Brad Lord
is Wakulla’s first major leaguer
By WILLIAM SNOWDEN
Editor
On Major League Baseball’s opening day – Thursday, March 27 – pitcher Brad Lord was in the bullpen for the Washington Nationals.
He is the first Wakulla baseball player to make it to a big league roster.
Lord, 24, graduated from Wakulla High School in 2018, played college ball at the University of South Florida, and was drafted in the 18th round by the Nationals in 2022 and played in the minor leagues for the past couple of years for the Harrisburg Senators (where he was twice pitcher of the month) before moving up to the Rochester Red Wings.
In January, he was invited to spring training with the Nationals.
The right-hander has a 98 mph fastball and, according to MLB.com, pitched 13 1/2 innings with eight strikeouts in spring training.
He was on the mound in relief on Sunday and pitched one inning, giving up two walks and one hit, according to MLB.com.
Retired Wakulla High baseball coach Keith Anderson, who coached Lord from the age of 9 through high school, called Lord “a great kid – just quiet, hardworking… He just wanted to win.”
In Lord’s senior year at Wakulla he was the All-Big Bend pitcher of the year and also named the Florida Athletic Coaches Association player of the year.
After graduating from Wakulla, Lord went to Santa Fe College in 2019-20, and transferred to the University of South Florida in 2021-22.
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