With the draft less than a month away, we continue reviewing prospects that the Royals could target in the first round. Today we will profile a left-handed hitting catcher/outfielder coming off a very strong season in the SEC: Auburn’s Ike Irish.
Irish was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He played high school ball at St. Mary’s Prep in Orchard Lake Village, a suburb on the outskirts of Detroit. He was one of the best players on one of the best high school teams in the country and got plenty of attention from scouts. MLB Pipeline ranked him 121st in their 2022 draft rankings, but he went unselected and matriculated to Auburn.
Joining a team fresh off a run to the College World Series, Irish clearly made an impression on the staff in the fall as he batted third as the designated hitter in Auburn’s first game of the 2023 season. He singled in his first at-bat. He’d end up 3-5 to begin a ten-game hit streak to start his collegiate career, with eight of those being multi-hit efforts. He struggled against Arkansas to open SEC play but hit his first collegiate home run the following weekend against Georgia. Irish spent most of his freshman season as Auburn’s DH, but he also got 12 games at first base and three as the catcher.
Auburn had a strong season and hosted a regional in the NCAA Tournament. But they were the first host eliminated, losing to Penn and Southern Miss to end their season. Irish went 3-10 in those two tournament games. He finished the season batting .361/.429/.546 with 24 doubles in 273 plate appearances. He was a consensus freshman All-American and was named to the SEC All-Freshman team.
Not content to rest after playing in all 58 of Auburn’s games as a freshman, Irish headed to the Cape Cod League to play summer ball. As one of the younger players on the Cape, Irish didn’t tear the cover off the ball but held his own, hitting .283/.383/.348 in 107 plate appearances. He also got more work with the glove, playing 14 games at first base and ten behind the dish.
Irish opened the 2024 season as Auburn’s primary catcher and began the season with a bang, going 4-5 and falling a triple shy of the cycle on opening day. He matched his freshman home run total less than a month into the season and surpassed it a couple weeks later in his first of four straight games with a homer. He kept on hitting all season but didn’t get much help from his teammates as Auburn backslid to an 8-22 record in conference play and missed the tournament. Irish hit .319/.403/.627 in 217 plate appearances with 14 homers, earning him First-Team All-SEC honors. He played 25 games at catcher, throwing out nine out of 30 potential base stealers, and also got some time in the grass with 12 appearances in right field.
Once again Irish headed up to the Cape for summer ball. He saw plenty of time behind the dish and had his arm tested, gunning down eight of the 22 runners that attempted a steal against him. He leveled up his offensive performance from the prior summer, hitting .325/.428/.433 in 144 plate appearances.
Entering the 2025 spring, Irish was considered one of the best catchers in college baseball and a potential top ten draft pick. He got off to a slow start, going 0-fer in his first two games and not recording an extra-base hit until his eighth. Late in Auburn’s non-conference slate, he was hit in the back by a pitch that fractured his scapula. He returned a couple weeks later but relinquished catching duties, spending the rest of the season as the team’s starting right fielder. The injury didn’t affect his bat as Irish began crushing the ball upon returning, going 5-6 with two homers in his second game back. A few weeks later he hit four homers in a weekend against Texas, who had one of the best pitching staffs in the SEC.
Auburn bounced back from their down 2024 to once against host a regional in the NCAA Tournament. This time they cruised, winning all three games handily to advance to Super Regionals. Irish was at the center of those wins, going 7-14 with two homers, two doubles, and two walks. Auburn’s Super Regional matchup was Coastal Carolina, who boasted a loaded pitching staff that finished with the nation’s second-lowest ERA. While the Tigers went 0-2 to end their season, Irish did his part, going 3-7 with a homer, a double, and three walks. He finished the season batting .364/.469/.710 in 258 plate appearances with 19 homers. He was named First Team All-SEC for his efforts.
Irish has remained high on draft rankings this spring, but he’s generally been closer to the back half of the first round than top ten:
MLB Pipeline: 21
Kiley McDaniel: 26
Baseball America ($): 13
Keith Law ($): 12
Irish sets up his 6’2”, 200 lb frame with an open stance in the box, knees slightly bent. He waggles the bat with his hands low by his back shoulder. His hand load is deep but quiet, while he kicks his front leg with a medium stride. He stays tall through his short, top-hand dominant swing, both hands remaining on the bat throughout.
The first thing I noticed when reviewing Irish’s swing is his tendency to step into the bucket. Typically, this would raise concerns about his ability to cover pitches away from him. But Irish has had little trouble with outside pitches, consistently demonstrating the ability to drive those pitches to the opposite field. Even SEC pitchers struggled to beat him in the strike zone as he punched out just 15.1% of the time in conference play, including 13.6% this season. His barrel control and feel for hitting should give him at least an average hit tool.
Power is more of a question for Irish. He has at least average raw power, potentially above-average to the pull side. However, he hit the ball on the ground 50.1% of the time throughout his collegiate career, limiting his ability to access it. Irish posted a .275 ISO across his three seasons at Auburn but just .089 in two summers with wood bats on the Cape. He’ll likely be more of a doubles-hitter in pro ball that could potentially get to around 15 homers over a full season.
Perhaps the biggest factor influencing Irish’s standing in the first round is his defensive home. In part due to his injury this year, he hasn’t spent much time catching, with just 67 total games behind the dish between his three seasons at Auburn and two on the Cape. He has a plus arm and used it to great effect, throwing out 30% of basestealers in his sophomore spring before gunning down six out of eight runners this season. Irish’s receiving and ball-blocking need work and this season could have been an opportunity for him to show growth in those areas. It would behoove the team that drafts Irish to try him out behind the plate as he has All-Star potential if he proves to be a viable catcher.
If he isn’t a catcher, the alternative path for Irish is right field. He has decent wheels (which he used to steal 11 bases in 12 attempts this spring) and a plus arm. He should be at least an average right fielder at the next level and that would greatly speed up his path through the minors. It would also put much more pressure on his bat, however, as the bar for offensive production is much higher in right than behind the plate. The ceiling for Irish is highest if he’s a catcher, but he may develop better as a hitter if he isn’t also tasked with the physical and mental demands of catching.
Should the Royals select Irish, it seems probable that they would play him in the outfield given the depth of catching in the system. We’ve seen plenty of power conference collegiate players fast-tracked to the majors over the past few seasons and Irish could be another such case. If he catches, the developmental timeline would be longer, with a debut around 2028 more likely.
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