Texas A&M southpaw Ryan Prager selected in ninth round by Cleveland

Another big day for an Aggie ace.

On Monday, Texas A&M left-handed pitcher Ryan Prager was selected by the Cleveland Guardians in the ninth round and 282nd overall.

Prager becomes the seventh Aggie off the board in the 2025 MLB Draft. He is the second Aggie to be taken by Cleveland, joining Jace LaViolette, who was a first-rounder at 27th overall.

This is the second time in as many years that he has been selected. Prager elected not to sign a year ago after the Los Angeles Angels took him in the third round, announcing his return to Texas A&M on July 24, 2024.

Despite possessing an unassuming high-80s to low-90s heater, the Dallas Hillcrest product enjoyed an impressive and memorable three-year career in Maroon & White.

Missing the entirety of the 2023 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, Prager is one of four Aggies (Chris Cortez, Ryan Targac, Brad Rudis) to appear in multiple Men’s College World Series as A&M made trips to Omaha in 2022 and 2024.

As a redshirt junior in 2025, the southpaw was 4-4 in 15 starts with a 4.21 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP across 83.1 innings pitched.

On March 7, Prager became the 21st member of A&M’s 200-strikeout club with a punchout of New Mexico State’s Jonatan Clough. His 250 career strikeouts rank 12th in school history, just behind John Doxakis’ 258 and just ahead of Clint Thomas’ 247.

In his best outing this spring, No. 18 went head-to-head with first-rounder Kade Anderson of LSU and allowed just one run across seven innings in a 3-1 victory on May 3.

Of course, A&M’s 2025 campaign paled in comparison to 2024, and Prager’s brilliance was on full display as the Aggies came tantalizingly close to winning it all a year ago.

A second-team All-American by both D1Baseball and the NCBWA in 2024, Prager was 9-1 with a 2.95 ERA in 19 starts. He struck out 124 batters in 97.2 innings.

His best performance in Maroon & White came that June in his return to the Charles Schwab Field Omaha mound on June 17. Facing Kentucky in the Men’s College World Series, Prager carried a no-hitter into the seventh before departing after 6.2 innings of scoreless ball as the Aggies defeated the Wildcats, 5-1.

Prager will likely leave Aggieland with of 14-9 record and a 3.93 ERA across 240.1 innings pitched in 52 appearances.

Ryan Brauninger’s scout of Ryan Prager

“Has unique metrical outliers despite the fastball velocity being below what is typically seen from front-line SEC arms. Release height and angle jump out in the analytics. Those data pieces allow him to have more success with the fastball in the zone (especially up) than anticipated. Changeup has grown into a competitive pitch. Slider shows good depth at times, but will flatten out. Strike-thrower that's wired the right way. Incredibly intelligent on and off the field. Took a step back this spring, which threw some wrenches in his evaluation.”