Baltimore Orioles select Auburn C/OF Ike Irish in 2025 MLB Draft

Auburn star Ike Irish is officially taking his talents to the next level. He has heard his name called in the 2025 MLB Draft.

The Baltimore Orioles selected Irish with the No. 19 overall pick in the first round of the draft. He’s coming off a career year with the Tigers this past season and will now begin his journey to The Show.

Irish had a career-best .364 batting average in 2025 while totaling 19 home runs and 58 RBI across 55 games. Those numbers helped him become a consensus All-American – becoming the seventh player in Auburn history to achieve such a feat.

Irish is a Hudsonville (Mich.) native and played high school baseball at West Bloomfield (Mich.) Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Prep. While there, the program finished 44-0 and he became the No. 39-ranked player out of the 2022 recruiting class, according to Perfect Game. He then burst onto the scene at Auburn in 2023, becoming a Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American and earning a spot on the SEC All-Freshman Team.

What MLB Draft experts are saying about Ike Irish

In 2025, Ike Irish showcased his power, as well as more discipline at the plate as he proved his ability to hit to all parts of the field. That played a role in his leap forward and helped him become one of the top prospects in the 2025 MLB Draft.

“A left-handed hitter, Irish improved his swing decisions as a junior, allowing him to do more damage at the plate,” MLB.com’s scouting report reads. “He made hard contact to all fields while handling all types of pitches and lefties as well as righties. His 20-25 homer power plays to all fields, though some scouts wonder exactly how much pop he’ll have in pro ball because he produces a lot of groundballs and hit two homers in 62 games with wood bats in the Cape Cod League.

“Irish entered 2025 contending for the title of best catching prospect in college baseball but spent most of the spring in right field after fracturing his right scapula when hit by a pitch in March. There’s a growing sentiment that he’d be better off maximizing his offense by sticking in the outfield, and he moves and throws well enough to get the job done in right. Behind the plate, he shows the hands to become an average receiver and framer, though a long release undermines his plus arm strength a bit.”