Two Yellow Jackets had their names called on the second day of the MLB draft.
The Tampa Bay Rays selected Brady Jones in the 12th round with pick No. 357, and Riley Stanford was also drafted by the Rays in the 16th round with pick No. 477.
Jones joined the Yellow Jackets for one season in 2025 after playing the first two seasons of his college career at Georgia State. Jones collected third-team all-ACC honors after transitioning into a starting role this past season, starting 16 games with a 7-3 record and a 4.92 ERA over 67 2/3 innings.
He struck out 73 batters while holding opponents to only 19 extra-base hits, the fewest among Tech pitchers with more than 50 innings pitched. He was named ACC pitcher of the week in the penultimate week of the regular season after tossing a seven-inning, one-hit complete game against No. 20 Louisville.
Jones, from Decatur High School, was the first Tech pitcher since 2011 to record a one-hit shutout and the first since at least the turn of the century to do so against a ranked opponent. He finished his lone year with the Jackets with a 9.71 K/9 rate, the 15th best in the ACC.
A Buford High School graduate, Stanford completed his sophomore season this year, breaking camp as the Sunday starter and eventually finding a home in the bullpen after overcoming an injury that forced him to miss over a month of action.
He finished his 2025 season with seven starts over 12 appearances, posting a 0-0 record and a 5.08 ERA over 28 1/3 innings. He set a career high with 34 strikeouts this season, including three strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings of the NCAA Regional game at Ole Miss.
After moving to the bullpen, Stanford allowed only one earned run while striking out six over five innings with his fastball reaching as high as 98 mph. He finishes his Tech career with a 2-1 record on the mound over 31 appearances and seven starts.
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