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Former Henderson standout, professional pitcher Tyrell Jenkins takes over as Grapeland baseball coach Published 5:00 am Monday, June 29, 2026 Former Henderson High School standout student-athlete and former professional baseball player Tyrell Jenkins will take over as the new head baseball coach at Grapeland High School.
Jenkins is the former head baseball coach at Palestine Westwood High School.
He has also coached at Center High School and Kaufman High School.
A three-star recruit at quarterback in the Class of 2010, Jenkins signed with Baylor University for football and baseball.
He was drafted with the final pick in the first round 50th overall in the Major League Baseball Draft by the St.
Louis Cardinals.
Jenkins was selected before Jacob DeGrom, Kris Bryant, Aaron Judge, Russell Wilson, Blake Bell and Golden Tate.
Jenkins was traded to the Atlanta Braves in 2014 in a deal that sent outfielder Jason Heyward to the Cardinals.
Jenkins was called up to the MLB in 2016.
He made 14 appearances with eight starts, going 2-4 with a 5.88 ERA with 26 strikeouts and 33 walks in 52 innings.
Jenkins was traded to the Texas Rangers in 2017 in exchange for pitcher Luke Jackson.
He also spent time in the organizations of the Cincinnati Reds and San Diego Padres.
His last year of professional baseball was 2017.
In his eight seasons in the minors, Jenkins was 39-35 with a 4.23 ERA with 417 strikeouts and 247 walks in 579 innings.
In 2015, Jenkins was named the Braves Minor League Organizational Pitcher of the Year.
That season, he was 89 with a 3.19 ERA with 88 strikeouts and 61 walks in 138.1 innings.
Jenkins takes over a Grapeland program that went 17-9-1 this season and lost in the second round of the playoffs to Gary.