Braiden Ward

Braiden Alan Ward
(Wheels)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 160 lbs.
• School University of Washington
• High School El Capitan High School

• Born January 18, 1999 in Turlock, CA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Fleet-footed and versatile Braiden Ward slashed .301/.394/.396 in four seasons with the University of Washington Huskies while stealing 89 bases in 104 attempts. After swiping a collegiate career high 34 games in 2021, he became the first player in Pac-12 history to lead the conference in stolen bases in three years in succession; he was named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive team that year, also, and was the only Husky to appear in all 50 games. He also played three seasons of Summer Collegiate Baseball, in which he slashed .290/.389/.382 with 96 stolen bases (in 111 tries).

The Colorado Rockies took him in the 16th round of the 2021 Amateur Draft, and he subsequently played 17 games for the rookie league ACL Rockies in which he slashed .308/.514/.308, but with only 3 steals in 5 attempts. He began 2022 with the Fresno Grizzlies of the Class A California League. In 39 games in Fresno, he slashed .367/.487/.533 with 26 stolen bases without being thrown out once before being moved up to the High-A Spokane Indians. He saw a huge drop-off against Northwest League pitching, slashing a mere .211/.345/.270 in 62 games. He did steal 31 bases, though, and was only caught 5 times.

He remained in the Lilac City for the entire 2023 season. The Indians had a plethora of prospects at both second base and in the the outfield, including Benny Montgomery, Jordan Beck, Nic Kent, Adael Amador, and Ryan Ritter, so Wheels spent most of the season as a reserve player and the team's primary pinch runner. In 80 games, he had 279 plate appearances in which he slashed .265/.402/.341. His 44 steals were third in the Northwest League, behind Grant McCray (52) and Wilderd Patiño (47), both of whom had at least 50 more plate appearances than he did. Ward was caught 7 times, while both McCray and Patiño were caught 10 times.

He began 2024 with the Indians once again. With Kent moving up the Rockies' chain, Wheels began the season as the team's primary second baseman. After a slow start, he caught fire and was slashing .310/.431/.595 at the end of April. Not a power hitter, his unusually high slugging percentage the result of 4 doubles and 4 triples. While he drew only 2 bases on balls, he was hit by 7 pitches. He stayed white hot into May, and on May 3rd he had a day to remember. At Avista Stadium against the Eugene Emeralds, he led off the game by getting hit by a pitch (his 9th beanball, which at the time led the league). He didn't stay put at first base; he stole second, third and home for Spokane's first run of the game. He later stole third base again, and second base two more times. He ended his amazing day at 3-for-3 with 2 doubles, 1 RBI, and 3 runs scored, and an astounding 6 stolen bases. Later in the month - on May 17th to be exact - he hit two home runs against the Vancouver Canadians, which wound up being his only two home runs for the Indians that season. He was hitting .340/.426/.550 on May 21st when he was moved up in the Rockies chain to AA and the Hartford Yard Goats. In total in the Lilac City, Ward hit 7 doubles, 4 triples, and 2 home runs, was hit by 11 pitches (in 115 plate appearances), and stole 18 bases (in 22 attempts).

He scarcely missed a beat initially in Hartford, hitting .382/.493/.618 against Eastern League pitching in his first three series. But he eventually cooled off but was consistent through the beginning of the summer, hitting .271/.364/.407 in June and July combined. By the end of July, he had already hit 5 home runs, very unusual for someone going from a hitter's paradise such as Avista Stadium to a more pitcher-friendly park such as Dunkin' Park, especially considering the jump from A+ to AA. Wheels had a miserable August, hitting just .136/.250/.167 with 1 extra-base hit (a triple). He didn't fare much better during the regular season's final days in September, and ended the year at .243/.353/.358. On the bright side, he stole 32 bases (which was tied for second-most in the Eastern League with Carlos Mendoza of the Erie SeaWolves; Hartford teammate Adael Amador led the league with 35) and was caught just 5 times, his 23 hit-by-pitches were most in the circuit, and he had the second-most sacrifice bunts in the league (6), just one behind teammate Nic Kent.

According to his University of Washington bio page, his grandfather played minor league ball.

Related Sites

• University of Washington bio