An Orioles outfield prospect who shouldn't be overlooked
Austin Overn may just be one of the bigger sleepers in the organization.
Written by: Nick Stevens
A few weeks ago, I decided to take another look through the Orioles 2024 draft class, which led to me becoming fixated on RHP Christian Rodriguez’s potential to be a really fun project in this system.
After only focusing on pitchers from last year’s draft class, I made another pass through the hitters in the class over the last week and started to realize something….
I don’t think we’re talking about Austin Overn enough.
There’s a large group of high-ceiling, potential stud outfield options in the organization with Vance Honeycutt, Jud Fabian, and Dylan Beavers lining up behind Colton Cowser and Heston Kjerstad who are in the majors now. Then there’s the extremely high floor option of Enrique Bradfield Jr with his elite speed/defense and notable improvements with the bat as he reached Double-A this year. It’s an extremely impressive group.
But I think you need to make sure you include Austin Overn in the conversation when you’re talking about promising Orioles outfield prospects.
According to Orioles scouting director Matt Blood, Overn was highly sought after by Baltimore and was on their list from a very early stage. It’s easy to see why.
As a freshman at the University of Southern California, Overn played in 58 games, hitting .314 with a .402 OBP, 4 home runs, 11 doubles, and a school-record 14 triples. He also swiped 16 bags. The Freshman All-American, All-Pac-12 Team, and Pac-12 All-Defensive Team standout was the only player in the country with 10+ triples during the 2023 season.
His sophomore numbers didn’t quite live up to the hype generated by his freshman season. In just four fewer at-bats than his freshman campaign, Overn hit .270 with a .349 OBP and had an OPS 122 points lower than his .932 OPS the previous season. He doubled his home run total to 8, but saw his walk rate dip and combined for 8 fewer doubles and triples.
Going into the 2024 season, Overn had first/second round grades on him by some in the industry, but the buzz wore off a bit after his sophomore performance.
The shine returned after a standout performance in the Cape Cod League. In 23 games, Overn collected 11 total extra-base hits (3 HR) and OPS’d .942. Boasting one of the higher barrel rates in the league, Baseball America’s Peter Flaherty got a first hand look at Overn over the summer, noting a cleaned up operation, more direct bat path, and impressive hand speed.
While Overn’s scouting reports give him below-average power, his line-drive approach, elite speed, good contact/barrel rates all combine to create a formidable hitter. The chase and strikeout rates were high in college, but his pro numbers proved to be much more interesting.
Speaking of his elite speed, the former walk-on wide receiver’s speed is a 70-80 grade tool. Per MLB Pipeline, he was named the fastest runner in his draft class ahead of the 2024 season with a 75 grade. He was also the highest rated fielder on MLB Pipleline’s list with a 70 grade fielding tool.
Enrique Bradfield Jr’s speed and defensive skills get a lot of attention, as they should, as does Vance Honeycutt’s, but Austin Overn can hang with both of these noted prospects pound-for-pound when it comes to speed and defense.
The Orioles would draft the left-handed hitting center fielder in the 3rd round of this year’s draft, giving him a signing bonus of $850,000, just about $100K above his assigned slot-value.
In his pro debut with Delmarva, Overn played in just 15 games before being promoted to High-A. He left Low-A with a .291 average, .406 OBP, 6 extra-base hits, 12 stolen bases, a 17% walk rate, and a 151 wRC+.
In six games with High-A Aberdeen, Overn posted a 146 wRC+ with a double, two triples, three walks, and four more stolen bases.
While putting up impressive numbers in his pro debut, Overn did strike out a bit more than you’d like to see, but his swinging-strike rate was a respectable 11%. So while he continued to show a bit of chase as he did in college, when pitches are in the zone, Overn makes good contact.
Without having firm exit velo data from his time in Delmarva and Aberdeen, based on public reports and watching him a bit at USC, I’m going to assume that the Orioles hope to pull a bit of power out of Overn’s bat. If they do, and he can cut down on the chasing, Overn profiles very nicely as a major league bat.
We’ll get our first good, long look at Overn in 2025, get more data on him and learn plenty more, but in the meantime, don’t overlook him. At initial glance, it’s easy to bucket him in with the many speedy, defensive-minded college center fielders the Orioles like to draft in the earlier rounds, but I have a strong feeling that Overn has real potential to provide a lot more than his predecessors in this range have.
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