Horvath Fits Orioles’ Preferred Draft Type
Give the Orioles a Day One draft pick, and more often than not they’ll use it on an athletic college position player who hits the ball hard and controls the strike zone.
That’s the profile they like to cultivate with their hitting program.
Early returns on second baseman Mac Horvath, the club’s 2023 second-rounder out of North Carolina, are promising.
The righthanded-hitting Horvath finished his pro debut at High-A Aberdeen. At three levels he hit .321/.455/.603 with five home runs, 19 walks and 26 strikeouts in 22 games.
And like many Orioles prospects first getting into the system, he found a hitting program with myriad ways to help him improve.
“That’s one thing I really like here,” Horvath said, “not being scared to just go after it. And if you fail, it’s a good thing, because you’re going to learn from it.”
Horvath walked at a higher rate in pro ball than he did with the Tar Heels and credits how the Orioles train hitters for helping that along.
He particularly enjoyed the challenging pregame drill work, with mixed batting practice from close range helping to hone an already-strong batting eye.
“(Mixed BP) can get frustrating, but I really feel like in the game I feel more prepared,” Horvath said.
“It’s super hard—they’re 40 feet away, so now it’s 60 feet in the actual game and makes it maybe a little easier to pick up a pitch earlier. I think if you continue to do that, it makes the game a lot easier.”
The Orioles envision Horvath, who was drafted as an outfielder, moving between second base and third base while potentially seeing some corner outfield time in 2024.
—JON MEOLI
Fitts Buys Into Red Sox Development Plan
From the moment that he joined the Red Sox, Richard Fitts occupied an unusual place in franchise history.
The 24-year-old righthander joined a short list of players to be traded from the Yankees to their longtime rivals. That fact wasn’t lost on Fitts, the Yankees’ sixth-round pick in 2021 out of Auburn.
“I could barely fall asleep the night that I got traded,” Fitts said. “I took a step back and was like, ‘Man, there’s only been (a few) trades between the Yankees and the Red Sox.’ It’s a cool list to be on.
“But ultimately, it means absolutely nothing if I can’t produce and have an impact here in Boston.”
The Red Sox acquired Fitts as one of three prospects in the deal that sent Alex Verdugo to New York. He has a chance to emerge as a back-end starter option or middle reliever.
Fitts’ stuff backed up as a college junior, but it bounced back in pro ball.
In 2023 he logged a 3.48 ERA with a 26% strikeout rate and 7% walk rate for Double-A Somerset. He leans heavily on
