Players

Kurtis Byrne comes to the American Association after spending his true rookie season with Rocky Mountain in the Pioneer League. He played in 22 games, hitting .333 with four home runs and 26 RBI for Rocky Mountain. Prior to making his pro debut, he spent nine games in the Collegiate Prospect League with the O’Fallon Hoots. In nine games Byrne hit a home run and drove in five, hitting .342.

Byrne played parts of five seasons at Texas Christian University and rotated between catcher and first base during his final season in Fort Worth. He would be named to the All-Big-12 Tournament Team for two consecutive years while smashing two home runs and recording four RBI during TCU’s loss against Kansas. That performance capped off a strong tournament where the senior collected seven total hits. Byrne went 3-for-5 in a win over Kansas State and finished the season hitting .270 for the Frogs. He would lead the team with eight homers and 42 RBI on the season in 2024 while slashing a line of .270/.357/.461.

In 2023 Byrne started 47 games and played in 50 games with 33 starts as the designated hitter for the Frogs. For the season he hit .385 with 55 hits, including nine doubles and a career-high 10 home runs. Byrne was third on the team in homers while slashing a line of .285/.343/.487, and he added 12 multi-hit games along with 11 multi-RBI contests. Byrne reached base in 42 games and had at least one hit in 38 games. He got off to a slow start, hitting .218 through the first 27 games of the season before going on a tear in his final 23 games, going 33-for-92 and raising his average 67 points to climb to a season-high .359.

He would have a big postseason, adding a homer in a win over Kansas State to help TCU advance to the Big 12 Championship game. Byrne then had three hits and scored four runs in the championship game against Oklahoma State. He also drove in two runs in the opening game of the NCAA Fayetteville Regional against Arizona. In the Regional championship game, he went 4-for-5 with a double and a pair of solo home runs against Arkansas. Byrne continued his hot streak with two hits while driving in two runs in the NCAA Fort Worth Super Regional against Indiana State that would send the Horned Frogs to the College World Series. Byrne then recorded three hits and drove in two runs in the College World Series for TCU.

In 2022 Byrne was named Honorable Mention All-Big 12 and 1st-team Academic All-Big 12 in his sophomore season. He hit .291 on the season with a .361 on-base percentage and a .447 slugging percentage and would finish second on the team with 15 doubles. For the season Byrne hit five home runs and knocked in 44 runs.

Byrne made six starts as part of 16 games played during the 2021 Covid season. He boasted a .333 batting average, a .471 on-base percentage, a .556 slugging percentage while reaching safely in nine of 15 games.

The 2020 season saw Byrne play in five games his freshman year in Fort Worth while making four starts in a shortened season—with all four starts coming behind the plate. Byrne made his collegiate debut as the starting catcher in Game 2 of a doubleheader against Kentucky on February 15, drawing two walks in the contest. Byrne would finish his career with TCU hitting .279 slugging 24 home runs with 144 RBI in 180 games. He was also named 1st-Team Academic All-Big 12 three times, including the 2020 Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team.

Byrne is a native of St. Louis, Missouri where he earned four varsity letters at Christian Brothers College High School. He was drafted in the 35th round of the 2019 MLB first-year player draft by the St. Louis Cardinals before choosing to go to TCU. Byrne was ranked as the No. 6 prospect in the state of Missouri by Baseball America and named a Perfect Game Central Region first-team All-American as a senior. He was selected as the Perfect Game National Player of the Year as a junior and led Christian Brothers in batting average (.415), RBI (44) and home runs (seven).