By Michael Sudhalter

Dallas native Ryan Prager, the Texas A&M redshirt sophomore left-handed pitcher who grew up at Temple Emanu-El, surprised much of the baseball world when he chose last week to return to College Station for the 2025 season.

Prager, a 21-year-old second team All-Southeastern Conference pitcher, was drafted in the third round (81st overall) by the Los Angeles Angels at the 2024 Major League Baseball draft on July 15 in Fort Worth.

He has two years of college eligibility remaining but will also be eligible for the 2025 MLB draft next summer in Georgia. Prager will possibly have a chance to pitch in his third College World Series in four years in spring 2025.

Prager wears No. 18 for the Aggies. He said the number was assigned to him, but he’s glad for the serendipitous symbolism of chai.

Prager said the decision, made after much thought with his parents, Howard and Cori Prager, and advisers, is in the best interest of his career long-term, both athletically and academically.

Prager, the Hillcrest High School Class of 2021 valedictorian, is on track to earn his bachelor’s degree in business management from Texas A&M in the spring.

“I just had a gut feeling to come back and have another great year at A&M,” Prager said. “We have some development plans in place with the new head coach and strength coach. I feel really comfortable coming back. We have unfinished business (in trying to win the program’s first national championship in baseball). I knew if I came back, I’d be welcomed with open arms.”

It was a whirlwind summer for Prager and the Aggies.

A&M enjoyed their best season in program history in reaching the College World Series Championship Series, in no small part due to Prager, who finished 9-1 with 124 strikeouts and a 2.95 earned run average.

Prager started Game 1 of the CWS Championship Series, which resulted in a 9-5 win over SEC rival, Tennessee. The Volunteers bounced back to win the next two games, and thus, the national championship.

“What we did as a team and a group of guys (was amazing),” Prager said. “We had fun together and enjoyed every day.”

The day after the grueling CWS Championship loss, Aggies Head Coach Jim Schlossnagle accepted the head coach position at archrival Texas, whom A&M defeated in the NCAA Regional Final in June.

Schlossnagle brought most of his staff with him to Austin, including Aggies Pitching Coach Max Weiner and Hitting Coach Michael Earley.

Earley, however, ultimately returned to College Station as the Aggies’ new head coach.

While Aggies and Longhorn fans have been lighting up social media and sports talk radio about the Schlossnagle move, Prager said there’s nothing personal about it.

“The longer you get to play baseball, the more people move around,” Prager said. “That’s just the business of the game. The fans can enjoy it and make it whatever they want, but for us, we’re just going to go play.”

Entering the MLB draft, Prager was rated the third best collegiate left-hander and will return in 2025 as one of the top pitchers in college baseball.

“I am grateful the Los Angeles Angels believed in me and saw something really great in me,” Prager said. “Through the whole process, they were a class act. I have nothing but good things to say about them.”

Prager’s return to A&M was a major win for the Aggies but a setback for the Angels, who last appeared in the postseason a decade ago. The franchise won its only World Series in 2002 — on the day after Prager was born.