TAMPA, Fla. —
Selected 35th by Miami in the 2019 amateur draft, he signed for a $2,115,000 bonus. He was traded to Tampa Bay in December 2021 for infielder Joey Wendle and made his big league debut Aug. 2 at Houston, when he pinch-ran and hit a game-ending flyout against All-Star closer Josh Hader.
Misner got his first hit in his final at-bat before he was sent back down, on a 100.8 mph pitch from Oakland All-Star closer Mason Miller on Aug. 22.
“Our dugout erupted because we love the guy so much,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “You hear the coaches rave about him from Triple-A. … Pretty easygoing guy. He can dish it and he can take it and it’s good for the clubhouse.”
Misner grew up on a farm in Missouri with cows and horses and went to high school in Poplar Bluff, about 150 miles from St. Louis. He wore his lucky ostrich skin boots to the ballpark.
“He’s a country boy — very country boy who’s going to wear his cowboy boots every day, showing up with a cowboy hat on,” Pepiot said.
As a kid, Misner was into rodeos, riding steers until fourth or fifth grade.
“My mom kind of put a stop to that. She said, ‘You got to start playing sports,'” he said. “My mom saw the first bull and she said, ‘No.‴
