Jones, Stanford Taken by Rays on 2nd Day of MLB Draft

THE FLATS – Two Yellow Jackets heard their names called on the second and final day of the 2025 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. Brady Jones (Decatur, Ga. / Decatur HS (Georgia State)) was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 12th round with pick No. 357 followed by Riley Stanford (Gainesville, Ga. / Burford HS), also drafted by the Rays in the 16th round with pick No. 477.

With today’s selections, a total of 229 Yellow Jackets have been selected over program history, including a remarkable 166 drafted after playing under former head coach Danny Hall.

This makes a total of three Jackets drafted in 2025, after Kyle Lodise was picked by the White Sox in the third round of day one.

Brady Jones | RHP | Round 12 | Pick 357 | Tampa Bay Rays

Jones joined the Yellow Jackets for his draft eligible season in 2025 after playing the first two seasons of his college career at Georgia State. Jones collected third-team all-ACC honors after transitioning into a starting role this season, starting 16 games with a 7-3 record and a 4.92 ERA over 67.2 innings. He struck out 73 batters while holding opponents to only 19 extra base hits, the fewest among GT pitchers with over 50 innings pitched. He was named ACC pitcher of the week in the second-to-last week of the regular season after tossing a 7 inning, complete game one-hitter against No. 20 Louisville, coming up one strike shy of a no-hitter. Jones was the first Tech pitcher since 2011 to record a one-hit shutout and the first since at least the turn of the century to do so against a ranked opponent. He finished his lone year on The Flats with an impressive 9.71 K/9 rate, the 15^th best in the ACC.

Riley Stanford | RHP | Round 16 | Pick 477 | Tampa Bay Rays

Stanford completed his redshirt sophomore season this year, breaking camp as the Sunday starter and eventually finding a home in the bullpen after overcoming an injury that forced him to miss over a month of action. He finished his 2025 season with seven starts over 12 appearances, posting a 0-0 record and a 5.08 ERA over 28.1 innings. He set a career high with 34 strikeouts this season, including three strikeouts in 1.2 innings of the NCAA Regional game at Ole Miss (June 1) to end his season. After moving to the bullpen, Stanford allowed only one earned run while striking out six over 5.0 innings with his fastball reaching as high as 98 mph. He finishes his GT career with a 2-1 record on the mound over 31 appearances and seven starts. He also appeared in two games as an outfielder in 2023, going 1-for-5 at the dish with a run scored.

2026 SEASON TICKETS

Season tickets for Georgia Tech’s 2026 regular season home schedule, including five ACC home series and a collection of non-conference games to be announced later, are on sale now. Visit ramblinwreck.com/tickets to purchase. For complete information on 2026 baseball tickets, including premium membership options, please visit the official Georgia Tech Baseball Tickets page.

Full Steam Ahead

Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.

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