Being the son of a guy who played 16 years in the big leagues doesn’t hurt – but Brady Counsell, son of current Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell, is quickly making a name for himself as a member of the Kansas Jayhawks baseball team.
The Jayhawks have their best 20-game record in program history at 17-3 and the efforts of Counsell, a senior utilityman in his first year in Lawrence after spending three years at Minnesota, are a big reason why.
In college baseball, the Kansas Jayhawks are catching national headlines.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell’s son, Brady, is hitting .329 with five home runs, 25 rbi, 13bb, and just 7k.
They’re off to its best 20-game start in program history at 17-3.
— Dani Wexelman (@DaniWex) March 18, 2025
Counsell entered Tuesday slashing a robust .329/.456/.571 in 70 at-bats, with a minuscule 10 percent strikeout rate. He hasn’t been viewed as a first-round talent, but if he can keep this level of performance up, it won’t take long for his name to start climbing teams’ boards ahead of the 2025 MLB Draft in July.
As I noted, the track record of his father won’t hurt his standing in the eyes of programs across the country. Drafted out of Notre Dame in the 11th round of the 1992 MLB Draft, Counsell went on to become a two-time World Series champion and was the NLCS MVP as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001.
Known more for his, let’s just call it unique, batting stance, Counsell was a reliable contributor for five different MLB teams during his 16 years in the league, including the Brewers, Diamondbacks, Marlins, Rockies and Dodgers, accumulating 22.4 bWAR while lending solid defensive versatility around the infield.
The overwhelming majority of his value came through his defensive efforts – so it’s a nice nod to yesteryear to see that his son is capable of playing all over the diamond. It’s been his offensive performance this season that’s turned heads, though. Recently, he was part of an inning where five consecutive Jayhawks hitters went yard – just the fourth time that’s ever happened in college baseball.
“I got woken up to that,” a proud Counsell said of all the early-morning messages he received after his son made history. “MLB reposted it, ‘SportsCenter’ had it on, the ‘NBC Nighly News’ — someone sent it to me. Lester Holt was talking about it. I mean, if Lester Holt’s talking about it, it’s a big deal!”
It’s too soon to tell what the future holds for Brady Counsell – but he’s been forcing his way into headlines as much as his father lately – a promising sign given the elder Counsell calls the shots for one of the largest franchises in professional sports.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
