Familiar name called by O's on Day 2

By Dan Connolly | dan.connolly@baltsun.com

June 11, 2009

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The Orioles selected 27 more players on the second day of the annual amateur draft Wednesday, and one name should sound familiar.

In the 12th round, the Orioles chose Virginia Tech outfielder Steve Bumbry, the son of Orioles Hall of Fame center fielder Al Bumbry.

"I am very excited, more excited for him," said Al Bumbry, who played for the Orioles from 1972 to 1984. "It's something [Steve] has wanted to do since he was a junior at Dulaney. He told me: 'I don't want to play football this year. I don't want to do basketball anymore. I want to concentrate on baseball.' That's when I first realized that would be his dream."

The elder Bumbry was drafted 41 years before Steve, who can play all three outfield positions and batted .283 with 10 homers and 40 RBIs in 51 games this season with the Hokies.

"He doesn't have the speed like I had, but he runs well and has very good instincts running the bases and in the outfield," Al Bumbry said. "Offensively, he is a bigger hitter than me in terms of power. He's not a slash-and-run guy, he's a line-drive-type hitter."

The Orioles came back to their old standby Wednesday, taking 12 college pitchers. The draft resumes Thursday with the final 20 rounds.

Givens ready to make move

Second-round pick Mychal Givens can crank up his fastball to 97 mph, but the Tampa, Fla., native was drafted by the Orioles as a shortstop. That's fine with Givens, who batted .374 with four homers and 31 RBIs this season for Plant High.

"It really doesn't matter," Givens said. "Basically, being able to put on a big league uniform would be satisfying, whatever position they put me in. I want to help that organization win a World Series."

Givens, 19, thought he would be a first-round sandwich pick but went in the second round, 54th overall, to the Orioles.

"It was disappointing at first, but with a draft you can't predict what will happen," said Givens, who has a baseball scholarship to Oklahoma State. "But I was fortunate enough to be drafted by the Orioles because they have a good development system for young ballplayers."

Promotions coming

Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said Wednesday that the club will start promoting several of its top prospects to higher levels of the minor leagues in the coming days. The moves aren't surprising because MacPhail has maintained that certain prospects will be re-evaluated around midseason.

Last year, catcher Matt Wieters was moved from Single-A Frederick to Double-A Bowie on June 27, and the club is expected to follow a similar path with last year's top pick, left-hander Brian Matusz, who is 4-2 with a 2.16 ERA with Frederick.

"We're reaching the halfway point of the season, so we're getting close to that," MacPhail said.

Along with Matusz, top candidates for promotion include Bowie pitchers Troy Patton (6-2, 1.85) and Jake Arrieta (6-3, 2.59), Bowie first baseman Brandon Snyder (.343, 10 homers, 41 RBIs), and Frederick first baseman Brandon Waring (.279, nine homers and 38 RBIs).

Around the horn

The Orioles will have to make room on the 25-man roster today when they activate Koji Uehara. Right-hander David Hernandez (1-1, 3.95 ERA) is expected to be sent down to Triple-A Norfolk, where he can start every fifth day. ... Former No. 1 overall pick Ben McDonald (1989) threw out the ceremonial first pitch Wednesday. He threw it to catcher Gregg Zaun,who was also drafted by the Orioles in 1989, in the 17th round.

Baltimore Sun reporter Jeff Zrebiec contributed to this article.