Matt Drews | |||
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Pitcher | |||
Born: Sarasota, Florida |
August 29, 1974 |||
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Matthew Ross Drews (born August 29, 1974) is a former a minor league baseball pitcher.
Drews played high school baseball at Sarasota High School, where he had a 10-2 win–loss record with a 1.27 earned run average (ERA) his senior high year, with 125 strikeouts in 88 innings pitched. He signed a letter of intent with the University of Texas at Austin.
Drews was considered by Baseball America to be the top high school pitcher available in the 1993 Major League Baseball Draft. The Yankees selected Drews in the first round, thirteenth overall. He signed late, for a $620,000 bonus, and did not play for the Yankees system that year.
Assigned to the Oneonta Yankees in 1994, Drews went 7-6 with a 2.10 ERA, walked 19 and struck out 69 in 90 frames. Drews led the New York–Penn League in ERA and was selected as the 2nd-best prospect in the league by managers. With the Tampa Yankees in 1995, Drews won 15 of 22 decisions and posted a 2.27 ERA. He led the league in wins, innings (182) and starts (28), was second in strikeouts (140) and third in ERA. Managers again picked him as the #2 prospect (behind Scott Rolen). He made the Florida State League All-Star team as one of the top two right-handed pitchers; Shane Bowers was the other.
Rated by Baseball America as the Yankees' #3 prospect (after Rubén Rivera and Derek Jeter) entering 1996 and 12th in all of baseball, Drews went 1-3 with a 4.50 ERA for the Norwich Navigators, 0-4 with an 8.41 for the Columbus Clippers and 0-3 with a 7.13 ERA for Tampa. He walked 72 and struck out 56 in 84 innings. He was traded to the Detroit Tigers along with Rubén Sierra for Cecil Fielder. In Detroit's system, he went 0-4 with a 4.35 ERA for the Jacksonville Suns to complete a 1-14 season.