Staff report
RALEIGH — A.L. Brown grad CJ Gray was a fifth-round MLB draft choice on Monday afternoon.
Gray batted .508 with 11 homers for the Wonders during an All-State senior season, but scouts see his future as being on the mound. He has thrown as hard as 98 mph and has a good slider.
Gray was the 140th pick by the Los Angeles Angels.
The slot value for that pick is $519,ooo, although Gray is in a strong position as a solid student who already is enrolled in summer classes at NC State. There’s some negotiating room, and Gray could get more than slot. He is expected to sign with the Angels. although three years of ACC competition for a good program is not a bad option if he decides to go that route.
Gray, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound athlete who quarterbacked A.L. Brown’s football team and had Division I offers in that sport, was the third North Carolina high school player to hear his name called in the 2025 MLB draft. Wesleyan Christian’s Josh Hammond and Corinth Holders’ Briggs McKenzie were the first two.
Gray’s parents have close ties to Salisbury, as his father, Charles, played football for Livingstone College, while his mother, Donitta Gillespie Gray, is a Salisbury High graduate.
ESPN ranked Gray No. 118 as far as the players eligible for the draft. MLB.com had him at 178.
