For the fourth consecutive year, a member of the Westfield Starfires was selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, as right-handed pitcher Cole Raymond was taken in the 17th round, 499th overall, by the Los Angeles Angels.
Raymond is the 10th player in franchise history to be selected in the MLB Draft, and the first to be taken while on the active roster.
A native of Bristol, Connecticut, Raymond recently graduated from the Avon Old Farms School in Connecticut, and committed to Georgia Tech University. A fierce fastball that topped out at 95 miles per hour along with a sharp slider and strong changeup helped make Raymond the top-rated right-handed pitching prospect in Connecticut, according to Perfect Game.
The kind of stuff needed to take on more polished hitters was apparent in his six appearances in a Westfield uniform this season. He struck out eight opponents in 5.1 innings, including a pair of strikeouts during the Starfires Summer Classic at the historic Walker Memorial Grandstand at Forest Park in Springfield.
Raymond joins a special group of Starfires players to be drafted that includes the team’s first-ever selection, Reggie Crawford, who was taken in the 1st round in 2022 by the San Francisco Giants, and recent AA call-ups Pat Gallagher and Jackson Hornung, who were selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
Westfield has had at least one player selected in four consecutive drafts.
Raymond and the Starfires next face off against the Vermont Lake Monsters at Dunkin Park in Hartford, Connecticut, home of the Hartford Yard Goats, AA affiliate of MLB’s Colorado Rockies, on Tuesday, July 15. First pitch is at 11:00 a.m. Tickets are still available through the Yard Goats by visiting https://www.milb.com/hartford/tickets/single-game-tickets.
