By Mike London
Salisbury Post
Vance Honeycutt’s minor league struggles and sub-.200 batting averages with scary strikeout rates in 2024 and 2025 dropped the 2024 first-round pick completely off MLB.com’s “Top 30 Prospects” list for the Baltimore Orioles, but the former Salisbury High and UNC standout is still only 22 and opened eyes with a power display in the early days of Spring Training, including a 471-foot blast.
Honeycutt walloped four homers in his first four official at-bats with the Orioles’ major leaguers and he had a run-scoring single (with two strikes on him) in his fifth at-bat. He’s cooled off some since that hot streak. He’s now 5-for-10.
Minor league rosters will be announced soon. The Orioles are loaded with talented outfield prospects. It’s possible Honeycutt, who will turn 23 in May, will get to start the 2026 season with the Double A Chesapeake team. It’s also possible that he’ll return to the Advanced Class A level until he can prove his hot Spring Training week wasn’t a fluke.
The Orioles have relocated that Advanced A team from Aberdeen, Md., to Frederick, Md. Frederick is reportedly a much better hitting environment than Aberdeen.
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Owen White (Carson) has pitched well in two exhibition games in South Korea.
White is expected to be the ace for the Hanwha Eagles this season in the Korean Baseball Organization.
In his first two outings, White pitched 9 2/3 innings, struck out 13 and allowed two runs.
White is on a one-year contract. He got a $200,000 signing bonus with a salary of $800,000. That was a sweeter deal than he could have gotten in the states.
White, 26, has pitched in eight games in MLB.
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Austin Love (West Rowan, UNC) has been in Spring Training with the St. Louis Cardinals.
He’s pitched in short relief in six games — 4 2/3 innings total.
That’s a small sample size, but Love, a big right-hander, has been very good. He’s faced 17 batters and has allowed only two hits and two walks.
Love, 27, basically two almost all of two seasons with an injury followed by Tommy John surgery and recovery, but he was outstanding for the Cardinals in Double A in 2025 and may get a chance to start this season in Triple A.
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CJ Gray (A.L. Brown) was a fifth-round pick by the L.A. Angels last summer, although they paid him third-round money ($1.25 million) to pull him away from an NC State scholarship.
MLB.com ranks Gray, who was a football quarterback for the Wonders, No. 15 on the Angels’ “Top 30 Prospects” list, even though the first real pro action for the pitcher is still in the future.
Gray is unlikely to be average. MLB.com describes him as a “lottery ticket,” a high-ceiling prospect, and that’s probably a reasonable way to put it. He’s raw and he has had trouble finding a consistent delivery, but he’s extremely talented and athletic, with an explosive right arm that fires some 98s.
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Kane Kepley (South Rowan) is the highest rated local player by MLB.com right now, as he is sixth in the Chicago Cubs’ “Top 30.”
Kepley is a 5-foot-8, 22-year-old lefty hitting outfielder drafted out of UNC last summer. After he signed, he had a terrific pro debut at Myrtle Beach.
Kepley has gotten some action with the MLB Cubs in Spring Training and is 5-for-18 with a double and a triple.
He’s impressed people with his speed, defense, consistent contact and knack for getting on base and has a chance to get to the majors as early as 2027.
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Cobb Hightower (East Rowan) had a decent 2025 season split between the San Diego Padres and Baltimore Orioles organizations.
Hightower batted .243 with two homers, 14 steals, 39 runs and 28 RBIs in Class A ball. He wasn’t overmatched, but his stock has leveled off a bit since he was getting serious buzz from the Padres (and Baseball America) shortly after he was drafted in the third round in 2024. The Orioles have a deeper farm system than the Padres, so Hightower is not on the MLB.com “Top 30” for the Birds.
Hightower has gotten a little Spring Training action with the MLB Orioles. He’s 0-for-3, but he scored a run.
The right-handed hitting shortstop turned 21 on Friday. This will be an important season for him. It’s possible he and Honeycutt will be teammates at some point.
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Carson Whisenhunt (Davie County, East Carolina) had a 9.64 ERA in Spring Training. He has a chance to make the San Francisco Giants roster, but he will start the season in Triple A.
The 25-year-old lefty was a second-round pick by the Giants in 2022. He pitched in five games in the big leagues in 2025 and is very likely to get another MLB shot soon.
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Coy James, an infielder from Davie County, is rated by MLB.com as the No. 17 prospect for the Washington Nationals.
James was the North Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year as a Davie senior in 2025. Most expected him to go to Ole Miss, but the Nationals took a gamble on landing a first-round talent in the fifth round of the draft and gave James $2.5 million good reasons to forget about Ole Miss and get his pro career started.
While he was a high school shortstop, the Nationals are overloaded with shortstop prospects, including the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft (Eli Willits) and former Wingate and Wake Forest star Seaver King, a first-rounder in 2024. So James is expected to make a move to third base or second base soon. His bat should work fine wherever the Nationals decide to play him.
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Jake Hunter (East Rowan, East Carolina) will be pitching in the Minnesota Twins organization this season.
The Twins signed the big, 22-year-old right-hander last August after he dominated in a summer league for MLB prospects.
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Haiden Leffew (South Rowan, Wake Forest) hasn’t pitched a lot for the Texas Longhorns, but he’s been impressive when he has. He has faced 18 batters in 5 2/3 relief innings. The junior is 1-0. He’s allowed one hit and two walks while striking out nine. He’s a 21-year-old lefty and will be eligible for the draft for the first time since he was a high school senior.
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Hayden Simmerson (Carson, Catawba) has pitched in seven games for the Clemson Tigers this season. He’s struck out 16 in 10 1/3 innings. He’s allowed four walks and four hits. The 20-year-old right-hander is eligible for the draft. He’ll turn 21 in May.
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UNC senior Cameron Padgett (East Rowan) has pitched in six games for the Tar Heels this season, but is still 0-0.
Padgett, 21, has pitched in 56 games for the Tar Heels during his four-year career and has made 11 starts. His record is 5-2.
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Gardner-Webb’s towering right-hander Chance Mako (East Rowan) was rated as a mega-prospect coming out of high school a few years ago, but didn’t get to pitch much at NC State or at Coastal Carolina. After transferring to Gardner Webb for this season, he was the opening day starter for the Bulldogs, but he sustained an elbow injury in his second start.
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Steven Smith (West Rowan) has had an amazing baseball odyssey. The 23-year-old, two-way player has played at Caldwell Community College and Emory & Henry and is now doing quite well at App State. Smith is batting .354 with three homers and 17 RBIs. He’s 1-1 as a pitcher with one save and eight strikeouts in six innings.
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Shortstop JT Taylor, a potential draft pick from Salisbury, has gotten off to a slow start with North Carolina A&T. He’s batted .182 in his first 18 games. No homers yet, but he has five doubles.
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The mostly likely local high school player to be drafted this summer is East Rowan outfielder Harrison Ailshie. The lefty hitter is batting .591 (.727 OBP) with 15 runs scored in nine games.
