Sea Dog Siblings Are The Latest Pair of Brothers To Play For Portland

Drew and Zach Ehrhard are making history for the Portland Sea Dogs, as they became just the fourth set of brothers to play for Portland and only second pair to be on the team at the same time. On May 21, they got to play together in the same game. The brothers join the likes of Edinson (1994) and Edgar (1995) Renteria, Derek (2000-2001) and Dusty (2001) Wathan, and Jonathan (2005) and Joshua (2009) Papelbon.

Zach Ehrhard had started the season in High-A Greenville, where he tore the cover off the ball. Hitting .342/.471/.459 with one home run and 22 RBI, Zach showcased the batting skills that made the Red Sox interested in him to the point they drafted him not once, but twice, both times under different heads of the baseball operations department. Chaim Bloom was the first to try and draft the outfielder, taking him in the 13th round back in 2021 out of high school, only for Ehrhard to not sign and instead play college baseball at Oklahoma St.

After a junior year that saw him slash .330/.458/.627 with 14 home runs and 57 RBI, Ehrhard saw himself drafted by the Red Sox once again, this time in the fourth round in 2024 by an organization that was now being run by Craig Breslow. This time, he would sign, being assigned to High-A Greenville where he would get into 22 games and struggle to the tune of a .156/.264/.195 batting line with only five RBIs and 25 strikeouts.

And Drew wasn’t doing much better than his brother.

After playing in college for the University of Tampa for six years, the older Ehrhard brother went undrafted in 2023 before signing with the Red Sox as a 24-year-old, something that usually didn’t happen without a stop in Independent ball. Drew would only play in five games in the Florida Complex League. In 2024, he didn’t play much either, getting into a combined 27 games between Greenville and Portland where he hit .273/.364/.532 with four home runs and 11 RBIs. He would also fight through multiple stints on the Development List in 2024, spending three distinct periods on it between May and June, and then missing two weeks in July due to an injury.

He still hasn’t played much in 2025. In 13 games on the season, the older Ehrhard is hitting .175/.267/.300 with one home run and four RBIs to go along with four walks and seven strikeouts in 40 at-bats. When looking at the brothers, Zach appears to be the better player thanks to his better hit tool, faster speed, and his above-average arm. Drew does have better power than his younger brother, though.

Zach currently profiles as the best of the two, having spent time in all three outfield positions to begin the season without making an error. Should he continue to develop, the younger Ehrhard is projected to have a ceiling of a backup outfielder based on his contact skills and defense. The older Ehrhard, despite being a catcher who can play first, second and has played third in college, has mostly been the designated hitter when he’s played this season. That is in part due to there being two other catchers on the active roster — Mark Kolozsvary and Ronald Rosario. Should the older Ehrhard develop at a more rapid pace, he’s been viewed as a high-minors contributor, most likely bouncing between Portland and Worcester as he’s needed between the two teams.

The grind of being a professional baseball player can be hard on many players, especially the wear and tear that the daily routine can do to one’s mind and body. However, having family on the same team might make it a little easier for the Ehrhard brothers, and if the duo is a little superstitious, they might want to believe that the trend of brothers who have both played for Portland continues with them. With each of the previous three pairs of brothers who played with Portland, one brother would go on to play in the major leagues.

Whether that comes true or not will depend on how the Ehrhard brothers continue to play now that they have each other to rely on.

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