Ryan James Vilade (born February 18, 1999) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

Amateur career

Vilade was raised in Frisco, Texas and attended

Frisco High School Frisco High School is a public high school located in Frisco, Texas and is a part of the Frisco Independent School District. In 2015, the school was rated " Met Standard" by the Texas Education Agency. History Frisco High School was founded in ...

as a freshman, sophomore, and junior. In July 2016, after his junior year, he played in the Under Armour All-America Baseball Game at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago Wh ...

and won the Home Run Derby with 18 home runs. That fall, he was a member of the 18U

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

. He moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma before his senior year after his father became an assistant coach for the Oklahoma State Cowboys baseball team. After moving, he enrolled and graduated from Stillwater High School in Stillwater. As a senior, he was named the Oklahoma Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year after batting .410 with seven home runs and 28 RBIs along with slugging .778. He committed to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Professional career

Colorado Rockies

The

selected Vilade in the second round, with the 48th overall selection, of the

2017 Major League Baseball draft The 2017 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 12, 2017. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first 36 picks, including the first round and compensatory picks, were broadcast on MLB Network on J ...

. He signed for $1.4 million. After signing, he made his professional debut with the

Grand Junction Rockies The Grand Junction Jackalopes are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Grand Junction, Colorado, and play their home games ...

of the Rookie-level Pioneer League. He hit a

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

in his first at-bat and was named to the All-Star game. He spent the whole season with Grand Junction, slashing .308/.438/.496 with five home runs and 21 RBIs in 33 games. He spent 2018 with the Asheville Tourists of the Class A

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

where he batted .274 with five home runs, 44 RBIs, and 17 stolen bases in 124 games. Vilade spent 2019 with the Lancaster JetHawks of the Class A-Advanced

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...

, slashing .303/.367/.466 with 12 home runs, 71 RBIs, and 24 stolen bases. He led the minor leagues with 13 sacrifice flies. Prior to the 2020 season, which was eventually cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Vilade began periodically playing in the outfield in addition to shortstop and third base. To begin the 2021 season, Vilade was assigned to the Albuquerque Isotopes of the

Triple-A West The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Bas ...

. Defensively, he moved to left field and right field. In June, Vilade was selected to play in the

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League ...

at Coors Field. Over 108 games with the Isotopes, Vilade slashed .286/.339/.420 with seven home runs, 43 RBIs, 27 doubles, and 12 stolen bases. On September 18, 2021, Colorado selected Vilade's contract and promoted him to the active roster to make his MLB debut that day versus the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

at Nationals Park. He started in left field and went hitless over four at-bats. He was selected to play in the Arizona Fall League for the

Salt River Rafters The Salt River Rafters are a baseball team that plays in the East Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick near Scottsdale, Arizona. The ballpark is also the spring training facility o ...

after the season where he was named to the Fall Stars Game. Vilade opened the 2022 season in the minor leagues with the Isotopes.

Pittsburgh Pirates

On November 9, 2022, the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

claimed Vilade off of waivers. Vilade was optioned to the Triple-A

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory Field, which open ...

to begin the 2023 season. He was designated for assignment on March 30, 2023. On April 4, Vilade cleared waivers and was sent outright to Indianapolis. He played in 122 games for Indianapolis, batting .271/.370/.382 with 6 home runs, 56 RBI, and 7 stolen bases. Vilade elected free agency following the season on November 6.

Detroit Tigers

On November 21, 2023, Vilade signed a minor league contract with the

. On May 7, 2024, the Tigers selected Valade's contract and he made his first major league start since 2021, where he recorded his first two hits and first three RBI.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vilade, Ryan 1999 births Living people Albuquerque Isotopes players Arizona Complex League Rockies players Asheville Tourists players Baseball players from Tarrant County, Texas Colorado Rockies players Detroit Tigers players Grand Junction Rockies players Lancaster JetHawks players Major League Baseball outfielders Sportspeople from Grapevine, Texas Salt River Rafters players Toledo Mud Hens players