TCU Baseball: Ryan Vanderhei Selected By The San Francisco Giants
Ryan Vanderhei is on his way to the golden state of California after being selected by the San Francisco Giants in the 10th round (Pick 300) of the MLB Draft.
Vanderhei is one of three Horned Frogs that transferred to TCU in 2022 and drafted in 2023–Cole Fontenelle and Tre Richardson being the other two. The right-handed pitcher spent three seasons with the Kansas Jayhawks before entering the portal and choosing the Frogs.
In his first two years in Lawrence, Vanderhei worked out of relief. He made one appearance in the shortened 2020 season but saw his workload increase to 20 appearances in 2021. In 2022, Vanderhei posted an unflattering 6.46 ERA in 14 starts. Going 5-6 on the season, Vanderhei displayed his strikeout ability, tallying 83 punchouts in 78 innings pitched.
He was deemed the opening day starter for the Frogs in 2023, where he pitched against Vanderbilt at Globe Life Field in February. After three starts, Vanderhei was the team’s strongest pitcher, posting a 2.70 ERA and tallying 20 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings pitched. Despite his tremendous start to the season, things quickly went astray for the righty.
He would soon face issues against the University of San Diego, Kansas, and Texas Tech before being removed from the starting rotation and placed in the bullpen. From then on, Vanderhei made one start and five appearances out of relief. In that time, his ERA ballooned to 6.75, and was eventually shut down for the remainder of the season.
Vanderhei has good stuff on the mound, but his inconsistency is what hindered him at Kansas and TCU. While Vanderhei was a starting pitcher for much of his collegiate career, it is possible for the Giants to revert him to being a reliever.
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