Halos Today

Angels' 11th-Round Draft Pick to Forego College, Sign Pro Contract

Maren Angus-Coombs

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
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Trey Gregory-Alford, a recent Coronado High School graduate, was taken by the Los Angeles Angels in the 11th round of the MLB Draft with the 322nd overall pick.

Gregory-Alford was considered to be a top prospect but slipped in the draft due to his commitment to the University of Virginia. In an interview with KRDO 13, he said that he would forego college and begin his professional baseball career.

The recent high school graduate has touched triple-digits and at the Draft Combine in June, he threw the seven hardest pitches, topping out at 99.7 mph. He struck out 94 in 45.1 innings during his senior year and also hit .492. He was named Colorado’s Player of the Year.

For the 6-foot-5, 245-pound Gregory-Alford, his rise up the draft boards was because of a significant gain in velocity over the past year.

“He was at 93 when I started working with him last offseason, but there was a lot of stuff still untapped and left to clean up (in his delivery), which is exciting when he’s already that good,” said Sean McCourt, the owner of THROWformance. “He had a super high ceiling.”

According to MLB.com, he was considered the No. 87 prospect entering the draft and after spending a year working with McCourt, his fastball jumped to 101 mph.

“He was very long with his arm action, and it was an inverted W at foot-strike and then (his elbow) never closed inside of 90 (degrees),” McCourt said. “It was kind of a big red flag, especially for guys who throw hard and land that way at foot-strike — it’s a matter of when you’re going to break, not if you’re going to break. We’ve been able to get that cleaned up and stay on top of his (deceleration) pattern.

“We get lots of guys who are up eight miles per hour in a year, but eight miles per hour from 93 to 101 is a different animal. That’s a huge jump.”

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Maren Angus-Coombs

MAREN ANGUS-COOMBS

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