Ball in the family for Combine prospect with two (!) MLB grandfathers
PHOENIX -- It’s not uncommon to see a top baseball prospect with a father, grandfather or uncle who played in the Majors. Then you have more unique stories, like Caden Sorrell’s.
The Texas high school prospect comes from a line of athletes with a family tree that includes not one, but two grandfathers who played in the big leagues.
“It's kind of just crazy to have my mom's side playing in the Major Leagues and my dad's side also,” said Sorrell, who is participating in the MLB Draft Combine at Chase Field this week. “I feel like that’s where I get my passion for the game.”
“When I was growing up, I just heard stories about them all the time,” he continued. “They're very competitive. They liked to compare each other all the time. It's fun to be around to get that kind of experience.”
A powerful left-handed hitter with above-average speed, Sorrell has put himself in a position to join the family business of professional baseball. He’s ranked by MLB Pipeline as the No. 76 Draft prospect in this year’s class.
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When his parents met for the first time at a bar called Kahoots in Poway, Calif., they didn’t know about their shared baseball story.
But what a story it is.
Caden’s paternal grandfather, Billy Sorrell, was the 10,000th player in MLB history. He played three seasons with the Phillies, Giants and Royals. Caden was 2 years old when Billy passed away, but his father still has mementos from Billy’s career, which includes a baseball card with Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins.
Caden’s maternal grandfather, Tom Griffin, was drafted fourth overall by the Astros in 1966, where he spent most of his 14-year career. Griffin was at Chase Field to watch Sorrell take batting practice on Tuesday.
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“He’s taught me a lot about his experiences in the Minor Leagues,” Caden said. “I think he’s all for playing pro ball as soon as possible.”
Caden isn’t old enough to remember the interactions between his grandfathers, but he’s been told about the friendly banter they had.
“I know the two of them used to kind of go back and forth between who was better and who was worse,” he said. “It's kind of hard to determine that when one was a hitter and one was a pitcher and, unfortunately, they never got to face each other. Maybe that would settle something.”
Griffin said he had the utmost respect for Billy Sorrell.
“We did have some fun times talking about baseball and then getting to go to Spring Training,” Griffin said.
Caden’s father, Greg Sorrell, was a 37th-round pick by the Red Sox in the 1990 Draft out of high school, but he opted to play college ball at University of the Pacific and eventually at Mary-Hardin Baylor. Greg suffered a career-ending injury when he collided with an outfielder in a college game.
If Caden chooses not to sign, he is committed to Texas A&M. No matter what route he ends up taking, Griffin believes that his grandson’s commitment to the game will make him stand out. Griffin has seen that tenacity first-hand, watching him wake up at 5 a.m. to develop his strength and staying late to fine-tune his overall game.
Griffin remembers that most of his grandkids wanted to hit popular tourist attractions like Disneyland and Yosemite, while Caden wanted to visit every big league ballpark in California.
“There've been so many guys that I looked at that had what I thought was better talent than I did, but never made it because they didn't have [the dedication] inside of them,” Griffin said. “His dedication has been great from the time I can remember, to now.”