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Gabriel Hughes
Colorado Rockies
Pitcher
Born: (2001-08-22) August 22, 2001 (age 22)
Anchorage, Alaska, U.S.
Bats: Right
Throws: Right

Gabriel Alexander Hughes (born August 22, 2001) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Colorado Rockies organization.

Amateur career

Hughes attended Rocky Mountain High School in Meridian, Idaho. In 2018, his junior year, he had a 7–1 win–loss record with a 1.84 earned run average (ERA) and 59 strikeouts while batting .461. He was named the Idaho Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year. [1] As a senior in 2019, he went 7–1 with a 0.95 ERA and 65 strikeouts alongside batting .365 with seven home runs and was named the Idaho Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year for the second straight season. [2] [3] That summer, he played in the West Coast League for the Bellingham Bells. [4] Unselected in the 2019 Major League Baseball draft, he enrolled at Gonzaga University to play college baseball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

As a freshman at Gonzaga in 2020, Hughes posted a 0.77 ERA with 13 strikeouts over 13+23 innings before the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [5] He spent the summer playing in the Northwoods League for the Great Lakes Resorters. [6] In 2021, as a redshirt freshman, he started ten games and went 4–3 with a 3.23 ERA and 67 strikeouts over 61+13 innings while also starting 31 games at first base, batting .247 with three home runs. [7] His season ended early after breaking a knuckle while batting. [8] That summer, he was selected to play for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team. [9] Hughes entered the 2022 season as a preseason All-American and Gonzaga's number one starter. [10] [11] [12] He also switched his focus solely to pitching after being a two-way player in previous seasons. [13] [14] He started 15 games over the course of the season and went 8–3 with a 3.21 ERA and 138 strikeouts over 98 innings. [15] Following the season's end, he traveled to San Diego where he participated in the Draft Combine. [16]

Professional career

The Colorado Rockies selected Hughes in the first round with the tenth overall selection of the 2022 Major League Baseball draft. [17] He signed with the team for $4 million. [18] He made his professional debut with the Fresno Grizzlies of the Single-A California League with whom he made one appearance, pitching three scoreless innings. [19] To open the 2023 season, Hughes was assigned to the Spokane Indians of the High-A Northwest League. [20] In early June, he was promoted to the Hartford Yard Goats of the Double-A Eastern League. [21] In July, it was announced Hughes would be undergoing Tommy John surgery, thus ending his season. [22] Over 14 starts between the two teams, he went 6–5 with a 6.21 ERA and 83 strikeouts over 66+23 innings. [23]

Personal life

Hughes's grandfather, Donald, played in the minor leagues for the Detroit Tigers. [24] Hughes has five siblings, four of whom are adopted. [25]

References

  1. ^ Lycklama, Michael (June 12, 2018). "Junior 'dual threat' named Idaho's best high school baseball player". Idaho Statesman.
  2. ^ Walton, Brandon (June 6, 2019). "BASEBALL ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Gabriel Hughes, Rocky Mountain". The Idaho Press.
  3. ^ Allsop, Dani (May 23, 2019). "Rocky Mountain senior Gabe Hughes wins second Gatorade Player of the Year award". KTVB.
  4. ^ "Knights baseball: Corvallis signs Gonzaga star". Corvallis Gazette-Times. November 13, 2019.
  5. ^ "2021 West Coast Conference College Baseball Preview". Baseball America. February 5, 2021.
  6. ^ Atnip, Jake (July 3, 2020). "Resorters rout Dune Bears for franchise's first win". Traverse City Record-Eagle.
  7. ^ Pontes, Geoff (January 31, 2021). "Future Four: High-Slot College Righthanders To Know (Vol. 4)". Baseball America.
  8. ^ ""Simply a competitor": Gonzaga pitcher Gabriel Hughes emerging as star". KREM. April 4, 2022.
  9. ^ Gilbert, Connor (July 3, 2021). "GU's Hughes Makes First Appearance for U.S. Collegiate National Team". Gonzaga Bulldogs Athletics.
  10. ^ "Locally: Gonzaga pitching duo Gabriel Hughes, William Kempner named to preseason All-America team". The Spokesman-Review. January 25, 2022.
  11. ^ Conmy, Tommy (February 15, 2022). "Gabriel Hughes brings the heat as the Bulldogs' right-hand man". The Gonzaga Bulletin.
  12. ^ Sommerfeld, Seth (March 31, 2022). "After months of elite-level play on the road, Gonzaga baseball comes home to make a College World Series push". Inlander.
  13. ^ Reed, Justin (February 17, 2022). "Gonzaga baseball, picked to finish first in WCC, to rely on defense in 2022". Yakima Herald-Republic.
  14. ^ Green, Travis (April 4, 2022). "Pitcher Gabriel Hughes' star continues to rise in Gonzaga". KREM.
  15. ^ "Gonzaga pitcher Gabriel Hughes named to Collegiate Baseball All-American first team | the Spokesman-Review".
  16. ^ "Everything you need to know: Draft Combine". MLB.com.
  17. ^ "Rockies select RHP Hughes 10th overall". MLB.com.
  18. ^ Idaho Statesman (subscription required)
  19. ^ "Pebble Report: Fresno Grizzlies fall short in CAL championship, Brenton Doyle impresses in Triple-A debut". September 26, 2022.
  20. ^ "Where the Rockies' Top 30 prospects are starting season". MLB.com.
  21. ^ https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/jun/07/former-gonzaga-pitcher-gabriel-hughes-promoted-fro/
  22. ^ https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/38065120/rockies-say-hughes-vargas-cox-join-senzatela-elbow-setbacks
  23. ^ https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/rockies-gabriel-hughes-undergoing-tommy-john-surgery/
  24. ^ "Gabriel Hughes – Baseball". Gonzaga Bulldogs Athletics.
  25. ^ Villa, Walter (March 18, 2022). "GSA Spotlight: Gonzaga's Gabriel Hughes". USA Baseball.

External links