Tristan Gray

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Tristan Colby Gray

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Biographical Information[edit]

Infielder Tristan Gray was picked in the 13th round of the 2017 amateur draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates, out of Rice University. Three years earlier, in 2014, he had been picked in the 34th round by the New York Mets but had not signed.

He began his professional career in 2017 with the West Virginia Black Bears of the New York-Penn League, hitting .269/.329/.486 in 53 games, playing both second base and shortstop. It was his only season in the Bucs' organization as on February 22, 2018, he was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays along with P Daniel Hudson in return for OF/DH Corey Dickerson.

It took him until 2023 to make his major league debut with the Rays, taking over as a defensive replacement at first base for Yandy Díaz in the 6th inning of an 8-0 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. He popped out to second base in his first big league at-bat in the 8th, against Grayson Rodriguez. He had been playing with the AAA Durham Bulls since 2021 and putting up good numbers, with 33 homers and 89 RBIs in 2022 and 28 homers and 91 RBIs before his call-up, while playing mainly shortstop both years. He played one other game that season, starting at shortstop and going 2 for 4 while hitting his first career homer off Jorge Lopez in a 5-4 loss to the Orioles the next day.

He became a free agent after the 2003 season and signed with the Miami Marlins. He played 7 games for them in 2024, going 0 for 7, then was successively claimed off waivers by Pittsburgh and by the Oakland Athletics. He played 8 games for Oakland, going 3 for 21. In the minors, he played 100 games for the AAA Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, hitting .245 with 17 homers and 58 RBIs, and another 12 with the Las Vegas Aviators, where he hit .296. He was on the move again after the season, signing first with the Chicago White Sox in January, and then being purchased by Tampa Bay in July. His only major league action in 2025 was with the Rays, for which he played 30 games and hit. 231 with 3 homers and 9 RBIs. In the minors, he played 72 games for the Charlotte Knights, the AAA affiliate of the White Sox, hitting .270 with 9 homers and 44 RBIs.

More changes of teams followed the 2025 season. First, on November 18th, he was traded to the Boston Red Sox for P Luis Guerrero, then on January 21, 2026, he was sent to the Minnesota Twins for minor leaguer Nate Baez. By that point, he was seriously contemplating retirement but he did make the team out of spring training and on April 3rd, he had one of the first signature moments of his career when he hit a grand slam as part of a seven-run 7th inning to give the Twins a 10-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in their home opener. The blast gave him 8 RBIs in his first four games after he had entered the season with a total of 10 RBIs in 47 games.

His father, OF Jason Gray, was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 26th round of the 2000 amateur draft, also out of Rice, and played one year in their system.

Further Reading[edit]

  • Thomas Harrigan: "Twins-Red Sox trade: Tristan Gray to Minnesota for catching prospect", mlb.com, January 21, 2026. [1]
  • Matthew Leach: "He pondered retirement. A day later, he made the team. Now, he hit his 1st slam", mlb.com, April 3, 2026. [2]

Related Sites[edit]

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