TCU baseball’s Brayden Taylor named to Fort Worth-based Bobby Bragan Award watch list
The Fort Worth-based Bobby Bragan Award has taken a national approach these days to find college baseball’s top slugger. However, it may just have to look down the road this year.
TCU’s Brayden Taylor was among 44 players named to the award’s preseason watch list, which was revealed on Tuesday.
Taylor, the Frogs’ sophomore third baseman, had a terrific freshman season in 2021. He batted .324 with a .572 slugging percentage, finishing with a team-leading 72 hits and 12 home runs. He was second on the team with 53 RBIs, 25 of which came with two outs.
Taylor has emerged as one of the leaders going into this season.
As first-year coach Kirk Saarloos said recently, “Everyone always says ‘sophomore slump.’ I’m not worried about that with Brayden. He’s a really good hitter. The best hitters can handle the most pitches, right? Brayden does a really good job of that.
“I’m not worried about Brayden and his mentality or trying to live up to any expectations. He’s just a ball player and loves to play baseball.”
Taylor is among a number of Texas-based players on the watch list. Others to make the cut include Texas’ Ivan Melendez; Texas Tech’s Jace Jung; Baylor’s Jared McKenzie; Dallas Baptist’s Jace Grady; Prairie View A&M’s Sebastian Coria; and Houston’s Ryan Hernandez.
The complete watch list is available on the award’s website BraganSlugger.com. A winner will be announced in June and honored at a gala in the fall at the Fort Worth Club.
The Bragan Award, created by the Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation, became a national award in 2020. It’s based on performance at the plate, academics and personal integrity.
The award started in 2017 as an honor going to the top college hitter in Texas, with Texas Tech’s Hunter Hargrove and Dallas Baptist’s Devlin Granberg being the first two recipients. Texas Tech’s Josh Jung won it in 2019, shortly before the Texas Rangers made him a first-round pick in that year’s draft. Nobody won it in 2020 as the college baseball season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
East Carolina’s Connor Norby was the 2021 recipient.
TCU opens its season against San Diego State on Friday as part of the MLB 4 Tournament in Scottsdale, Arizona.
This story was originally published February 15, 2022 at 3:11 PM.
