Los Angeles Angels Select TJ Grines In 17th Round of MLB Draft
7/12/2026 5:15:00 PM | Baseball
MARTIN, Tenn.- During Day 2 of the 2026 Major League Baseball Draft in Philadelphia, Penn., University of Tennessee at Martin baseball star TJ Grines was selected in the 17th round by the Los Angeles Angels with the 499th overall pick.
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Grines becomes UT Martin's third highest draft pick in school history and the second Skyhawk to be drafted in the last four years joining outfielder Caleb Hobson who was selected in the 13th round of the 2023 MLB Draft by the Colorado Rockies. Overall, he's the tenth UT Martin player to ever be picked in the MLB Draft.
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Grines was the third Ohio Valley Conference player to be drafted this year joining Little Rock's Brannon Westmoreland (Arizona Diamondbacks, 14th round, 416th pick), SIUE's Ryan Niedzwiedz (Rockies, 15th round, 434th pick) and Southeast Missouri's Caleb Klein (Atlanta Braves, 15th round, 442nd pick).
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The Alexandria, La. native became the program's first OVC Player of the Year behind one of the greatest single seasons in UT Martin history. He finished his senior campaign as the first NCAA Division I baseball player to collect at least 50 RBI's and 50 stolen bases in a single season since 2010. Along with player of the year accolades, he was named OVC Male Athlete of the Year (second Skyhawk ever to earn those honors), UT Martin's Bob Carroll Co-Male Student-Athlete of the Year and made the ABCA/Rawlings All-Southeast Region second team.
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Under the teaching of ninth-year head coach Ryan Jenkins, Grines ripped apart the base paths finishing as the nation's leader in stolen bases (66) and stolen bases per game (1.20). He ended the season with 20 more swiped bags than anybody else in the Division I ranks. Additionally, he ranked top-25 in the country in hits per game (1.69, third), runs scored per game (1.36, sixth), hits (93, 13th), runs scored (75, 13th) and batting average (.386, 25th).
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The senior's 66 stolen bases marked an OVC single-season record, a single-season UT Martin record (snapping a record that lasted for 40 years) and represented the most swiped bags in NCAA Division I baseball since 2007. He started all 55 games and hit in the leadoff spot in every game recording school records in at-bats (241), runs scored and total bases (150) while also ending the year in the top-five in a single-season in program history in hits (second), doubles (21, second) and RBI's (56, fifth).
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Grines was all over the conference leaderboards leading the league in hits (most in the OVC since 2022), runs scored, doubles, and stolen bases (40 more than anybody else). He ranked top-10 in the conference in batting average (fourth), slugging percentage (.622, seventh), triples (three, sixth), OPS (1.061, eighth), and RBI's (eighth). OVC foes were at the will of the Alexandria, La. native when he was at the plate, in conference play he paced the league in hits (50), runs scored (41) and stolen bases (33) while ranking in the top-10 in batting average (.431, second), on-base percentage (.485, second), at-bats (116, second), OPS (1.235, third), slugging percentage (.750, fourth), home runs (nine, fifth) and RBI's (28, sixth).
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Grines spent two seasons in Northwest Tennessee after transferring from Lurleen B. Wallace CC. He broke the OVC and UT Martin single-game record for stolen bases when he recorded six during the May 3 series finale at Western Illinois. The 5-10, 185-pound outfielder notched 21 doubles and 10 home runs to become the first Skyhawk since 2011 MLB Draft Pick Trey Karlen to have 20+ doubles and 10+ homers in a single season. Overall, he finished the season posting 33 multi-hit games, 15 multi-RBI contests, 18 multi-steal outings and 20 games with multiple runs scored. He owned a season-high 14 game hitting streak from March 24-April 17 and claimed OVC Player of the Week honors on May 4.
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Grines becomes UT Martin's third highest draft pick in school history and the second Skyhawk to be drafted in the last four years joining outfielder Caleb Hobson who was selected in the 13th round of the 2023 MLB Draft by the Colorado Rockies. Overall, he's the tenth UT Martin player to ever be picked in the MLB Draft.
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Grines was the third Ohio Valley Conference player to be drafted this year joining Little Rock's Brannon Westmoreland (Arizona Diamondbacks, 14th round, 416th pick), SIUE's Ryan Niedzwiedz (Rockies, 15th round, 434th pick) and Southeast Missouri's Caleb Klein (Atlanta Braves, 15th round, 442nd pick).
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The Alexandria, La. native became the program's first OVC Player of the Year behind one of the greatest single seasons in UT Martin history. He finished his senior campaign as the first NCAA Division I baseball player to collect at least 50 RBI's and 50 stolen bases in a single season since 2010. Along with player of the year accolades, he was named OVC Male Athlete of the Year (second Skyhawk ever to earn those honors), UT Martin's Bob Carroll Co-Male Student-Athlete of the Year and made the ABCA/Rawlings All-Southeast Region second team.
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Under the teaching of ninth-year head coach Ryan Jenkins, Grines ripped apart the base paths finishing as the nation's leader in stolen bases (66) and stolen bases per game (1.20). He ended the season with 20 more swiped bags than anybody else in the Division I ranks. Additionally, he ranked top-25 in the country in hits per game (1.69, third), runs scored per game (1.36, sixth), hits (93, 13th), runs scored (75, 13th) and batting average (.386, 25th).
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The senior's 66 stolen bases marked an OVC single-season record, a single-season UT Martin record (snapping a record that lasted for 40 years) and represented the most swiped bags in NCAA Division I baseball since 2007. He started all 55 games and hit in the leadoff spot in every game recording school records in at-bats (241), runs scored and total bases (150) while also ending the year in the top-five in a single-season in program history in hits (second), doubles (21, second) and RBI's (56, fifth).
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Grines was all over the conference leaderboards leading the league in hits (most in the OVC since 2022), runs scored, doubles, and stolen bases (40 more than anybody else). He ranked top-10 in the conference in batting average (fourth), slugging percentage (.622, seventh), triples (three, sixth), OPS (1.061, eighth), and RBI's (eighth). OVC foes were at the will of the Alexandria, La. native when he was at the plate, in conference play he paced the league in hits (50), runs scored (41) and stolen bases (33) while ranking in the top-10 in batting average (.431, second), on-base percentage (.485, second), at-bats (116, second), OPS (1.235, third), slugging percentage (.750, fourth), home runs (nine, fifth) and RBI's (28, sixth).
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Grines spent two seasons in Northwest Tennessee after transferring from Lurleen B. Wallace CC. He broke the OVC and UT Martin single-game record for stolen bases when he recorded six during the May 3 series finale at Western Illinois. The 5-10, 185-pound outfielder notched 21 doubles and 10 home runs to become the first Skyhawk since 2011 MLB Draft Pick Trey Karlen to have 20+ doubles and 10+ homers in a single season. Overall, he finished the season posting 33 multi-hit games, 15 multi-RBI contests, 18 multi-steal outings and 20 games with multiple runs scored. He owned a season-high 14 game hitting streak from March 24-April 17 and claimed OVC Player of the Week honors on May 4.
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