James Quinn-Irons has a laundry list of accomplishments in his burgeoning baseball career. At George Mason, he etched himself into the record books after a trio of strong seasons in Fairfax. As he transitions to a professional baseball career, he attempts to continue his ascent. 

Quinn-Irons became the earliest Patriot to be selected since Logan Driscoll was picked in the second round in 2019. He was selected in the  5th round, 147th overall, by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2025 MLB Draft. Entering the MLB Draft, Quinn-Irons was ranked as the No. 175 prospect by MLB.com and the No. 112 prospect by ESPN.

Standing at a towering 6’5”, it is hard for Quinn-Irons not to stand out in a crowd. Based on his physical stature alone, he is going to draw immense attention. The George Mason outfielder certainly warranted attention from scouts for more than just his size over his collegiate career. During his career, he hit .371 and had a slugging percentage of .632, which ranks second and fourth all-time, respectively. His 33 career home runs and 160 RBI both tie him for sixth in the record books, while his 58 stolen bases place him at fifth all-time in a career in program history.

His 2025 season was just as historic. His slash line of .419/.523/.734 is awe-inspiring. The former pair of numbers places him third all-time for a single season in GMU history, while the latter is “only” sixth all-time. He added 16 homers in the process and set the single-season record with 85 RBI and 101 hits while tying the record for steals with 36. In addition, Quinn-Irons now ranks second in program history with 74 runs in 2025, just for good measure. 

Quinn-Irons ended his season by being named a First-Team All-American and becoming the first George Mason player to be a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes award, the Heisman Trophy for college baseball. The acclaim is nice for Quinn-Irons, but not something he reads too much into.

“What I did this year is what I expected of myself every year,” said Quinn-Irons. “Of course, I am excited about it, but it’s hard to be shocked when I play to my expectations.”

The Reston native made the decision to attend George Mason for several reasons, but opportunity was arguably the most significant.

“Mason was my only offer to play college baseball,” said Quinn-Irons. “That meant a lot to me to have the faith from the coaching staff… It meant a lot to me to be local and play in front of friends and family during the season.” 

For a player as highly touted as Quinn-Irons, he was given the full “MLB Draft experience,” as he was in contact with regional scouts since early 2025. The traction picked up once again after the season concluded and into the MLB Draft Combine. Quinn-Irons made the trip to Phoenix to provide teams with a reasonable basis for evaluating his measurables and skills. Then came the waiting game. He had to wait for several rounds before the Rays gave him a life-changing phone call.

Despite all of the changes that will come in his life, Quinn-Irons will maintain the same approach at the plate that got him to this point. That approach involves a great deal of relaxation and striving to remain as centered mentally and emotionally as possible.

“I think the biggest key (for me) would be having a calm mental state,” said Quinn-Irons. “It’s really hard to perform during a long season if I am up and down mentally, so I found it was best for me to be calm as much as possible, and that led to consistent success.” 

Quinn-Irons knows that his life has been, in certain ways, upended by being drafted. As much as he wants things to stay the same, that is impossible. Baseball is now his job, not just a hobby he pursues because of his immense talent. However, that is a step that he is ready for and all of the challenges that come with it.

“No matter how I feel mentally or physically, there is always something to do that I can do to help myself,” said Quinn-Irons. “Being able to train every day or hit or just be active is huge. There’s just the consistency of always making decisions with my goal in mind.” 

While Quinn-Irons will be taking his talents down to Tampa to begin his road to The Show, he has the entire Reston and Fairfax communities standing behind him. For some, that type of pressure can force someone to cave in and get buried. Quinn-Irons, however, hopes to take the pressure and create a diamond out of himself as a professional baseball player.