Zach Ehrhard knew the Red Sox had serious interest in him before they drafted him in the 13th round out of Paul R. Wharton High in Tampa, Fla., in 2021.
But Ehrhard wasn’t as certain about Boston’s interest level three years later when he again was eligible to be drafted following his junior year at Oklahoma State.
“The first time I got drafted, the Red Sox were really the main and kind of the only team that showed a lot of interest in me in that I was expecting a call from,” Ehrhard said by phone earlier this week. “But the second time around I had a lot of interest from multiple other teams and I really hadn’t heard much from the Red Sox.”
The Red Sox liked him so much that they drafted him a second time. Boston selected Ehrhard, a 22-year-old outfielder, in the fourth round (115th overall) last July.
“Maybe they just knew they wanted me and didn’t feel the need to approach me but I actually was not expecting it as much the second time around,” Ehrhard said.
Ehrhard has been an on-base machine so far in his first full professional season. He’s batting .305 with a .442 on-base percentage in 27 games (120 plate appearances) for High-A Greenville. He has almost as many walks (23) as strikeouts (26).
The right-handed hitter considered signing with the Red Sox out of high school in ’21.
“But I decided against it because I really was excited about going to college and playing college baseball,” Ehrhard said. “And it just seemed to be how it worked out. As we can see, it was meant to be that I was meant to be a Red Sox.”
Ehrhard is one level from Double-A Portland — and he was actually in Portland, Maine, when Boston selected him last July. His 26-year-old brother, Drew Ehrhard, plays for the Portland Sea Dogs. Drew signed with Boston as an undrafted free agent out of Division II Tampa in July 2023.
“We were done with college baseball and so I was at home and I wanted him (Drew) to be a part of the experience,” Zach said. “I wanted the whole family to be together. So we all made the trip to Portland to go be with him.”
The family was at Drew’s apartment when Zach’s name got called. It was during the Eastern League All-Star break and so Drew had a few days off. They celebrated with dinner at Texas Roadhouse.
“It was a really good day all around,” Drew said last August.
The possibility of the Red Sox picking his brother was in the back of Drew’s mind after they had done it three years earlier.
“We were kind of all like, ‘Man, how cool would it be if it happened again?’” Drew said. “That fourth round came around and then the phone rang and it was the Red Sox. It was just an incredibly special moment for our family right then. And I have a feeling there are going to be a lot more special moments here in the future.”
Zach is one promotion away from being teammates with Drew.
“I would love that,” Zach said. “ We’ve already talked about it a bunch because we got to be on the same team in spring training a couple of times and that was a lot of fun. So hopefully we get to do it again.”
The Red Sox are working with Ehrhard to increase his power. He has yet to hit a home run. He’s slugging .389 with eight doubles, 14 RBIs, 18 runs and a .831 OPS. He had three doubles in 22 games last year after Boston promoted him straight to Greenville 10 days after he signed his contract.
“I’m definitely a more contact, bat-to-ball oriented guy,” he said. “And with the Red Sox, they’re trying to help me kinda step into more of the power that I have — that I know I have.”
Ehrhard showed that power potential in his final year at Oklahoma State. He batted .331 with a .458 on-base percentage, .627 slugging percentage, 1.085 OPS, 14 homers, 25 doubles, one triple, 57 RBIs, 75 runs, 54 walks and 36 strikeouts in 61 games (300 plate appearances).
“I was able to (tap) into it my last year of college it seemed like but they’re really trying to help me be more consistent with that,” Ehrhard said. “But the main thing that defines me is just being a competitor. I’ve always been really good at just competing with the pitcher and fighting even when I get to two strikes. Not being a guy who caves in and strikes out very easily — and just putting the bat to ball when I need to.”
Drew described Zach as “a true Swiss Army Knife” who uses his athleticism.
“He’s incredibly strong and incredibly fast,” Drew said. “He has a great arm. There’s just so much that he’s able to do because of how much of a pure athlete he is. It’s a testament to his passion, his drive, his work ethic, his dedication. He’s always trying to better himself and it shows out on the field.”
The Red Sox want Zach to more frequently pull the ball and hit it in the air.
“There’s definitely an art to it,” he said. “It doesn’t happen naturally all the time.”
Drew added, “He has one of the most incredible eyes at the plate that I’ve ever seen. Some of the pitches I see him spit on are just barely outside of the zone. And for him to be able to recognize those and see when it’s a good pitch in the zone, it’s really impressive to watch.”
Zach still knows the importance of continuing to do what he does best even as he works to add more consistent power to his game.
“If a guy throws me a great slider low and away, it’s gonna be hard to hit that ball for a home run to the left side,” he said. “So sometimes you gotta take your base hit to the right side.”
Zach and Drew’s dad Rod Ehrhard was a catcher in the Yankees minor league system from 1987-90. Zach said his dad has been his hitting coach since the beginning.
“I still go to him for advice nowadays,” he said. “And Drew, I’ve always just tried to watch and mirror the way he’s played the game because he always plays hard and he always gives it all he has. I’ve watched him ever since I was a kid. I was always going to his baseball games. I’d be in the dugout just watching him and … wanting to be like him.”
Wade Boggs was Drew’s biggest advocate
Wade Boggs coached both Drew and Zach at Paul R. Wharton High in Tampa, Fla.
“He is a great man and he’s always been so supportive of both me and Drew,” Zach said.
Boggs quoted a May 18, 2023 tweet about Drew becoming the all-time Sunshine State Conference hits leader. Boggs wrote, “Needs to get drafted. The kid can play.”
Boggs was one of Drew’s biggest advocates before the 2023 Draft. He has tweeted about his former player several times.
Drew remembers back as a freshman in high school when he wasn’t having the best day while the team did infield/outfield drills.
Boggs stopped the practice. He walked out, put his hand on Drew’s shoulder and gave him a simple message: “Breathe. You belong here. Just trust yourself and you’re going to be just fine.”
“I kind of carried that with me forever,” Drew said. “And from that day on, he’s been such a huge influence offensively, defensively and just knowing the game.”
Drew spent six years playing Division II baseball. The Red Sox were the only team to show interest in him as an undrafted free agent.
“I am extremely proud of him because he has shown so much mental and emotional endurance through this whole process,” Zach said about Drew. “Because when it should have been his time back during his junior year of college when it would’ve been like his prime, his year to be drafted, it was when COVID happened. It was in 2020. It was a five round draft, and he just wasn’t quite a top five round guy. So he had to keep grinding his way through it. … You play the hand you’re dealt and Drew has absolutely played the hand he‘s dealt.
“He’s taken everything, all the hits,” Zach added. “He’s taken everything he’s had to face and he is made the best of it and I’m extremely proud of him for making the most of all that he’s got.”
