Saturday, March 6, 2021

Prospect Spotlight: Brayden Theriot

Brayden Theriot was not drafted by a big league team after a solid collegiate career at Texas State University. For some, that might be the end of a baseball career, but he didn’t give up, and the Tampa Bay Rays took a chance. After signing a free agent contract, Theriot didn’t waste any time proving that he belonged in the pro ranks.

2023 update: The Rays organization released Theriot in August 2022, despite a solid 37 game minor league showing. He went 9-2, 2.79 ERA in 58 IP, allowing 57 hits, only 18 ER and only 10 walks.

The former star right-handed pitcher for the Elkins High School Knights in Sugar Land, Texas, spent four productive years in San Marcos, Texas, with the Bobcats. A reliever throughout his college years, Theriot appeared in 81 games, 120.2 innings, going 11-7 with a 4.85 ERA, 96 strikeouts, and 55 walks. In his final season at Bobcat Ballpark, he helped the team to win the 2019 Sun Belt Conference Championship.


The Rays sent Brayden to Princeton (full season rookie, Appalachian League), where he went 5-1, in 13 games and 25.2 innings. Interestingly, as a college hurler, his strikeout to walk ratio was 1.75 - respectable, but not spectacular. As a pro, he struck out 30 and walked only 2, for an astonishing 15.0 K/BB ratio. If he is able to maintain such numbers, he’s a lock to advance in the Rays system. Nothing in baseball is a given, but Theriot has the stuff to make it happen, and he was off to an exceptional pro start.


Unfortunately, Theriot and every other minor leaguer lost a full season due to the pandemic. 2021 presents a new opportunity for him and everyone else to resume their chosen profession, and fans are eager to see minor league baseball again. 


Theriot is another great example of an undrafted player getting a chance as a pro, and this guy will continue to prove he belongs. He is likely to start the new season in South Carolina with the Low-A Charleston RiverDogs, with a chance to move up to the High-A Bowling Green Hot Rods.


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Larry writes books. You can buy these books!




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