After every 25 to 30 at-bats during the season, former Dallas Center-Grimes High School star Taitn Gray jots down some notes in a journal he bought at Walmart. Gray, who is in his first full season of professional baseball in the minor leagues with the Tampa Bay Rays, reflects on how the plate appearances went.
“Literally what I was telling myself what I could remember just so when things aren’t going well, I can always take a look back at that say, ‘This is where I was at my best,’” Gray said in a phone interview with the Des Moines Register on May 27.
There hasn’t been much negative to look back on. The 18-year-old switch-hitter is off to a torrid start at the plate for Tampa Bay’s Single-A affiliate, the Charleston RiverDogs.
“The way I look at it is as, I don’t care who’s really on the mound,” Gray said. “When I walk up to the plate, I’m telling myself that I’m better than that guy. So, really, competition is just competition.”
Gray hit .261/.375/.457 for an .832 OPS in his first 40 games. He leads the team with six homers and three triples to go along with three doubles.
Gray’s statistics are impressive considering he graduated from high school last spring. The Rays selected Gray in the third round with the 86th overall pick in the MLB Draft in July 2025.
After signing with the Rays, Gray spent the rest of the year at the team’s training complex, bridging the time before the fall and some mini camps throughout the offseason like most high school draft picks. The team unleashed him this year and he’s looked every bit the part of a prized prospect.
Going from high school competition to facing professional pitchers hasn’t slowed him down. Gray went 2-for-3 with a double in his first game. He belted his first homer the next day.
“The biggest adjustment has been playing every single day, learning how to play if you’re not 100% physically,” said Gray, who is getting work at first base and designated hitter. “So, you’re going to be beat up a lot more than you would be in a high school season.”
Gray has gotten used to it with much an issue. Part of the reason is that journal, which allows him to look back on how things have gone. Gray doesn’t just write down the positives. He’ll also make note of things that haven’t gone well.
And yes, there have been some frustrating moments.
“I think you’d be surprised,” Gray said with a chuckle.
Gray looks the part, checking in at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds. He also sounds like a big-time professional with that mature outlook. He’s ranked as the 29th-best prospect in Tampa Bay’s organization according to MLB Pipeline.
Although the numbers look great so far, Gray said that’s not what he’s paying attention to or making note of when he makes his journal entries.
“The way I look at my day is, I ask myself, ‘Did I have a plan and did I execute that plan,’” Gray said. “Whatever happens beyond that, happened. I don’t really define my day as a result. That keeps it a lot more level. Even if I have a not great at-bat and somehow I ended up getting a little bloop hit or whatever, the at-bat as a whole, when you look at the big-picture wasn’t necessarily a win. So I’ll take it. But looking back you say, ‘Well, this is where I messed up, this is where I could have been better and go do it next time. Make sure you execute.’”
When it’s all said and done, the journal should make for some interesting reading come October.
“I think it’s going to be cool to look back at the end of the season and see where I started to where I ended,” he said.
Tommy Birch, the Register’s sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He’s the 2018, 2020, 2023 and 2025 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Dallas Center-Grimes alum Taitn Gray thriving in first full pro season
Reporting by Tommy Birch, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
