News

photos by Hugh Whittle

In 2022, Drew Davies came dangerously close to becoming one of the youngest players on Australia’s Under 18 World Cup team.

The then-16-year-old was in the last round of cuts at Australia’s Florida-based training camp, where the international event was being held.

While it may not be common for 16-year-olds to make an U18 national team, Davies says that moment was a turning point for him in his baseball career. He says that’s when he realised baseball could be a serious profession for him.

“That [experience] showed me where I needed to be, where I wanted to go, and how I had to work harder to get there,” says Davies.

Hard work just paid off for Davies. He’s turning pro.

Drew Davies is the latest Australian to sign an MLB-affiliate contract, after putting pen to paper with the Cincinatti Reds on Tuesday afternoon surrounded by family in West Beach, South Australia.

“This has always been a goal for me,” says Davies, an 18-year-old from Woodcroft. “Baseball and turning pro has always been in the back of my mind, but things really became serious when it comes to baseball with that 2022 World Cup.”

Davies says he upped his game when he returned from national camp.

“When I came back [ from Florida], I started to train like I was already a professional. I tried to train as much as I can, work around school, and get in as many reps as I possibly could.”

That mindset led Davies to a big 15-months of baseball and a lot of individual success.

Since September last year, the 6’4 left-handed bat starred for South Australia at the U18 National Championships, trained with the ABL’s Adelaide Giants, patrolled the outfield for South Australia’s Southern Districts Hawks, and caught the eye of scouts and colleges alike.

He was also named to Australia’s 2023 U18 World Cup squad but was unable to travel due to a broken finger.

Whatever Davies was doing, people noticed.

The Under 18 National Championships in January 2023 was where Davies caught the eye of Reds’ scout and former MLB player Donald Lutz.

“I really liked his swing,” says a smiling Lutz. “It looked really good. I liked his aggression. He’s got a good body. He has the tools to be a really good baseball player. When it comes down to it, the Reds think he’s got what it takes.”

Davies lit those U18 championships ablaze. In nine games, he went 17-for-27 with 2HR and 16RBI, leading South Australia to a 6-3 record.

“I think he’s a good player, good guy, and he’ll fit into any clubhouse,” Lutz adds. “Keep your eye on him.”

Baseball South Australia’s high performance manager Austin Gallagher agrees. He says he can see why Donald Lutz, Adam Crabb and the rest of the Cincinatti Reds scouts had a keen interest in signing him.

“He proved he’s one of the top talents in Australia at the [Under 18s],” says Gallagher. “He works really hard and is consistent with it. The positive about Drew is you can’t really tell if he’s going good or going bad – he always stays consistent with his approach and how he goes about things.”

His contract doesn’t surprise his former coaches, either. Just ask the person who helped get him into baseball. Davies’ neighbour, former Pittsburgh Pirates prospect and Adelaide Giants pitcher Nick Hutchings, was the one who introduced him to the game.

Davies started playing tee-ball at local club Southern Districts, Hutchings’ club, and the love grew from there. He still plays for Southern Districts and helped them snap a two-decade long finals drought in 2022.

Hutchings says it’s hard not to notice what everyone else does.

“The sweet left-handed swing has everyone in awe,” Hutchings says. “He stays through the zone and has power to the opposite field. Then you add in the size and people definitely took a big interest.”

Davies credits Southern Districts and the South Australian baseball community for helping him develop.

“They’ve been huge, I wouldn’t be here without them,” he says. “Nick Hutchings has been a big influence, all my charter coaches, all the club coaches like Brendan, Jeremy and Mark. I have to thank them a lot.”

But now, it’s on to a professional life.

Gallagher is a former minor league player with the LA Dodgers. He’s been around professional baseballers his whole life. Gallagher says Davies has a lot of the physical tools required to play professional baseball, it’s his approach to the game that sets him apart.

“Baseball is a game of failure and how you handle it is how you define yourself as an athlete. He doesn’t get too high on success or too low on failures. That’s the mentality it takes to play professional baseball,” he says.

Davies reports to camp with the Reds in March 2023. He joins Curtis Mead (Tampa Bay), Jack O’Loughlin (Oakland) and Riley Yeatman (San Diego) as the only four South Australians playing professional MLB-affiliated baseball.

He joins a growing list of nearly 30 Australians who play baseball full time.