MLB Draft: Vance Honeycutt drafted 22nd overall by the Baltimore Orioles

After cementing himself in UNC baseball history and delivering one of the best performances of any player in the NCAA Tournament, Vance Honeycutt will take his talents to the professional ranks of baseball after being drafted by the Baltimore Orioles with the 22nd pick of the MLB Draft, which started tonight and runs through Tuesday. He is UNC’s first player to be drafted in the first round since Aaron Sabato in 2020 and the highest selection since J.B. Buskauskas was picked 15th in 2017.

Honeycutt was a three-year starter in center field for UNC and quickly established himself as one of the premier talents to ever play in Chapel Hill, thrilling fans with his speed and power. As a freshman, he first broke Sabato’s previous UNC record for home runs by a freshman (18) before going ahead to break the program’s single-season home run record with 25, and he docked on 29 stolen bases to become UNC’s first 20/20 player and the NCAA’s first ever 25/25 player. All this happened alongside him quickly setting a standard of excellence on defense in center field that’s going to be hard for UNC fans to leave behind as he departs, capped off by this season-saving home run robbery in the NCAA Regional against Georgia that put him on the national map:

As a junior, he had his best season yet as he led UNC to Omaha for the first time since 2018. He led the Diamond Heels with a 1.112 OPS, 88 runs scored, 28 stolen bases, 182 total bases, and 28 home runs, while slashing .314/.409/.702 — every number there but the stolen bases and OBP were career highs. In the process, Honeycutt became UNC’s career home run leader, with a final mark of 65 dingers. He also won his second straight ACC DPOY — the first player in ACC history to do so — and added the national Rawlings Gold Glove award for center field — the defensive runs saved had him as the best defensive outfielder, and possibly the best defensive non-catcher, in the country. The strikeouts returned, to some consternation from fans, but they were dwarfed by the value he provided when he did get on base — 88 runs on 81 hits shows how dangerous he was on the basepaths, even when not stealing.

All this culminated with a postseason run where he showed off all his talents on the national stage in his college swan song. He hit two home runs to provide UNC’s only offense in their Regional loss to LSU; walked off West Virginia in the first game of the Super Regional with a home run; came back the next day to lead off Game 2 with a home run before adding the Heels’ second and final run of the game with a drag bunt where he reached first base in a blazing 3.63 seconds, gunned down a WVU runner at first after making a catch in center, and added a couple more ho-hum catches that probably meant extra bases against 95% of college outfields in the United States; walked off Virginia with a single in the Heels’ Omaha opener; he was essentially UNC’s only consistent offense in the two subsequent losses in Omaha — all in all, he accounted for a staggering 37% of UNC’s postseason runs.

Scouts and draft analysts are wary of Honeycutt’s high strikeout rate and particularly, I’m told, his high in-zone chase rate. I’m not a scout, and baseball is probably the sport I know least about, but I have a hard time seeing that outweigh everything he does well at the plate and on the field. Simply put, Vance Honeycutt is a game-changer in whatever he’s doing on a baseball diamond. Even if the hit tool is a question mark, the power will translate and the defense is, I firmly believe, MLB Gold Glove-caliber right now. He brings elite attributes that few others in the draft can, and while I’m biased, I’m confident he’ll outplay his draft slot — and I, along with everybody who’s watched UNC baseball the past three years, are going to be rooting hard for him as he does.

The later rounds of the draft will run on Monday and Tuesday, and a few more Heels could be drafted then — check out our coverage for if and when that happens.