Kyle Manzardo #9

KYLE THOMAS MANZARDO...Attended Lake City High School, graduating in 2018...Selected out of Washington State University...Hit .365/.437/.640 (72-for-197) with 11 HR and 60 RBIs in 47 games (46 starts) as a junior...Named first team All-American by Collegiate Baseball, the first Cougar selected as a first team All-American since Aaron Sele in 1990 and the first position player since John Olerud in 1988...Favorite teams growing up were the Mariners and Tigers...Miguel Cabrera & David Wright were his favorite hitters...Enjoys fishing and video games.

2023

Enters 2024 as the second-ranked prospect in the system (MLB.com) following his 2023 trade deadline acquisition from the Tampa Bay Rays...At the time of the trade he was ranked as the No. 2 first baseman, the No. 37 overall MLB prospect and the #4 Rays prospect, all per MLB Pipeline...Began the year at AAA Durham and had a solid first month, hitting .288 (21-for-73) in April with five HR, 12 RBIs (.920 OPS) in 21 games...Left shoulder troubles surfaced in June, batting just .182 (18-for-99) from June 1-July 6 and was eventually placed on the IL after the July 8 Futures Game in Seattle (did not play)…Transferred to the AAA Columbus IL following the July 31 trade, beginning a rehab assignment in Goodyear, Ariz., on Aug. 18 and was activated onto the Columbus roster on Aug. 23...Over his last 12 games for the Clippers after Sept. 6 he batted .256 (11-for-43) with six HR, 12 RBIs and 10 runs scored, homering in three straight games from Sept. 19-21 (4 HR total)…Had a nine-game stretch, Sept. 8-21, where he recorded six homers (8 XBH, 12 RBI)...Was T1st in the IL in Sept. HR (6) and second in XBH (13)...Slashed .281/.378/.545/.923 vs. RHP and .161/.269/.330/.599 off LHP at AAA...Continued hot September into the Arizona Fall League, batting .272 (25-for-92) with seven 2B, six HR & 19 RBIs in 22 games (19 RS, .905 OPS)...Finished T-3rd in 2B, HR and total bases (52), 2nd in XBH (13) and T-6th in runs and was named to the Rising Stars AFL contest...HR in three straight games, Oct. 9-11, and had a six-game stretch, Oct. 9-17, where he slugged five HR in six games.

2022

Named Minor League Player of the Year by the Rays Baseball Operations department, batting .327/.426/.617 (106-for-324) with 26 2B, 22 HR, 81 RBI and 59 BB in 93 games between Class-A Bowling Green and Double-A Montgomery… named to the South Atlantic League postseason All-Star Team…led Rays Minor Leaguers in avg., on-base pct., slugging pct. and OPS (1.043)…tied for third in homers, ranked fourth in RBI, fifth in extra-base hits (49) and sixth in walks…named the Rays Minor League Hitter of the Month for Aug., batting .375 (27-for-72) with seven 2B, five HR and 24 RBI in 23 games… ranked by Baseball America as the No. 5 prospect in the Rays system following the season…the publication also tabbed him the Best Batting Prospect in the SAL in its Best Tools survey.