Brandon Barriera goes to Toronto at No. 23. He’s American Heritage’s 3rd first-round pick
When Brandon Barriera and his family moved from New York to Florida when Barriera was just 8, it was a leap of faith on the surprisingly fluid left arm of the family’s not-yet-a-teenaged son.
On a lark, Barriera tried to throw left-handed and Sergio Barriera, his father, thought he saw some potential there.
He was right. Now, the left-handed pitcher from Plantation American Heritage is headed to the Toronto Blue Jays as the No. 23 overall pick in the first round of the 2022 MLB draft.
Barriera was the third high school pitcher picked on Day 1 of the draft Sunday and became the third American Heritage player to be picked in Round 1 of an MLB draft, joining first basemen Eric Hosmer and Triston Casas. He was also the first player from Broward County picked in this draft and the second from South Florida, behind only Coral Park alumnus Zach Neto.
The pitcher has signed with the Vanderbilt Commodores, but will now have a decision to make. The slotted signing bonus for the 23rd pick is approximately $3.08 million.
Barriera has been one of the best pitchers in Broward since his freshman year. He earned second-team all-county honors from the Miami Herald as a freshman in 2019 and a junior in 2021 — the COVID-19 pandemic cut short his sophomore campaign — and he was a first-team selection as a senior this year despite shutting himself down in April with more than a month left in his season.
Still, he struck out 68 batters and posted a 2.27 ERA in his 37 innings, and touched 99 mph with his fastball. As a lefty, it makes him an especially tantalizing prospect, even though he’s relatively small for a starting pitcher at 6-foot-2 and 180 pounds.
The fastball is only part of Barriera’s package, though. His slider is already a swing-and-miss secondary pitch and scouts are optimistic about his changeup’s potential, too.
This story was originally published July 17, 2022 at 9:36 PM.
