South Carolina baseball alum Jonah Bride was a dependable player for the Gamecocks. He spent three seasons in Columbia after one year at Neosho County Community College, and he was the team's primary starter at third base (with a few cameos at second base) from 2016-2018.
Nicknamed the Owasso Walloper by the late, great Tommy Moody, Bride finished his Carolina career with the 2nd-most HBPs and was a consistent threat to get on base or drive in his teammates. He made the All-SEC Tournament team back in 2017.
This offseason, Bride was traded from the Oakland Athletics to the Miami Marlins. He was selected by the A's in the 2018 MLB Draft, so it was his first time away from the organization that gave him his professional start. The 2024 season has been the best so far for Bride as, despite playing far fewer games, he has set or tied his career-high numbers in home runs, RBI, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS.
Bride has been starting for Miami over the past week as the team's primary 3rd baseman, but he has been inserted at 2nd and 1st, as well. On Wednesday, he had one of his best days since being recalled to the Big League roster on July 4th.
Slotted into the cleanup spot in the Marlins lineup and manning 1st base, Bride had a good day. He finished the game 2-4, smacking a home run (his first since a 2022 long ball off of MLB strikeout leader Gerrit Cole) and a double. Ironically, Bride hit his Wednesday dinger off of former South Carolina baseball commitment Taj Bradley, a player who went pro instead of enrolling at USC.
Bride and the Marlins will travel north to take on the Atlanta Braves on Thursday. Fellow former Gamecock Whit Merrifield is filling in as the starting 2nd baseman for the Braves with All-Star Ozzie Albies out with an injury.