Vance Honeycutt
OF | Bats/Throws: R/R | 6' 3" 205LBS | Age: 21
Draft: 2024 | Rd: 1, #22, Baltimore Orioles | North Carolina
MLB Pipeline Rank
PA AB R H HR SB AVG OBP SLG OPS
2024 20 20 1 2 0 0 .100 .100 .100 .200
Career Minors 56 51 3 9 0 4 .176 .250 .196 .446
AVG HR SB OPS
2024 .100 0 0 .200
Career Minors .176 0 4 .446

Standard Minor League Batting Statistics

SeasonTmLGLGPAABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSOSBCSHBPAVGOBPSLGOPS
2024 2 Teams Minors 13 56 51 3 9 1 0 0 5 4 24 4 2 1 .176 .250 .196 .446
2024 Delmarva Shorebirds CAR A 8 36 31 2 7 1 0 0 3 4 13 4 2 1 .226 .333 .258 .591
2024 Aberdeen IronBirds SAL A+ 5 20 20 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 11 0 0 0 .100 .100 .100 .200

Scouting Report

Draft

Video scouting report »

Scouting grades: Hit: 40 | Power: 60 | Run: 65 | Arm: 60 | Field: 70 | Overall: 50

North Carolina has produced nine first-round position players, including first (B.J. Surhoff) and second (Dustin Ackley) overall picks, but the Tar Heels may never have had anyone as tooled up as Honeycutt. He quarterbacked and hit Salisbury (N.C.) HS to state 2-A championships in football and baseball in 2021, but he was physically underdeveloped and mostly flew under scouting radars despite the Giants drafting him in the 20th round. He broke into college baseball by hitting a school-record 25 homers and stealing 29 bases as a freshman and has recorded similar numbers this spring, setting new Tar Heels marks for single-season (28) and career (65) homers while winning his second straight Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year Award.

Honeycutt comes with at least plus tools across the board with one notable exception: his bat. He carried a 30 percent strikeout rate as a freshman, cut it to 20 percent as a sophomore (when he wasn't nearly as productive) and has seen it shoot back up to 28 percent as a junior. He has a decent right-handed swing but needs to refine his pull-heavy approach, do a better job of making in-zone contact and cut down on his chases.

How much Honeycutt hits will determine if he becomes Drew Stubbs or better than that. At 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds, he creates well-above-average raw power with bat speed, strength, leverage and loft. He has similar speed and fine instincts, making him a basestealing threat and a potential Gold Glover in center field, where his plus arm is stronger than most at the position.


2024

Scouting grades: Hit: 40 | Power: 60 | Run: 65 | Arm: 60 | Field: 70 | Overall: 50

When the Orioles took Honeycutt with the No. 22 overall pick in the 2024 Draft, he became the tenth first-rounder from the University of North Carolina and quite possibly the most tooled up of all of them. A high school quarterback who won state 2-A titles in football and baseball in 2021 in North Carolina, Honeycutt hit a school-record 25 homers and stole 29 bases as a freshman and turned in another 20-20 performance this past spring (28 homers and steals), leaving the Tar Heels with both the single-season and career (65) home run marks. The Orioles went a bit over slot, giving him $4 million to add his tools to the system.

Honeycutt comes with at least plus tools across the board with one notable exception: his bat. He carried a 30 percent strikeout rate as a freshman, cut it to 20 percent as a sophomore (when he wasn't nearly as productive) and saw it shoot up over 27 percent as a junior. He has a decent right-handed swing but needs to refine his pull-heavy approach, do a better job of making in-zone contact and cut down on his chases.

How much Honeycutt hits will determine if he becomes Drew Stubbs or better than that. At 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds, he creates well-above-average raw power with bat speed, strength, leverage and loft. He has similar speed and fine instincts, making him a basestealing threat and a potential Gold Glover in center field, where his plus arm is stronger than most at the position.


Transactions

Team Date Transaction
09/03/2024 OF Vance Honeycutt assigned to Aberdeen IronBirds from Delmarva Shorebirds.
08/22/2024 OF Vance Honeycutt assigned to Delmarva Shorebirds from FCL Orioles.
08/05/2024 OF Vance Honeycutt assigned to FCL Orioles.
08/01/2024 Baltimore Orioles signed OF Vance Honeycutt.
06/16/2024 College Workout activated OF Vance Honeycutt.
03/24/2024 OF Vance Honeycutt assigned to North Carolina Tar Heels.
05/26/2023 College Workout activated OF Vance Honeycutt.
05/26/2023 College Workout activated OF Vance Honeycutt.
05/24/2023 College Workout activated OF Vance Honeycutt.
03/27/2023 OF Vance Honeycutt assigned to North Carolina Tar Heels.
07/02/2022 USAB Stripes Team activated OF Vance Honeycutt.
07/01/2022 OF Vance Honeycutt and assigned to College Workout.
03/25/2022 OF Vance Honeycutt, , and assigned to North Carolina Tar Heels.