Tristan Gray #8

Selected in the 13th round (No. 388 overall) of the 2017 MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates out of Rice University... signed with the Bucs on June 20, 2017... his father, Jason Gray, also went to Rice and was drafted by the Texas Rangers in 2000 before spending one season in the Minors... Gray was a New York-Penn League All-Star in 2017... Pirates traded Gray to the Tampa Bay Rays on Feb. 22, 2018 along with RHP Daniel Hudson in exchange for outfielder Corey Dickerson... saw time in the Australian Baseball League with Perth in 2018... reached Triple-A in September 2019... was a non-roster invitee to Rays Spring Training in 2020 before the season was wiped out by the Covid-19 pandemic... saw time at Major League Spring Training with the Rays every year beginning in 2018, when he homered in four at-bats... appeared in 10 Spring games with Tampa Bay in 2020 and 20 contests in 2021, when he hit three homers and batted .273... returned to Triple-A Durham for the 2022 season and was among the Triple-A leaders in home runs for the Bulls... attended Elkins High School in Missouri City, Texas before playing at Rice.

At Rice, the Houston-area native appeared in 145 games, hitting .286 with 16 homers, 82 RBIs and 27 doubles in 486 at-bats from 2015-2017... his junior season of 2017 was his best, when he batted a career-high .313 with a team-leading 8 homers and 39 RBIs in 47 games... helped the Owls to claim the 2017 Conference USA Championship and advance to the NCAA Regional... was a Junior Sport Management major... was among three Rice players drafted in 2017, along with Glenn Otto and Dane Myers.

In high school Gray was ranked as the No. 133 high school senior in the country by Perfect Game when he graduated in 2014... was named Second-Team 5A All-State honoree by the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association and was voted Most Valuable Player of District 23-5A and first team shortstop as a senior... earned All-district honors in each of his four years starting for head coach Tyler Porter, including freshman year as an outfielder... batted .456 with five home runs and 23 RBIs in 30 games as a senior, leading the Knights to a 19-9-2 record, regular season 23-5A championship and to a bi-district title... was a three-time member of the Dean's List.

Son of Jason and Angie Gray of Missouri City... his father, Jason Gray, was a two-year Rice letterman (1999-2000) who finished his Owl career with a .316 career batting average and 23 home runs... Jason played in the Texas Rangers organization after being selected in the 26th round of the 2000 MLB Draft, hitting .274 with a homer, 32 RBIs and two steals in 52 games for the Gulf Coast League Rangers in 2000.