Selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2nd round (No. 63) of the 2021 MLB Draft out of Washington State University... signed with the Rays on Aug. 8, 2021 and received a $750,000 bonus... Manzardo said he found his love for baseball while playing Little League in Coeur d’Alene... Manzardo's second-round selection in thw 2021 Draft made him the highest-drafted position player from WSU since Scott Hatteberg was taken No. 43 overall in the 1991 MLB Draft... Manzardo helped WSU to a 26-23 record in 2021 along with winning four Pac-12 series and 13 conference games... became the highest-drafted WSU player since pitcher Adam Conley went No. 72 in 2011... is the highest player drafted from the city of Coeur d’Alene... Manzardo and WSU teammate Zane Mills became the first pair of WSU teammates selected in the first four rounds of the MLB Draft since 1991, when Aaron Sele and Hatteberg were taken... Manzardo also played with the Portland Pickles of the West Coast League before the Draft... was named to Collegiate Baseball’s All-America first team in 2021 after finishing ranked fourth in the Pac-12 in hitting (.365), third in slugging (.640), second in RBIs (60), tied for third in doubles (19), tied for ninth in homers (11) and fourth in total bases (126)... Manzardo became the first WSU player since Jim Murphy in 2008 to collect 60 RBIs... he led Washington State in multi-hit games (24) and multi-RBI games (17) as well... before WSU, he played at Lake City High School in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho where he was a four-year letterwinner... lettered three times in basketball... as a senior in high school, he was named to All-USA Idaho First Team and Inland Empire League MVP after hitting .594 with two home runs, 10 doubles, nine stolen bases, 24 RBIs and 26 runs…on the mound, went 3-2 with two saves, a 1.71 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 28 2/3 innings... majored in business at WSU... son of Paul and Windy Manzardo; he has a younger brother, Marcus... his dad Paul is the head baseball coach at Lake City
Manzardo debuted with the Rays in 2021 with their Florida Complex League affiliate, hitting .349 in 13 games... he was promoted to Bowling Green to start his first full season in 2022 and earned South Atlantic League All-Star honors there after hitting .329 with 17 homers, 55 RBIs and 16 doubles in 63 games... the Rays promoted him to Double-A Montgomery to finish the year and he didn't slow down, batting .323 with 5 homers and 26 RBIs in 30 games.
