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 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). Mostly a

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 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.

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

Related Sites

• University of Washington bio