Article By: Rogues Media

Former Rogue selected by the Detroit Tigers in 6th round of MLB Draft

Mike Stefansson / Nevada Sports Net

Mon, July 14th 2025 at 5:05 PM

On Monday, Grayson Grinsell became the latest Northern Nevada native selected in the MLB Draft when the Reno High School graduate was picked by the Detroit Tigers in the 6th round, pick 189 overall. Grinsell played for the Medford Rogues in 2022. Click Here for Pointstreak Scoring App.

The left-handed pitcher just finished his junior season at Oregon, where he was named an All-American by three separate publications. Grinsell finished the 2025 season with a 9-3 record and 3.01 ERA while striking out 101 batters over 98.2 innings, allowing just a .205 batting average. In his first and only season in the Big Ten, Grinsell led the league in wins (seven), ERA (1.36), batting average against (.167) and WHIP (0.86) while ranking second in strikeouts (70).

When Grayson Grinsell began his career at Oregon, he thought he'd work his way into the Ducks' lineup as an outfielder.

"They originally recruited me as a hitter, so I thought, 'Hey, cool, I'll play centerfield for the Ducks, and then I got on campus and realized that the outfielders are actually pretty good and I had a lot of growth to do," Grinsell said Monday's NSN Tonight. "But some unfortunate injuries happened to the pitching staff and the coaching staff said, 'Hey, we're going to need you on the mound,' and I said, 'Absolutely! Anything to get on the field.' I turned out to have a really good year and then kind of figured out that I was pretty good at pitching and kind of said this might be the way forward."

Fast forward three seasons and the former Reno High product emerged as one of the nation's top pitchers. Grinsell earned Oregon's Friday starting role this past season after starting on Saturdays in 2024. The left-hander earned a trio of All-America honors in 2025, landing a spot on the Perfect Game, National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and ABCA/Rawlings' third teams. He boasted a 9-3 record and a 3.01 ERA with 101 strikeouts in 98.2 innings while holding opposing hitters to a .205 batting average. During his first season pitching in Big Ten, he led the league in wins (seven), ERA (1.36), batting average against (.167) and WHIP (0.86) while ranking second in strikeouts (70).

It was an ideal junior season as he's now eligible for the MLB draft, which begins Sunday.

"I think just a lot of maturity internally, just kind of understanding how you kind of have to go about things as a starter to be able to get deep into games," Grinsell said of his 2025 growth. "Last year or two years ago, I struggled a little bit to get deep into the games, had a lot of high count pitches, a lot of low-inning starts, so kind of just figuring out how to attack guys and get guys out early to kind of get yourself deeper into games and help give your team the best chance to win, especially on a Friday night. Everyone's fresh but you want to kind of help the bullpen in any way you can to help them stay fresh for the whole series because a three-game series, it's a long weekend. So, you've got to do whatever you can to help get deep into games and help the team win."

Grinsell has pitched in some of the Ducks' biggest postseason moments as a freshman in 2023 and sophomore in 2024 where he helped guide Oregon to back-to-back Super Regional berths. Oregon was the No. 12 overall seed this year and hosted a regional but was upset by Utah Valley and Cal Poly to end its season on its home field. He believes pitching in some big moments early on helped him stay even-keeled on the mound as his college career progressed.

"That's what you hope and dream for," Grinsell said. "I think just being in those situations, it kind of helps you realize that it is a big moment, you're competing in a Regional against the best teams in the country. You've got to figure out a way to get it done and for most people, myself included, it's going to be kind of staying even. Sometimes you have a bad game, sometimes you have a good game. But you can't let that affect how you're going to act on the mound, and I think that was a big help for me especially early on."

Now three years out of high school, Grinsell is eligible for the Major League Baseball draft, which begins on Sunday with rounds 1-3 and concludes Monday with rounds 4-20. The left-hander is ranked as the No. 190 overall prospect in this year's draft class by MLB Pipeline. Grinsell said he hopes his competitiveness the last three years will show scouts how his game can translate to the next level while relying on a collection of pitches despite the velocity on his fastball not as quick as some other draft prospects with his low-90s heater.

"A lot of times with the metrics nowadays, they're very big," Grinsell said. "But one of the things you can't really measure is deception, and I think I'm really good at that. I think I get down the mound well, I have a lot of extension, so even though it might not be the fastest fastball, it gets on hitters quick because I've got a lot extension, so I think the deception and extension play a big role in me helping with that. All the greats have (competitiveness), and you gotta have it if you want a chance to be successful at the pro-ball level. The ability to make pitches I think is a big one. I think I've shown that I can make pitches at any level, and I hope I'm lucky enough to get the chance to play professional baseball."