Meet David Fry, 7th-round draft pick of the Milwaukee Brewers

With their 7th-round pick in this year’s MLB Draft, the Milwaukee Brewers selected catcher David Fry out of Northwestern St. University in Louisiana. The senior recently inked his first professional contract with the Brewers and received a $10K signing bonus, and is now off to Helena to join the Brewers’ rookie-level affiliate in the Pioneer League. Get to know a little bit more about him:

Brad Ford: Congratulations on being drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers! What was it like being drafted? How did you find out?

David Fry: I got the call, it was pretty bang-bang. He called and said, “Hey, would you take this?” I said, “Yes.” I thought maybe I took the wrong thing. They called back five seconds later to tell me they took me. It was pretty sweet.

Brad: What was the reaction once you started letting people know?

Fry: I was with our two GAs, who I room with, and then there was one other player in there. I had my phone on loud, so they heard it ringing and they all kind of dropped what they were doing. As soon as the Brewers told me they took me, they all had their phones out watching the draft tracker. Right as he told me they took me, it popped up on Twitter, they all kind of threw their hands up and were mauling me.

Brad: So who’d you call first?

Fry: I called my dad first, but it took about 30 minutes to reach him. After that, I called my mom. My mom and dad were pretty pumped. My dad called me after his meeting and said, “Why are you bothering me?” I said, “I got drafted.” He said, “Oh, alright, you can bother me then!”

Brad: How about a scouting report on you as a player?

Fry: The first two years in college, I played second base. Then I hurt my arm before my junior year, so I just played third. Then after I had the surgery I just played first. Later I was cleared to throw and could start catching. I caught quite a bit. I’m pretty comfortable just about anywhere in the infield. Anywhere I can get my bat in the lineup is good for me.

A lot of times early in my career, I would just swing at anything. Towards the end of my junior and senior years, I focused on getting something over the middle of the plate, no matter what the pitch, just something over the plate that I can hammer. Something I can do damage with, not just trying to put the ball in play. If it comes to getting ahead of few pitches or getting behind two strikes, it doesn’t matter. I’m just waiting for something I can do damage with.

Brad: What was it like being named the Southland Conference Player of the Year?

Fry: That was pretty cool. It’s something in the offseason you kind of work towards. In my sophomore and junior year, it felt like I got snubbed being put on the second team. It kind of stings a little bit. You know the coaches are voting for it, so you think, “Oh, I guess the coaches in the conference don’t think I’m that good of a player.” To have the honor of getting named Player of the Year was awesome. The whole last year was great. My junior year, we didn’t have a great year as a team. So getting back on top, getting third-place in the conference tournament, getting Player of the Year, winning the conference championship for the first time in school history, and getting conference tourney MVP, it was a pretty dang cool way to go out.

Brad: So that’s your legacy, huh? It’s a team game, we all know everyone contributed. But after four years, you get to put that exclamation point on your time there.

Fry: It was all four seasons, it was our time to put our stamp on the program. Our centerfielder Kwan (Adkins), he got drafted by the San Francisco Giants, he was a huge part of it. Helping to get our school back to what we were used to and getting to the top.

Brad: When the Brewers first called what thoughts were going through your head?

Fry: My first two thoughts about coming to Milwaukee were that I’ll need to get some warmer clothes and Stan Ross in Mr. 3000 playing pool.

Brad: What else do you know about the city or the state?

Fry: I don’t know a whole lot. I know I might have to change from being a Cowboy fan to being a Packer fan, with all those cheeseheads up there. But I don’t know a whole lot about the city or the state.

Brad: Knowing that you’re a Cowboys fan, did Dez catch it?

Fry: Yeah, he did. For sure.

Brad: I actually agree. I’m a die-hard Packers fan, but that was a catch, just not by the rules.

Fry: Exactly, it’s what the rule needs to be.

<Editor’s note: We all know Rodgers would have scored on the next drive regardless>

Brad: Where can we find you during an off-day?

Fry: If I have nothing to do, I might be trying to play some golf. I might go some where fishing and try to hang out.

Brad: Do you play any Fortnite?

Fry: I did not. I was probably one of three people on our college team that didn’t play Fortnite. I didn’t fall for that.

Brad: I’ve asked everyone I’ve spoke to if they play because it seems to have become part of the baseball culture in this last year or two.

Fry: It’s unbelievable. I think every team celebration had to do with Fortnite.

Brad: What type of music do you listen to?

Fry: Usually I try to listen to red-dirt country music, any Texas country-type stuff, but I mean, I’ll listen to just about everything.

Brad: What do you watch on TV?

Fry: My favorite are True Detective, The Office, House of Cards. Those are my go-tos that I’ll watch whenever.

Brad: Is there a player you model yourself after?

Fry: I wouldn’t say there’s a particular player that I just try to model his game. I’m a baseball junkie so I just try to watch everybody and take bits and pieces from a lot of people’s games but I wouldn’t say there’s one particular person.

Brad: Anything else you want Brewers fans to know about you?

Fry: Nah, I’m just excited to be a Brewer, baby!