Virginia roommates O’Ferrall, Anderson together again with Orioles

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Seemed only fitting that former Virginia stars Griff O’Ferrall and Ethan Anderson were seated together in Baltimore Orioles uniforms for their first interview post college careers.

O’Ferrall, rated the top shortstop in college baseball this past season, was selected as the 32nd pick of the Major League Baseball draft, then joined later by Anderson, who Baltimore projects as a catcher, with the 61st pick in the draft. Considering the two were not only UVA teammates, but roommates, it’s special that the duo will continue their association with the Orioles’ farm team in Sarasota, Fla.

It was reported that O’Ferrall signed for $2.7 million, just below the $2,835,400 value slot. Anderson reportedly signed as well. Still, O’Ferrall couldn’t get a break from one of his former UVA teammates, who lightheartedly razzed him a bit.

“Add about 300k in savings from making other people (me), pay for his Cookout orders,” tweeted Anthony Stephan, sticking it to O’Ferrall.

A few days before, O’Ferrall retreated to his backyard in Charlottesville to absorb the emotions of being a first-round draft pick. His meditation was soon interrupted by shouts coming from inside the house, followed by UVA teammates rushing outside to give him the news: that Anderson was also drafted by Baltimore.

“It’s pretty crazy,” O’Ferrall said on a video call with media. “Especially because we were roommates for the past two years, so definitely are very close. We were definitely in shock when we found out we were going to the same team. But we went from living together and now we’re going to be spending more time together, so it doesn’t change much for us. But it’s definitely exciting.”

Anderson, who was the first of four catchers drafted by Baltimore, was fired up that the two will remain teammates.

“Griff has been one of the closest teammates for me the last three years,” Anderson said. “It’s like I haven’t left UVA, or this is just like the next chapter and we’re still together.

“Once it happened to me and I found out I was going to the Orioles, I sent him a text saying, ‘This is crazy.’ He was one of the first phone calls we had of just how crazy it was. Leading up to the draft, we talked about how crazy it would be to go to the same team and thinking there’s 30 teams. I never thought it was a shot, and then now, having a familiar face and being able to do this together is awesome.”

O’Ferrall said he wants to be a well-rounded player for the Orioles.

“Play great defense, obviously hit, be a good hitter and develop some more swing-decision stuff as far as handling the zone a little bit better,” O’Ferrall said. “I think that’s something I can do, and rely on some of my contact abilities to be a little bit more picky and specific with what I’m trying to hit. Overall, just trying to bring every part of the game and try to help the team.”

Baltimore’s vice president of player development and domestic scouting, Matt Blood, agreed with O’Ferrall’s goals.

“Defense is half the equation,” Blood said. “You have to play defense and you have to score runs and you have to prevent runs. So, it all goes into the calculus when you are selecting players.

“[O’Ferrall] is a gamer. He’s a really good baseball player. He can impact the game defensively, on the base paths, and he wreaks havoc with his bat. A ton of line drives, a ton of contact, really tough out. He’s the kind of guy that fans are going to love. I think that is what you see when you see him play.”

Anderson said that his biggest goal is to further develop his catching skills. He caught in high school and caught a little at Virginia, but needs to advance his abilities. He was a semifinalist for the Buster Posey Award, which goes to the nation’s top catcher.

“He has a very interesting and exciting offensive profile,” Blood said. “Gets on base a ton, makes a lot of quality contact. He’s a switch hitter and can do a lot of things to impact the game on the offensive side.

“The defensive side, he wasn’t able to catch as much this year as he probably would have liked, and we’re looking forward to helping him develop into that role with us.”