Pitcher Gavin Giese devoted years to pursuing his dream of playing professional baseball. That pursuit paid off this past Saturday, July 11, when the Tampa Bay Rays selected the recent Dana Hills High grad with the 85th overall pick in the third round of the 2026 MLB Draft.<\/p>\n
Surrounded by family, close friends and coaches, Giese, 18, watched years of hard work culminate in one unforgettable moment. The emotions quickly set in when his name was announced.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just speechless, to be honest,\u201d Giese told the Dana Point Times about the moment he learned he was drafted. \u201cThere\u2019s so much hard work going into that \u2014 a lot of late nights and early mornings working out to get better every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the lead-up to the draft, he met with several teams and participated in the MLB Draft Combine in Arizona, where prospects tested, underwent interviews and medical evaluations. Although it was a lengthy process, it was undoubtedly worthwhile.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Dana Hills right-hander Gavin Giese delivers during a home game this past spring. He was the 85th overall pick of the MLB Draft, by the Tampa Bay Rays, on July 11.<\/p>\n
Photo: Don August<\/p>\n
The 6-foot-3, 190-pound right-hander originally was committed to continue his career at the University of San Diego \u2014 his father\u2019s alma mater. He\u2019ll now join an organization that is known for its strong development of young pitchers. Giese is excited about the Rays\u2019 landing spot and is eager to showcase his stuff on the mound, consistently fill the strike zone and strike out batters.<\/p>\n
Dolphins head coach Tom Faris sees a lot of untapped potential. \u201cHe was a really phenomenal high school pitcher,\u201d Faris told Dana Point Times. \u201cHe has a tremendous amount of upside, but the difference between him and a lot of kids is his diligent work ethic.\u201d<\/p>\n
After spending the last couple of years with the pitcher, Faris noted that his arm strength has continued to improve, thanks to his commitment to the weight room, and he has enhanced his overall conditioning.<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t the first time a pitcher from Dana Hills has been selected early in the MLB Draft. In 2017, Hans Crouse was drafted in the second round (66th overall) by the Texas Rangers. Almost a decade later, Giese will look to make a name for himself on the next level.<\/p>\n
During his senior year, he posted superlative numbers; a 6-2 record with a 1.76 ERA and 87 strikeouts in 55.2 innings. In his junior year, he posted a remarkable 1.13 ERA with 42 strikeouts. Beyond the statistics, scouts were drawn to Giese\u2019s combination of size, fastball velocity and his pitching arsenal.<\/p>\n
His pitches have been consistently clocked at 93-94 mph. This past season, he reached 96 mph on his fastball, which he considers his strength, along with throwing \u201ca ton of strikes.\u201d Giese added that his slider complements his fastball at the top of the zone, and he also throws a changeup with good drop and depth.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a bulldog on the mound,\u201d he said when asked about his pitching mindset.<\/p>\n
Growing up, baseball was always part of Giese\u2019s life. His father, Dan, pitched three seasons in the major leagues with the San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees and Oakland Athletics after being selected in the late rounds of the 1999 MLB Draft. Following his playing career, he became a scout.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was around the game my whole life,\u201d Giese said, reflecting on his upbringing in a baseball family. His father never pressured him to pursue a career in the sport, but ever since Gavin saw him play on TV, it has been his dream to follow in his father\u2019s footsteps.<\/p>\n
That dream is becoming a reality, and he is one step closer to the big leagues.<\/p>\n
Giese said that his dad has been \u201can awesome help\u201d in his career, advising him on how to approach the mental aspect of baseball and improving his mechanics. He told Gavin, \u201cIf you\u2019re going to do this for a living, you\u2019ve got to love it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Faris believes having someone who has experienced professional baseball firsthand has given the 18-year-old another valuable resource throughout his development.<\/p>\n
Looking back on his time with the Dolphins, Giese shared that he had an incredible experience with his teammates over the past few seasons, likening the team\u2019s camaraderie to a \u201cbrotherhood.\u201d He expressed his gratitude to Faris and the entire coaching staff for contributing to his growth and development.<\/p>\n
Asked what type of player and person the Tampa Bay Rays should expect from Giese, Faris told Dana Point Times, \u201cThey\u2019re not going to get a better soldier. He\u2019s going to go in there and work his butt off. They\u2019re not going to have to babysit him. He\u2019s going to do what he\u2019s supposed to do, and probably even more. He takes pride in everything that he does within the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n
Faris advised Gavin to stay humble, understand there will be highs and lows, trust his abilities, and \u201cthe rest will take care of itself.\u201d DP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pitcher Gavin Giese devoted years to pursuing his dream of playing professional baseball. That pursuit paid off this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":754018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2377],"tags":[5,93572,93571,64630,4,1586,297,2550,68,2551,2549,93573],"class_list":["post-754017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa-bay-rays","tag-baseball","tag-dana-hills-high-school","tag-gavin-giese","tag-hans-crouse","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-draft","tag-rays","tag-tampa-bay","tag-tampa-bay-rays","tag-tampabay","tag-tampabayrays","tag-tom-faris"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116934362306754414","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=754017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/754018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=754017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=754017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=754017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}