a small sample size back in 2024, slashing .176/.250/.196 in 13 games. Heading into 2025, it was natural to assume that Honeycutt would post some better numbers over the course of a long look in the minors, but that did not end up being the case.

Vance Honeycutt showing signs of life down in Florida

In 101 games last season with Aberdeen, he slashed .171/.284/.275 with five home runs and 24 runs batted in, along with 32 stolen bases. It’s not the kind of production a team is looking for from a first-round pick, so naturally some alarm bells went off.

He is still just 22 years old, but after a solid career in college at the University of North Carolina, the hope was that he’d be a guy who could work his way through the minors pretty quickly and make it to the big leagues.

Development is not linear for every prospect, though. Some need a bit of a wake-up call in their first minor league season, and that’s exactly what Honeycutt got. He did some work in the offseason, and it seems to be paying off early on down in Florida.

He has already hit two homers in spring training and seems to be trending in the right direction. It’s just spring training, so they shouldn’t be seeing his name on a jersey for Opening Day just yet, but hitting some homers in spring training could be just the boost he needs to get back on track. 

Honeycutt was listed as the No. 15 prospect in Baltimore’s system last year. While that ranking is probably going to take a hit this year, the skills are there, and his speed and defense make him valuable enough as it is. His bat has always been the biggest question mark, so if he can just be decent at the plate, his speed and glove work in the outfield will make him a valuable player. 

It’s almost better that he experience these struggles early in his career so he can work on his swing and get it to a better place rather than skirting by in the minors only to be exposed by big-league pitching.

Last year was probably humbling for Honeycutt, but maybe it will provide the fuel he needs for a breakout 2026 season that proves the Orioles were smart to draft him when they did.