Virginia's Joe Tiroly drafted by San Diego Padres In 7th round of MLB Draft

Joe Tiroly is heading to the San Diego Padres with the No. 215 pick in the seventh round. He is the fourth Cavalier to be drafted this year — joining AJ Gracia (Atlanta Braves), Eric Becker (Cincinnati Reds) and Kyle Johnson (Tampa Bay Rays).

A familiar refrain to Gracia and Johnson — the star slugger spent one season in Charlottesville to kick off the Chris Pollard era, catching the eyes of MLB scouts. Tiroly slashed .319/.408/.576 as one of the key batters for Virginia. He stepped up in big moments, hitting .500 in the ACC Tournament and .429 in the NCAA Tournament.

Tiroly led the Cavaliers in hits (76), home runs (16), RBI (66) and total bases (137). Tiroly and Harrison Didawick were the only two Virginia players to start in all 60 games this season. Tiroly’s ceiling is noteworthy, as evidenced by a game against Cal in which he hit three home runs. He had 13 total bases in that game.

Tiroly dealt with injuries throughout the preseason (most notably a broken foot in November) but did not miss a single regular season game. He played three games as a designated hitter, battling to help his team. Tiroly also made a pair of starts at third base.

The Pennsylvania native previously played two seasons at Rider, earning All-MAAC honors in both campaigns. Tiroly was especially elite in 2025, when he received an American Baseball Coaches Association Third Team All-American nod and was named MAAC Player of the Year. Tiroly also had an incredible .749 slugging percentage and got on base at a .481 percent clip. Pollard and recruiting coordinator Derek Simmons took notice.

Tiroly’s coach at Rider, Barry Davis, is actually a Charlottesville native — and encouraged Tiroly to follow Pollard to Virginia. Tiroly took the advice from his former coach. In a three-year collegiate career, Tiroly’s career OPS stands at a sparkling 1.055. Tiroly was a role model for many Cavaliers. Just ask Noah Murray.

"I mean, he's such a complete hitter,” Murray said. “He can use the whole field really well. He's got just really easy power that shows up on all sides of the ball. And to add on to that, he plays fantastic defense. It's a lot of fun to play on a baseball team with him.”

Other teammates, such as Zach Jackson and Sam Harris, also used the word "fun" abundantly when describing Tiroly. San Diego will hope to extract that energy and charisma — and a power stroke coupled with consistent residency on base.

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