Well, our first defensive signing happened in the 2026 summer window, and it may not be at a position that fans expected. Orlando City signed academy product and current Orlando City B player Tristan Himes through the 2027 sprint season with club options for 2027-28 and 2028-29. This made Himes the club’s 17th academy product.
A goalkeeper grown in Orlando 🧤
We have signed Orlando City B and academy product Tristan Himes to a first-team contract as a Homegrown Player ✍️
— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) July 16, 2026
Ricardo Moreira, Orlando City’s General Manager and Sporting Director, said the following about the young keeper:
“This is an important step for Tristan and a reflection of the work he has put in across each level of our development pathway. He has progressed from the academy to Orlando City B, and his time at the collegiate level was also an important step of his development. We view that experience as another meaningful step along our pathway, and he has taken full advantage of it through his professionalism and commitment to improving his game. We’re pleased with his growth and look forward to supporting him as he takes this next step.”
A lot of glowing words for Tristan but what does that mean for Orlando City? Let’s break it down.
History (a brief one)
Tristan Himes joined the Orlando City academy at a young age in 2013 and was able to climb through the ranks in a somewhat swift fashion. He continued to develop at each age group, and when he got to high school age he attended Circle Christian High School. Then when it was time for college, Himes made the commitment to the University of South Carolina. He was considering schools such as UCF, USF, and UNF but selected the University of South Carolina in the end.
A full-circle moment 🥹
From a DA contract to a first-team Homegrown deal ✍️ pic.twitter.com/0ZGvkFKDQd
— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) July 16, 2026
At the University of South Carolina, Himes spent two seasons with the team. In his freshman season, he played 543 minutes, had 13 goals against, and a save percentage of 62%. In his sophomore season, he only played 3 minutes for the entire season and made one save. He transferred to Coastal Carolina for his junior and senior seasons. In his junior season, he didn’t play in any games due to injury but did continue his great academics. In his senior year, he played in 10 matches while starting in 9. He made 35 saves and had a 2.11 goals against average. He also ended with a 64% save percentage, one of the better ones in the conference.
After his senior season, Tristan returned to Orlando City and signed for OCB while he was eligible for selection in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft. He spent his first season behind Javier Otero and Carlos Mercado, only getting into one game but in the current season he has been the main OCB goalkeeper before getting signed to a first-team deal.
Skill Set/Measurables/Advanced Stats
After covering his background, let’s look at his stats and some play to give us a good idea about Tristan. If you haven’t seen him play before, here are a few items to note. He’s a big keeper, coming in at 6-foot-6. He has a huge wingspan and can be rather quick off his line. His positioning is one of the better parts of his game and he tends to be in the right spot at the right time. His distribution is good to very good when he punts or throws but he’s had some moments when he plays the ball with his feet that have gone sideways. To give you some highlights, here is my favorite match of his this year against Huntsville City on June 13th.
Stats
For this one, I will be using Sofascore, Wyscout, and Fotmob to provide stats for Himes. He doesn’t have a ton of data, so we need to take it with a grain of salt, but I still think it’s good to look at.
General
To get started, let’s look at a general view of what Tristan has to offer. I’ll use a radar chart to help display what his game looks like. This chart looks at his current season with OCB, so it is the most up-to-date data. When looking at statistics, there are two sections we can look at: goalkeeping and distribution. We’ll start with goalkeeping statistics with a reminder that these stats are ranked against other MLS Next Pro keepers.
Goalkeeping
We’ll start basic with his stats and look at “saves” and “save percentage”. He ranked in the 75th percentile in saves, with 32 saves made on the season. When looking at “save percentage” he ranks in the 18th percentile with a save percentage of 59%. “Goals conceded” ranks in the 6th percentile with 22 goals conceded, but not all those goals are really against him. If we move further down the list, “error led to goal” he ranks in the 12th percentile, though he only had 1 error leading to a goal. The last two stats in this category are “acted as sweeper” and “high claims”, where, when we look at “acted as sweeper” he ranks in the 58th percentile and “high claims” he ranks in the 83rd percentile.
Distribution
If we look towards distribution, the stats improve vastly and this is where I really like Tristan’s game. We’ll start with “successful passes” and “successful passing %”, where “successful passes” he ranks in the 75th percentile totaling 220 successful passes. “Successful passing %” is a bit lower, ranking in the 19th percentile. For “accurate long balls” and “accurate long balls %” it’s a similar story with “accurate long balls” ranking in the 75th percentile as well, while the “accurate long balls %” ranks in the 17th percentile. Lastly, “chances created” ranks in the 80th percentile with 2 chances created. I’m not going to put a lot of stock in the fact that the percentages are much lower than the completed passes. The fact that it gets completed is the bigger part for me and he ranks out well there. Chances created are just a bonus for me and Tristan has 2 so that’s a plus.
So how does Tristan Himes fit on the first team?
Tristan Himes, like a good amount of our youth, has spent a long time with Orlando City’s academy and you can tell the love he has for the team. With Orlando City only having two keepers signed to the first team roster to start the year, you imagined that they would sign another one just in case something were to happen to one of their keepers. The timing worked out well for Tristan. While he spent the beginning of the year with OCB, Maxime Crepeau and Javier Otero took turns with the keeping duties for the first time. That time was invaluable for Tristan and will continue to be as the season progresses. With Crepeau being out due to the World Cup, it gave Tristan a great opportunity to train with the first team often while also battling Otero for some first-team reps. We were lucky enough to see him in the friendly with the Rowdies where he kept a shutout and had some great moments.
One thing I didn’t mention in the other sections is his leadership and communication. He excels in both those categories and deserves a lot of credit for that. On the field, you constantly hear him communicating with his backline as well as his other teammates. It’s very refreshing to hear the constant communication and organization. He often wears the armband for OCB as well, which is a testament to the type of player he is on and off the field.
In the short term, it doesn’t mean all too much. He will most likely spend the remainder of the year with OCB getting those valuable minutes with the second team. However, if the team does need to call him up for the bench, he’ll be ready to go. The spot really opens up after this season since Otero has option years after this season and he hasn’t necessarily shown out for the first team. Himes could very likely be the second keeper for Orlando City going into the sprint season.
For this year, there’s two suggestions I would make for Tristan. One, make the most of your time with OCB for the rest of the year. Those minutes are valuable and continue to show off the leadership traits that you’ve been displaying. I would also work on getting healthy, as he has struggled with that a bit this year. Second, I would give Himes minutes in the Leagues Cup. If Otero isn’t your keeper of the future or you think Himes has a better upside, you play him in that tournament. I know it’s another shot for Orlando City to win a trophy, but I honestly don’t believe you lose much by starting him over Crepeau. It would be great exposure for the young keeper.
Final Conclusions
If you’ve read any of my OCB match reviews, you know exactly where I stand on Tristan Himes. He’s one of my favorite players on the squad this year and I’m thrilled that he’s going to get this opportunity. The keeper position is a wide-open position for this club ever since Pedro Gallese wasn’t re-signed last year, so why not let three guys fight it out for the top spot. Sure, Max has the inside track with his World Cup experience and his league experience but to me, it should be a weekly battle to see who comes out on top. If you want a young player to keep your eyes on for the foreseeable future, make it this guy. Well, for one, he’s hard to miss, but more than anything his talent will shine through whenever he’s on the pitch. I’m very excited to see how he can impact the team for years to come.
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