Harry Ford (baseball)

Last updated

Harry Ford
Washington Nationals – No. 17
Catcher
Born: (2003-02-21) 21 February 2003 (age 22)
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
MLB debut
5 September, 2025, for the Seattle Mariners
Men's baseball
Representing Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain
European Championship
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2023 Czechia Team GB

Harrison Michael Ford (born 21 February 2003) is a British-American professional baseball catcher for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the first round of the 2021 MLB draft and made his MLB debut in 2025. He represents Great Britain at the international level.

Contents

Amateur career

Ford attended North Cobb High School in Kennesaw, Georgia. As a senior, he batted .296 with seven doubles and five home runs and was named the Greater Atlanta Player of the Year by MaxPreps. [1] Ford played in 104 games over four varsity seasons and batted for a .343 average with 83 runs scored, 20 doubles, seven triples, seven home runs, and 57 runs batted in (RBI). [2] He committed to play college baseball at Georgia Tech. [3]

Professional career

Seattle Mariners

Draft and minor leagues

The Seattle Mariners selected Ford in the first round, with the 12th overall pick, in the 2021 Major League Baseball draft. [4] On 22 July 2021, he signed with the Mariners for the assigned slot value of $4.36 million. [5] Ford made his professional debut that summer with the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League Mariners, slashing 0.291/0.400/0.482 with three home runs, ten RBI, seven doubles, nine walks, and 14 strikeouts over 65 plate appearances. [6]

Ford played in 2022 for the Modesto Nuts of the Single-A California League. [7] He hit 0.274 with 11 home runs. In 2023, he was promoted to the High-A Everett AquaSox, where he hit 0.257 with 15 home runs. He was a postseason Northwest League All-Star, leading the league with 103 walks. Ford advanced another level in 2024, and his batting average continued to drop, hitting 0.249 with 7 home runs for the Double-A Arkansas Travelers. He suffered a concussion in late July, landing on the injured list for 7 days. [8] [9]

Ford was selected to play in the All-Star Futures Game in 2023, 2024, and 2025. He struck out in his single at-bat in 2023, and he walked in his lone plate appearance in 2024. [10] [11] He struck out again in 2025, also throwing out an attempted base stealer. [12] Ford was named the Mariners' top prospect and a top 50 overall prospect by MLB.com before the 2023 season [13] and the top Mariners prospect and #40 overall prospect by FanGraphs in the middle of the 2024 season. [14]

Ford began the 2025 season with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers, batting 0.283/0.408/0.460 with 16 home runs, 74 RBI, and seven stolen bases across 97 games. In late June, he joined the Mariners as catcher Mitch Garver recovered from a jaw injury, but Ford was not added to the team's roster. [15] [16] After the season, Minor League Baseball named him the top prospect in the Pacific Coast League. [17]

Major leagues

On 1 September 2025, the Mariners added Ford to their 40-man squad and promoted him the major leagues. [18] [19] He made his MLB debut on 5 September against the Atlanta Braves, striking out on three pitches as a pinch hitter. [20] Two days later, after entering as a defensive replacement, he was hit by a pitch and scored his first run in the majors. On 11 September, he drove in his first major league run with a 12th-inning, walk-off sacrifice fly to right field to beat the Los Angeles Angels. [21] [22] He had his first MLB hit, a single off Tyler Glasnow of the Los Angeles Dodgers on September 27. [23] In his September call-up, Ford batted 1-for-6 in 8 games. [21]

In his first postseason, Ford, on the roster as a backup catcher, batted once, hitting a single at the end of Game 3 of the American League Championship Series. [24] [25]

Washington Nationals

On 6 December, the Mariners traded Ford, along with prospect pitcher Isaac Lyon to the Washington Nationals in exchange for José A. Ferrer. [26]

International career

Ford plays for Great Britain in international competition because it is the birthplace of both his parents. [27] [28] At the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) qualifiers in Germany in September 2022, he helped his team win all three of its games, homering in the team's final victory over Spain. [29] [30] [31] His three home runs led the qualifiers, and his 8 RBI tied for the most. [32] He then played for Great Britain in the 2023 WBC, hitting two home runs and batting .308 in four games. [33] [34] [35]

At the 2023 European Baseball Championship in September 2023 in the Czech Republic, Ford played catcher and DH and batted .429 with 3 home runs in 21 at-bats, leading the tournament with 12 RBI and 5 stolen bases. [36] [37] [38]

Personal life

Growing up in the Atlanta area, Ford was a fan of Freddie Freeman and the Atlanta Braves. He competed against Freeman in the 2023 WBC. In 2025, Ford made his MLB debut in Atlanta and later greeted Freeman, then with the Los Angeles Dodgers, after collecting his first MLB hit. [39] [40]

Ford's parents met in Georgia, where he was born. They later divorced, and his father lives in the United Kingdom. [32] [41] His mother is black. As a child, he attended catching clinics led by former MLB catcher Charles Johnson. Ford said it would "be cool to change that stigma" regarding African-American catchers in MLB. [28] [42]

Ford received the Mariners' "Dan Wilson Community Service Award" in 2023. [8] [43] In 2025, he pledged a donation for every home run he hit to a charitable organization that provides safe drinking water. He chose that cause after visiting Peru in January 2025. [44] [45]

References

  1. ↑ Askeland, Kevin (6 July 2021). "2021 MaxPreps All-America Team: Louisiana pitcher Jack Walker headlines high school baseball's best". MaxPreps . Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  2. ↑ Kramer, Daniel (11 July 2021). "Mariners draft prep C Harry Ford at No. 12". MLB.com.
  3. ↑ Gustafson, Brandon (12 July 2021). "Mariners draft athletic Georgia HS C/OF Harry Ford with 1st-round pick". Seattle Sports .
  4. ↑ "North Cobb catcher selected by Mariners in first round of MLB draft". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . 11 July 2021. Archived from the original on 15 July 2021.
  5. ↑ Polishuk, Mark (22 July 2021). "Mariners Sign Top Three Draft Picks". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved 25 December 2025.
  6. ↑ "2021 Arizona Complex League Top 10 Prospects". Baseball America . 29 September 2021.
  7. ↑ Hamilton, Quinton (7 April 2022). "MiLB Notebook: Hear from Nuts' top prospect and coaching staff ahead of 2022 season". The Modesto Bee.
  8. 1 2 Seattle Mariners 2025 Media Guide. 2025. p. 129.
  9. ↑ "Mariners' Harry Ford: Recovering well from concussion". CBS Sports. 3 August 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  10. ↑ "MLB Gameday: NL Futures 5, AL Futures 0 Final Score (07/08/2023)". MLB.com. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  11. ↑ "MLB Gameday: NL Futures 6, AL Futures 1 Final Score (07/13/2024)". MLB.com. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  12. ↑ Trezza, Joe; Sepe-Chepuru, Shanthi (13 July 2025). "Here's how all 30 teams' prospects fared in the Futures Game". MLB.com. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
  13. ↑ "Here are the Mariners' 2023 Top 30 prospects". MLB.com. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  14. ↑ "The Board". FanGraphs . Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  15. ↑ Kramer, Daniel (28 June 2025). "On taxi squad, Ford enjoying 'cool day' in big leagues". MLB.com. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  16. ↑ Stecker, Brent (27 June 2025). "Seattle Mariners Update: No Ford yet as Garver says he's fine". Seattle Sports. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  17. ↑ Terranova, Rob (28 September 2025). "The 2025 Triple-A All-Stars and award winners". MLB.com. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
  18. ↑ Kramer, Daniel (1 September 2025). "Mariners bring up top catching prospect Harry Ford". MLB.com. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  19. ↑ Divish, Ryan (1 September 2025). "Mariners call up top prospect Harry Ford and release Donovan Solano". Seattle Times. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  20. ↑ "Mariners Game Notes — Sept. 6 at Braves". Seattle Mariners. 6 September 2025. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
  21. 1 2 "Harry Ford 2025 Batting Game Logs". Baseball Reference . Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  22. ↑ "Touted rookie Harry Ford delivers off bench as Mariners top Angels in 12 to tie for 1st in AL West". AP News. 11 September 2025. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
  23. ↑ Kramer, Daniel (28 September 2025). "Ford picks up first career hit -- with his childhood hero standing at first". MLB.com. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
  24. ↑ "Harry Ford singles on a sharp line drive to center fielder Daulton Varsho. | 10/15/2025". MLB.com. Retrieved 16 October 2025.
  25. ↑ Polishuk, Mark (12 October 2025). "Mariners Add Bryan Woo, Miles Mastrobuoni To ALCS Roster". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved 16 October 2025.
  26. ↑ "Mariners trade top catching prospect Ford to Nats for reliever Ferrer". MLB.com . 6 December 2025. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
  27. ↑ Harrigan, Thomas (16 September 2022). "Top Mariners prospect Ford goes yard for Great Britain". MLB.com .
  28. 1 2 Laurila, David (26 February 2023). "Sunday Notes: Born To Brits, Harry Ford Could Be MLB's Next Great Black Catcher". FanGraphs . Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  29. ↑ "Great Britain baseball men's team announces roster for 2022 World Baseball Classic qualifier". British Baseball Federation . 15 September 2022. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  30. ↑ "MLB Gameday: Spain 9, Great Britain 10 Final Score (09/20/2022)". MLB.com. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  31. ↑ "Harry Ford crushes a solo home run to center field | 09/20/2022". MLB.com. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  32. 1 2 McCalvy, Adam (8 March 2023). "Dad beams as Ford leads breakthrough for Britain". MLB.com. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  33. ↑ "World Baseball Classic Stats: Great Britain". MLB.com. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  34. ↑ Scott, William (31 October 2023). "Seattle Mariners prospect Harry Ford uses AFL to improve his game". Cronkite News. Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Archived from the original on 13 May 2025. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  35. ↑ Yates, Clinton (14 March 2023). "Seattle Mariners prospect Harry Ford is turning heads for Great Britain at the World Baseball Classic". Andscape . Retrieved 30 September 2025.
  36. ↑ "Harry Ford Stats | 2023 European Baseball Championship". WBSC Europe . Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  37. ↑ "2023 European Baseball Championship Stats". WBSC Europe . Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  38. ↑ WBSC Europe (3 November 2023). EuroBaseball 2023: Highlights Great Britain VS Italy. Event occurs at 0:55. Retrieved 15 September 2025– via YouTube.
  39. ↑ Divish, Ryan (18 March 2023). "'Sir' Harry Ford returns to M's after run in World Baseball Classic". HeraldNet. The Seattle Times. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  40. ↑ Kramer, Daniel (28 September 2025). "Ford picks up first career hit -- with his childhood hero standing at first". MLB.com. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  41. ↑ Kruse, Ethan (22 August 2023). "Harry Ford - True Identity". His Huddle. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  42. ↑ Terranova, Rob. "MiLB Player of the Week Spotlight: Ford". MiLB.com. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  43. ↑ "Mariners Select Harry Ford". MiLB.com. 1 September 2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  44. ↑ Kramer, Daniel (14 March 2025). "Ford (No. 4 prospect) gives back in a big way". MLB.com. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  45. ↑ "Mariners prospect Harry Ford answering God's call to respond to global water crisis". Water Mission. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
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