West Virginia University Athletics

Jedd Gyorko garnered 10 All-America baseball honors during his outstanding career from 2008-10 and has since been an eight-year Major League Baseball player.

While at WVU, the Morgantown, West Virginia, native started 168 games at second base and shortstop, ollecting 281 hits in 696 at-bats, good for a .404 career batting average. His career totals include 207 runs, 73 doubles, five triples, 35 home runs, 178 runs batted in and six stolen bases. Gyorko hit .400 or higher in two of his three years at WVU.

In the WVU record books, Gyorko is first in career extra-base hits (113) and batting average (.404), tied for first in career home runs (35), second in career runs (207), RBIs (178), doubles (73), assists (475) and total bases (469), third in career hits (281), singles (248) and slugging percentage (.674), fifth in career on-base percentage (.470), tied for fifth in career sacrifice flies (14) and tied for seventh in career walks (92).

As a junior in 2010, Gyorko batted .381, collecting 90 hits in 236 at-bats, while slugging 19 home runs, tying the program record for the most in a season. He also scored 71 runs and drove in 57 for the Mountaineers. 

Additionally, he hit 28 doubles, tying his own WVU single-season record, and one triple to set the WVU record for most extra-base hits in a single season (48). His 71 runs in 2010 are tied for the fourth-best mark in a single season. Gyorko also drew 43 walks as a junior, the second-most in a single season. He collected 177 total bases as a junior, setting the WVU record for the most total bases in a single season. He led the team in batting average, home runs and RBIs that season.

Gyorko capped his final season by winning the Brooks Wallace Award, the first in WVU history. Gyorko also was named a First Team All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and a Second Team All-American by Louisville Slugger, the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and Baseball America. He was named the NCBWA District II Player of the Year and was selected to the All-East Region and All-Big East First Team.

As a sophomore in 2009, Gyorko took over as the starting shortstop and collected 96 hits in 228 at-bats for a .421 average with eight home runs, 28 doubles and one triple. He also scored 74 runs, the third-best mark in a single season, and drove in 58. His 96 hits are the second-most by a Mountaineer in a single season. 

Additionally, Gyorko’s .421 batting average is the seventh-highest batting mark in a single season at WVU. Gyorko was named a Second Team All-American by Louisville Slugger and a Third Team All-American by the NCBWA. Gyorko also was named WVU’s first-ever Brooks Wallace Award finalist in 2009. He set WVU’s single-season record for doubles (28) and his 37 extra-base hits were good for fourth on the single-season list in 2009.

As a freshman in 2008, Gyorko batted .409, collecting 95 hits in 232 at-bats, including 17 doubles, three triples and eight home runs. He also drove in 63 runs and scored 62 runs. His 95 hits were the third-most by a Mountaineer in a single season. Gyorko capped his freshman season by being named a Second Team All-American by the NCBWA and a Freshman All-American by the NCBWA, Rivals.com and Louisville Slugger. In addition to his All-America honors, Gyorko was selected as the 2008 Rookie of the Year by the Big East Conference and was named to the All-ECAC First Team, All-Big East Second Team and All-Big East Rookie Team.

Gyorko became the 68th Mountaineer to be taken in the 2010 MLB Draft, selected by the San Diego Padres in the second round (59th overall). He made his Major League debut on April 1, 2013, as the team’s Opening Day second baseman. In 2013, Gyorko finished sixth in the National League Rookie of the Year voting, leading all qualifying Major League rookies in home runs (23), extra-base hits (49), total bases (216), on-base percentage (.301), slugging (.444) and OPS (.745). He also ranked among rookie leaders in several other offensive categories, including RBIs (2nd, 63), doubles (3rd, 26), runs scored (3rd, 62) and hits (5th, 121).

Gyorko played in 364 games with the Padres in three years, accumulating 309 hits in 1,307 at-bats, including 49 home runs, 58 doubles, one triple and 171 runs batted in. He led the Padres in home runs (49), runs batted in (171), hits (309), doubles (58) and walks (96) from his Major League debut in 2013 through 2015. Gyorko set the San Diego Padres single-season home run mark by a second baseman in 2013, when he swatted 23, becoming the first rookie to lead the Padres in home runs. He is San Diego’s all-time leader for home runs by a second baseman with 40. Gyorko posted a .992 fielding percentage at second base his rookie season, the highest ever in MLB by a rookie second baseman.

Gyorko was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in 2015. He hit 61 home runs with the Cardinals (2016-18), second most behind infielder Matt Carpenter during that time. Gyorko became the first player in Cardinals franchise history to start and homer while playing at all four infield spots in 2016. Also in 2016, he hit a career-high 30 home runs with only nine doubles to become one of just two players in Major League history with 30 or more homers, fewer than 10 doubles and 400 at-bats or less, joining Mark McGwire (2000, STL).

In 2019, Gyorko was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, playing in 24 games. In early 2020, he signed a contract with the Milwaukee Brewers with a club option for 2021.

In May 2020, Gyorko completed his Regents Bachelor of Arts degree from WVU. He was inducted into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame and Mountaineer Legends Society in 2020.