Jake Mangum

Jake Thomas Mangum
(The Mayor of Starkville)

• Bats Both, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 179 lb.
• School Mississippi State University
• High School Jackson (MS) Preparatory School
• Debut March 30, 2025

• Born March 8, 1996 in Flowood, MS USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Outfielder Jake Mangum was drafted three times while he was at Mississippi State University. The first time was by the New York Yankees in the 30th round of the 2017 amateur draft, the second time by the New York Mets in the 32nd round in 2018, and finally by the Mets again, in the 4th round in 2019. He ended up with 383 hits in his four seasons in college, including over 100 his final two years, the fourth highest total in NCAA history and highest in the history of the Southeastern Conference. He received his nickname from teammates due to his seeming familiarity with everyone on campus, or even in Starkville, MS where the team is located.

After signing with the Mets, he started his professional career in 2019 with the Brooklyn Cyclones of the New York-Penn League, where he hit .247 and slugged an anemic .297 in 53 games. After being forced to sit out the 2020 season when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the minors, he was again with Brooklyn at the start of 2021, except that the Minor League Reorganization had raised the team from Short-season Class A to High-A. After 9 games there, he was promoted to the AA Binghamton Rumble Ponies, where he played a further 75 games. His slash line between the two stops was .285/.337/.454, a marked improvement over his first season two years earlier that got him named a Mets organizational All-Star and an Eastern League post-season All-Star. In 2022, a back injury forced him to miss some time and play some rehabilitation games with the FCL Mets, but he also appeared with Binghamton for 36 games and the AAA Syracuse Mets for 33. His batting line was .306/.363/.441 as he continued to improve every year. He repeated as an organizational All-Star after the season.

On November 18, 2022, he was traded to the Miami Marlins as the player to be named later with Franklin Sanchez in return for Ps Jeff Brigham and Elieser Hernandez. He then spent the 2023 season in AAA with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp where he played 119 games and hit .298/.346/.425. His 8 triples tied him for the International League lead with Nick Gonzales. On December 8th that year, he was again designated as a PTBNL, this time heading to the Tampa Bay Rays to complete the trade that had earlier sent Vidal Brujan and Calvin Faucher to Miami in return for two minor leaguers. He seemed to be ready for the majors at that point, but the Rays left him in AAA for another full season in 2024. Instead of sulking, he went ahead and won the International League batting title by hitting .317 in 104 games for the Durham Bulls. He added 30 doubles and 20 steals (in 28 attempts), scored 57 runs and drove in 56.

He was slated to once again start the year in AAA in 2025, and at 29 he was starting to look like a career minor leaguer, but before he could play a game for Durham, he was called up to Tampa Bay when OF Josh Lowe was injured in Tampa's first game of the season, taking a long hired car ride from Norfolk, VA where the Bulls were slated to open the season, to Durham where he had to stop to collect some belongings before hopping on a flight to Tampa. He made his big league debut starting in right field against the Colorado Rockies on March 30th and going 0 for 3 with a walk. However, the next day, he had a coming-out party in a 6-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, going 4 for 4 with a double, 1 run, 2 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. That made him join a small fraternity of players to have a four-hit game among their first two career games in the majors, but none of them had also stolen two bases on top of that. He ended up playing 118 games, batting .296 with 3 homers, 37 runs and 40 RBIs. He also stole 27 bases in 33 attempts and his OPS+ was 96. He played all three outfield positions, with 63 games in left field, 41 in center field and 32 in right field. Following the season, with the Rays having a very crowded outfield, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates on December 19th alongside 2B Brandon Lowe and P Mason Montgomery in return for two prospects, OF Jacob Melton and P Anderson Brito.

His father John Mangum played nine seasons in the NFL as a defensive back for the Chicago Bears. His uncle, Kris Mangum, had a long career as a tight end for the Carolina Panther, while his grandfather, John Mangum Sr., played in the AFL. Jake played both sports in his first year of high school, but decided to give up football in order to concentrate on baseball.

Further Reading

• Adam Berry: "Mangum's long journey to bigs -- Uber ride included! -- 'worth it'", mlb.com, March 29, 2025. [1]
• Adam Berry: "'Mayor of Starkville' a Major League hitmaker (4-for-4) for Rays: Mangum's career 1sts at plate fuel Rasmussen's triumphant return to rotation vs. Bucs", mlb.com, April 1, 2025. [2]
• Alex Stumpf: "Pirates acquire Brandon Lowe, Mangum from Rays in 3-team trade", mlb.com, December 19, 2025. [3]

Related Sites

• Jake Mangum on mlb.com
• Mississippi State bio