The 22-year-old Kurtis Byrne has taken a slow, but steady path to establishing himself as a legitimate candidate to being re-drafted after his hometown Cardinals took him back in 2019, but he elected to instead honor his commitment to TCU. He established himself as an everyday player in 2022, but really emerged this year, when he established career highs over a full season in batting average (.285), home runs (10) and RBI (48). But it was as a defender where he really made strides, as most consider him to be a glove-first option behind the dish despite that production.
[ninja_tables id=”21494″]FSS Event History: Byrne was one of the standouts at International Week back in 2018, as it was his two-run double in Game 3 that ended up securing the series for the National Team at Camelback Ranch.
Current Ranking in Joe Doyle’s FSS Plus Top 600: 532
Joe Doyle on Byrne:
Byrne, a 2019 draft pick by the St. Louis Cardinals, has finally seen his game come together at TCU this spring. While he may never be a standout offensive player, the defensive tools do buoy his game. He’s an above average defender with a solid average arm and more than enough athleticism laterally to block spiked pitches. Byrne is a fringy runner and the in-game power has never really come on. That said, he’s got a shot at becoming a platoon option and a backstop that can hold runners in place.
