DURHAM, NC- Less than a year after being released, Amarillo Thunderheads OF Drew Heid is heading back to affiliated baseball. Heid’s contract was purchased by the Philadelphia Phillies, where he will be assigned to the Class AA Reading Fightin’ Phils. Reading opens a road series with the Portland Sea Dogs (Boston-AA) on Saturday night in Portland, Maine.
Heid is hitting an impressive .383 (46-for-120) with the Thunderheads this season. In 32 games, he has amassed 11 doubles, two triples and 18 RBI. In 13 of his 32 games, Heid collected multiple hits. From June 11-15, he went on a streak of five straight games with at least two hits, bookended with three-hit games. On June 11 against the Can-Am League’s Trois-Rivieres Aigles, Heid was 3-for-3 with two doubles and three runs scored. In the June 15 game against the Grand Prairie AirHogs, Heid went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBI.
2015 was Heid’s first season in Independent Baseball after five seasons with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Waterville, Wash. native was drafted in the ninth round in 2010 out of Gonzaga University and immediately assigned to the rookie-level Orem Owlz in the Pioneer League. There, he hit a whopping .362 in 68 games with 12 doubles, a triple, nine home runs and 34 RBI. That earned him a promotion to the Class A Cedar Rapids Kernels for 2011. In only 30 games, Heid batted .270 with five doubles and 10 RBI.
He played a full season again in 2012, appearing with the Inland Empire 66ers of the Class A Advanced California League, Arkansas Travelers of the Class AA Southern League and Salt Lake Bees of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League. Heid hit .264 on the year, collecting 19 doubles, six home runs and 36 RBI.
Both 2013 and 2014 saw Heid bounce between Arkansas and Salt Lake. He had a successful 2013, carrying a .305 batting average. In 109 games, he notched 21 doubles, six triples and six home runs while driving in a career-high 41. The numbers declined slightly in 2014, when he hit .250 with eight doubles, seven triples and two home runs with 32 RBI.
Heid becomes the third American Association player and first Thunderhead sold this season. The Thunderheads continue a road series with the Sioux City Explorers this weekend in Sioux City, Iowa.