| Gabriel Hughes | |
|---|---|
| Colorado Rockies – No. 79 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born:August 22, 2001 Anchorage, Alaska, U.S. | |
Bats: Right Throws: Right |
Gabriel Alexander Hughes (born August 22,2001) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Colorado Rockies organization.
Hughes attended Rocky Mountain High School in Meridian,Idaho. In 2018,his junior year,he had a 7–1 win–loss record with a 1.84 earned run average (ERA) and 59 strikeouts while batting .461. He was named the Idaho Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year. [1] As a senior in 2019,he went 7–1 with a 0.95 ERA and 65 strikeouts alongside batting .365 with seven home runs and was named the Idaho Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year for the second straight season. [2] [3] That summer,he played in the West Coast League for the Bellingham Bells. [4] Unselected in the 2019 Major League Baseball draft,he enrolled at Gonzaga University to play college baseball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs.
As a freshman at Gonzaga in 2020,Hughes posted a 0.77 ERA with 13 strikeouts over 13+2⁄3 innings before the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [5] He spent the summer playing in the Northwoods League for the Great Lakes Resorters. [6] In 2021, as a redshirt freshman, he started ten games and went 4–3 with a 3.23 ERA and 67 strikeouts over 61+1⁄3 innings while also starting 31 games at first base, batting .247 with three home runs. [7] His season ended early after breaking a knuckle while batting. [8] That summer, he was selected to play for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team. [9] Hughes entered the 2022 season as a preseason All-American and Gonzaga's number one starter. [10] [11] [12] He also switched his focus solely to pitching after being a two-way player in previous seasons. [13] [14] He started 15 games over the course of the season and went 8–3 with a 3.21 ERA and 138 strikeouts over 98 innings. [15] Following the season's end, he traveled to San Diego where he participated in the Draft Combine. [16]
The Colorado Rockies selected Hughes in the first round with the tenth overall selection of the 2022 Major League Baseball draft. [17] He signed with the team for $4 million. [18] He made his professional debut with the Fresno Grizzlies of the Single-A California League with whom he made one appearance, pitching three scoreless innings. [19] To open the 2023 season, Hughes was assigned to the Spokane Indians of the High-A Northwest League. [20] In early June, he was promoted to the Hartford Yard Goats of the Double-A Eastern League. [21] In July, it was announced Hughes would be undergoing Tommy John surgery, thus ending his season. [22] Over 14 starts between the two teams, he went 6–5 with a 6.21 ERA and 83 strikeouts over 66+2⁄3 innings. [23]
Hughes's grandfather, Donald, played in the minor leagues for the Detroit Tigers. [24] Hughes has five siblings, four of whom are adopted. [25]