WVU Sports Hall of Fame

Inducted: 2020

Written by Bryan Messerly

Collegiate: Starting infielder (2B, SS) for WVU from 2008-10 … during his tenure, Gyorko played in and started 168 career games, collecting 281 hits in 696 at-bats, good for a .404 career batting average … his career totals also include 207 runs, 73 doubles, five triples, 35 home runs, 113 runs batted in and six stolen bases … accumulated a .400 batting average or hire in two of his three years at WVU … in the record books, Gyorko is first in career extra-base hits (113) and batting average (.404), tied for first in career home runs (35), second in career runs (207), RBIs (178), doubles (73), assists (475) and total bases (469), third in career hits (281), singles (248) and slugging percentage (.674), fifth in career on-base percentage (.470), tied for fifth in career sacrifice flies (14) and tied for seventh in career walks (92) … garnered 10 All-American honors during his career … became the 68th Mountaineer to be drafted in the MLB Draft in 2010.

As a freshman in 2008, Gyorko batted .409, collecting 95 hits in 232 at-bats, including 17 doubles, three triples and eight home runs … he also drove in 63 and scored 62 runs as a freshman … his 95 hits are the third-most by a Mountaineer in a single season … helped guide WVU to a 35-21 overall record … Gyorko capped his freshman season by being named a Second Team All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and a Freshman All-American by the NCBWA, Rivals.com and Louisville Slugger … in addition to his All-America honors, Gyorko was selected as the 2008 Rookie of the Year by the Big East Conference and was named to the All-ECAC First Team, All-Big East Second Team and All-Big East Rookie Team.

As a sophomore in 2009, Gyorko took over as the starting shortstop for the Mountaineers and collected 96 hits in 228 at-bats, posting a .421 average and gathered eight home runs, 28 doubles and one triple … he also scored 74 runs, the third-best mark in a single season, and drove in 58 … his 96 hits are the second-most by a Mountaineer in a single season … additionally, Gyorko’s .421 batting average holds the record for the seventh-highest batting average in a single season … led WVU to 37-18 record, including a 17-10 Big East record … Gyorko was named a Second Team All-American by Louisville Slugger and a Third Team All-American by the NCBWA as a sophomore ... Gyorko was also named a Brooks Wallace Award finalist in 2009, given to the best shortstop in Division 1 … he set WVU’s single-season record for doubles (28) and his 37 extra-base hits were good for fourth on the single-season list in 2009.

As a junior in 2010, Gyorko batted .381, collecting 90 hits in 236 at-bats, and hit 19 home runs, tying the program record for the most home runs in a season … he also scored 71 and drove in 57 runs for the Mountaineers … additionally, he hit 28 doubles, tying his own WVU single-season record, and one triple to set the WVU record for most extra-base hits in a single season (48) … his 71 runs in 2010 are tied for the fourth-best mark in a single season … Gyorko also drew 43 walks as a junior, the second-most in a single season … he collected 177 total bases as a junior, setting the WVU record for the most total bases in a single season … he led the team in batting average, home runs and RBIs as a junior … the hometown product capped his final season by winning the Brooks Wallace Award, the first in WVU history … Gyorko also was named a First Team All-American by the NCBWA and a Second Team All-American by Louisville Slugger, the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and Baseball America … was also named the NCBWA District II Player of the Year and was selected to the All-East Region and All-Big East First Team.

Professional: Selected by the San Diego Padres in the second round (59th overall) of the June, 2010 First-Year Player Draft … made his Major League debut on April 1, 2013 as the Opening Day second baseman for San Diego … in 2013, Gyorko finished 6th in the National League Rookie of the Year Voting, leading all qualifying Major league rookies in home runs, extra-base hits (49), total bases (216), on-base percentage (.301), slugging (.444), and OPS (.745) while also ranking among rookie leaders in several other offensive categories, including RBI (2nd, 63), doubles (3rd, 26), runs scored (3rd, 62) and hits (5th, 121) … played in 364 games with the Padres in three years, accumulating 309 hits in 1,307 at-bats, including 49 home runs, 58 doubles, one triple and 171 runs batted in … he also garnered a .236 batting average, a .293 on-base percentage and collected 516 total bases … led the Padres in home runs (49), runs batted in (171), hits (309), doubles (58) and walks (96) from his Major League debut in 2013 through 2015 … set the San Diego Padres single-season home run mark by
a second baseman in 2013 when he swatted 23, becoming the first rookie to lead the Padres in home runs since Nate Colbert did so by hitting 24 in 1969 … is the Padres all-time leader for home runs by a second baseman with 40 … posted a .992 fielding percentage at second base his rookie season, the highest ever in MLB by a rookie second baseman … was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals on December 8, 2015 … has hit 61 home runs since becoming a member of the Cardinals (2016-18), second most behind infielder Matt Carpenter (80) … became the first player in Cardinals franchise history to start and homer while playing at all four infield spots in 2016 … in 2016, hit 30 home runs with only nine doubles to become one of just two players in Major League history with 30 or more HR, fewer than 10 doubles and 400 AB or less, joining Mark McGwire (2000, STL) … has the highest AB/HR ratio among active players against
his former team (Padres) at 6.56 AB/HR, ahead of Giancarlo Stanton (8.92), Stephen Piscotty (9.00), Bryce Harper (11.78) and Nelson Cruz/J.D. Martinez (12.20) … Gyorko has played in more than 700 career games and has more than 600 hits, both are second-most in WVU history.

Sports Awards/Honors: Athletic Director’s Academic Honor Roll … Big East Academic All-Star.

2010:
• NCBWA First Team All-American
• Louisville Slugger, ABCA, Baseball America Second Team All-American
• Preseason Second Team All-American (NCBWA, Louisville Slugger)
• Brooks Wallace Award Winner
• Collegiate Baseball and College Baseball Foundation Player of the Week (4/12/2010)
• NCBWA District II Player of the Year
• All-East Region First Team
• All-Big East First Team

2009:
• Louisville Slugger Second Team All-American
• NCBWA Third Team All-American
• Preseason Second Team All-American (NCBWA)
• Brooks Wallace Award Finalist
• Brooks Wallace Award Watch List
• NCBWA District II Player of the Year
• All-East Region Second Team
• All-Big East First Team

2008:
• NCBWA Second Team All-American
• NCBWA, Baseball America, Louisville Slugger, Perfect Game and D1Baseball.com Freshman All-American
• All-ECAC First Team
• Big East Conference Rookie of the Year
• All-Big East Second Team
• All-Big East Rookie Team

Personal: Graduated from University High School in Morgantown, where he was a four-time All-Conference and three-time All-State honoree … helped lead University to a West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission (WVSSAC) State Championship in 2004 and 2007 … also lettered in basketball in high school and was named first-team All-State … left West Virginia as the school’s all-time leader in career batting (.404), doubles (73), extra base hits (113) and tied for first with 52 home runs … his older brother, Scott, played linebacker for the West Virginia University football team (2001-04) … he and his wife, Karley, have twin boys, Brody and Kadin, and a daughter, Brooklyn … resides in Morgantown, West Virginia … he and his family made a major contribution to West Virginia University Children’s Capital Campaign in 2018.