RJ Austin Drafted by The Baltimore Orioles

Vanderbilt center fielder has been drafted by the Baltimore Orioles with the 93rd pick in the MLB Draft. 

Austin played three seasons as a utility man at Vanderbilt, but now he’s likely to sign with the Orioles and start a professional career. The talented athlete finished 2025 with a .257 average and just two home runs in 59 games before he made the final out in Vanderbilt’s loss to Wright State in the Nashville regional. 

2025 was Austin’s worst college season at the plate by a significant margin, but he stole 22 bases and was named a Rawlings Gold Glove award winner. 

“I have called RJ a throwback player ever since I first saw him play, and that will not change,” Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin said in a release prior to the season. “He plays the game for the right reasons, and those reasons are hard to find in today’s baseball environment. He spends a tremendous amount of time at our facility working on some part of the game. The game of baseball is very important to him. He has been a mainstay on the field ever since his freshman year. He could virtually play every position on the field if needed. He is passionate, has a high GAS level and wants to compete. His consistency on the field is backed up by his behaviors socially and academically. He gets high marks everywhere.”

Austin–a 21 year old who attended the MLB Draft Combine–was rated as the 112th best prospect in the draft by MLB Pipeline. He was viewed as a significant draft risk throughout the industry. 

The Georgia native is one of a few departures that Vanderbilt suffered in Monday’s day two of the draft.