GBR’s Quinn-Irons, Clark selected in 2025 MLB Draft

Two Great Britain Baseball players were selected in the annual Major League Baseball Draft on Monday, 14 July. Outfielder James Quinn-Irons was selected in the fifth round (147th overall) by the Tampa Bay Rays, while Wallace Clark was drafted in Round 9 (273rd overall) by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Quinn-Irons is coming off his junior year at George Mason, where he was named a semi-finalist for USA Baseball’s Golden Spikes Award as the nation’s top amateur baseball player, and is the current Atlantic-10 Conference Player of the Year. Quinn-Irons hails from Reston, Virginia, and attended the 2025 MLB Draft Combine at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona in June – the same venue where GB Baseball played in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Clark was born in London and attended Duke University for two years after transferring from the University of Oklahoma. The power-hitting Wallace plays multiple infield positions and comes from a baseball bloodline; his father, Tim, played in the Cincinnati Reds organisation. Clark lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Both players were members of the 2024 Great Britain U-23 World Cup roster that competed in Shaoxing, China last September, with both players key offensive contributors. Each bat .280 and drove in four runs for the tournament, with Quinn-Irons adding a key home run against South Africa. Both players also tallied three doubles, to lead Great Britain and tied for second in the tournament.

U-23 Head Coach Jonathon Cramman was ecstatic for both players: “I am absolutely delighted for James and Wallace. The coaching staff at last year’s WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup, myself included, were thrilled with their on-field performance and professional work ethic – but even more so by what great teammates and ambassadors for our programme they are. I cannot wait to watch their professional journey and look forward to seeing them in a Great Britain uniform again.”

Congratulations James and Wallace!