After selecting a trio of ACC standouts on Day 1, the Orioles continued loading up on talent during Day 2 of the 2024 Draft in a style they’ve grown accustomed to -- by focusing heavily on college hitters.

Baltimore has now drafted college players with 10 of its first 11 picks after gobbling up seven more with its eight picks on Day 2, continuing a long-standing trend in O’s drafts headed by executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias. Three of the club’s first four picks Monday came from the college ranks, and two of them were position players. All told, Baltimore took college bats with five of its first six picks in this year’s Draft, and sprinkled in four college arms to wrap up Day 2.

• O's raid ACC for top position players on Day 1

“I think it’s just what the Draft gave us this year, in terms of college vs. high school,” Orioles vice president of player development and domestic scouting Matt Blood said. “We’ll still be looking for high school players, but its really not about a philosophy. It’s more about the player pool and who was there. There were other high school players we were looking at who didn’t quite land or ended up not being signable. The college guys were the ones that were there at those spots.”

Round 3, 97th overall: Austin Overn, OF, USC
Notable skill: Overn has a 75-grade run tool, making him one of the fastest players in this year’s Draft. He also brings plus outfield defense and elite speed from the left side, in a classic table-setter profile that resembles Enrique Bradfield Jr., the Orioles’ first-round pick from 2023.

Fun fact: Overn was known as one of the best athletes in Southern California as a high schooler, and played football at USC along with baseball until 2023.

Quotable: “He might be the fastest guy in the Draft class. Not a lot of power. We are talking speed from the left side. Maybe the best defensive outfielder in the entire class.” -- MLB Pipeline analyst Jonathan Mayo

Round 4, 127th overall: Chase Allsup, RHP, Auburn
Notable skill: Allsup’s best pitch in his mid-80s slider, and he’s shown the ability to hit triple-digits with his fastball during his time at Auburn, where he pitched to a 5.63 ERA with 74 strikeouts in 62 2/3 innings this year.

Fun fact: The Orioles were obviously high on Allsup, who was unranked on MLB Pipeline’s Top 250 Draft board.

Quotable: “He’s a guy that our group identified as, maybe, an undervalued player in the industry, a player we felt like we could work with. We were sort of targeting him all along in this range.” -- Blood

Round 5, 160th overall: Ryan Stafford, C, Cal Poly
Notable skill: Stafford has been an all-around performer everywhere he’s been. He was a first-team freshman All-American, an all-conference selection as a sophomore and played for Team USA. He hit a robust .368/.444/.568 with 32 extra-base hits (six homers) and 10 steals in 57 games as a junior this season.

Fun fact: Stafford was college teammates with current Top 100 prospects SS Brooks Lee (MIN, No. 13 overall) and RHP Drew Thorpe (CWS, No. 37 overall). This year, Stafford became the first Cal Poly player to be named a finalist for the prestigious Buster Posey Award, given annually to college baseball’s top catcher.

Quotable: “He makes a lot of contact from the right side of the plate. He’s a good athlete on both sides of the ball. He has put up good numbers, extra-base hits have continued to show up. He’s not the biggest guy, so there is not going to be a ton of power, so some worry about the durability behind the plate. But the athleticism is interesting.” -- Mayo

Round 6, 189th overall: DJ Layton, SS, Charlotte Christian HS (N.C.)
Notable skill: The switch-hitting shortstop has enough arm strength to have entered the Draft as a two-way player, though the Orioles will develop Layton as an infielder.

Fun fact: The Orioles’ first prep pick of this Draft has a commitment to Southern Miss University, but could sign with Baltimore. The slot value of the 189th overall pick is $318,300.

Quotable: “DJ is a young, very athletic, switch-hitting shortstop. … He’s a great kid with a lot of tools and we feel like there is upside to his game when it comes to coming into our organization and helping him get stronger and helping him offensively while continuing to build his offensive skillset. Where we got him, we felt like this was a really good bet for us. I’ll give credit to our scouting department and the people who put a lot of work in on this kid. … The whole room was ecstatic when we were able to get him in that round.” -- Blood

Round 7, 219th overall: Carson Dorsey, LHP, Florida State
Notable skill: Dorsey excelled after stepping into an injury-filled rotation midway through the 2024 season and helped FSU reach the College World Series, pitching to a 4.60 ERA and 10.4 strikeouts per nine across 76 1/3 overall innings. Dorsey throws in the lower 90s and was previously a 17th round pick by Texas in 2022.

Fun fact: Remarkably, Dorsey is the highest-drafted left-handed pitcher of the Mike Elias era, during which the Orioles have been relentless about their preference for college position players, especially in the early rounds. Previously, the Orioles had not selected a left-hander before the 13th round during the Elias era.

Round 8, 249th overall: Colin Tuft, C, Tulane
Notable skill: The Orioles’ third catcher of the Draft hit .279 with a .946 OPS at Tulane this spring, but his production sagged over the summer in the wood bat Cape Cod League.

Fun fact: Tuft played his first two collegiate seasons at Virginia before transferring to Tulane. He also plays corner outfield.

Quotable: “He’s a good athlete, plus makeup kind of guy. Defense first. There is some projection to his frame, so if he can fill out a bit more, maybe there will be more impact with the bat.” -- Mayo

Round 9, 279th overall: Jack Crowder, RHP, Illinois
Notable skill: The durable right-hander went 16-6 with a 6.23 ERA in 182 innings over four seasons with the Illini. He has a four-pitch repertoire with a 90-94 mph fastball.

Fun fact: Crowder is the first of consecutive fourth-year seniors the Orioles selected with their final two picks of Day 2, suggesting they valued signability at these spots.

Round 10 (No. 309): Christian Rodriguez, RHP, Cal State Fullerton
Notable skill: The 6-foot-6, 223-pound righty majored in Kinesiology and underwent Tommy John surgery in 2022. He returned in 2024 and pitched to a 5.45 ERA in 15 appearances for Fullerton this spring, 12 of them starts.

Fun fact: After completing his redshirt junior year at Fullerton, Rodriguez boosted his stock in the MLB Draft League, where he starred for the Frederick Keys. Pitching for the Keys, Rodriguez set a Draft League record with 16 strikeouts in a complete game victory over Mahoning Valley on July 12.

Quotable: “He performed well there and we recognized that and it gave us more confidence to select him where we did. I would say that for some players, going to the Draft League and playing well helps their visibility, helps the teams collect more reliable data and ultimately be more comfortable with selections.” -- Blood