When Zach Ehrhard got his first Double-A hit Wednesday night, the best view of the moment belonged to his older brother, Drew, who was in the on-deck circle. Zach hit leadoff and played right field for the Portland Sea Dogs in Game 2 of Wednesday’s doubleheader, while Drew hit second and was the designated hitter.
“It was awesome. He had a great at-bat, he was working the count, and I saw the rocket up the middle and I was pumped,” Drew said. “He’s been grinding for so long. I’ve been watching him play for a long time.”
Four years apart in age (Drew is 25, Zach is 21), this is the first time the Ehrhard brothers have been teammates. There was a team they threw together with friends years ago in Tampa for a weekend tournament, but that was rained out and they managed to play one exhibition game. Two summers ago, when Zach was playing for Hyannis in the Cape Cod League, Drew was a coach.
But now, the Ehrhard brothers are actually teammates with the Sea Dogs.
“Those moments, you’ve got to make sure you take advantage of. It was special,” said Portland manager Chad Epperson, who made the decision to stack the Ehrhards at the top of the lineup Wednesday.
Zach was tearing it up in Greenville, with a .342 batting average, 24 runs scored and 22 RBI in 31 games. As it turned out, he was the last to learn about his promotion. During his game Sunday with Greenville, a fan even congratulated him on getting the call.
“Apparently, things had gotten posted and shared online during my game when I was in Greenville. My teammates already knew. Coaches knew. My parents knew, my brother found out, everybody knew before I did,” Zach said.
Drew found out his brother was joining the Sea Dogs on the bus ride back from last week’s series at Somerset.
“I had someone message me congrats on getting to play with your brother. I was like, ‘do you know something I don’t?’” Drew said. “One of my guys from the back of the bus started yelling at me to check social media, and I found out he got the promotion.”
Zach officially joined the Sea Dogs for Tuesday’s game against the Reading Fightin Phils. Jerseys had to be modified — a D was added next to Ehrhard on Drew’s jersey, over the 22 on his back, while Zach’s jersey got a Z next to his last name above his No. 17.
Drew signed with the Red Sox as an undrafted free agent in 2023 after playing at the University of Tampa and reached Portland last season. Zach was drafted by Boston in the 13th round in 2021 out of high school, but opted to go to Oklahoma State instead. That meant he wasn’t eligible to be drafted again until 2024.
“This time around, there hadn’t been conversations between us. I was kind of hoping that I was still on (Boston’s) radar,” Zach said.
When he got the news he’d been drafted by Boston in the fourth round last July, Zach was in Portland with his family visiting Drew. Zach bypassed Low-A Salem and began his career at High-A Greenville.
Their father, Rodney Ehrhard, played in the New York Yankees organization and is in the University of Tampa Hall of Fame. Their love of the game is a direct line from him. They both consider him their biggest baseball influence.
“We’re both elite competitors. We were taught that growing up by our dad, give it all on that field and compete all the time,” Zach said.
Drew is listed as a catcher on Portland’s roster, but he’s played a number of positions. Zach is an outfielder.
“If you ask anyone in our family, they would say our mannerisms on the field are eerily similar. The way we play, the way we move around,” Drew said. “Who we are as players, I think is a little bit different. He got the fast genes. I like to say I got the power genes. I think his power is going to come along.”
There have been three other sets of brothers to play for the Sea Dogs, but the Ehrhards are just to second to play together, joining Derek and Dusty Wathan, who were Sea Dogs together in 2001. Edinson Renteria was a member of the Sea Dogs in 1994, one year ahead of his more well-known brother, Edgar. Jonathan Papelbon came through Portland in 2005, four years ahead of his brother, Joshua.
One thing the brothers will not do in Portland is live together. Share space in the Sea Dogs lineup, absolutely. Share living space? Been there, done that.
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