Alex Schmidt (Germany)

Alexander Schmidt

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 160 lb.

• Born April 2, 1999 in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory Australia

Biographical Information

Alex Schmidt has been a MVP in the Bundesliga and played for the German national team.

He debuted in the Bundesliga at age 16, with the 2015 Buchbinder Legionäre. He went 1 for 2 with a walk, hit-by-pitch, run and RBI while handling two putouts at second base. He started for Germany in the 2015 European Junior Championship but struggled (0 for 14, 2 BB, .889 FLD%). Backing up Lukas Jahn at 2B in the '16 Bundesliga, he did well in limited action (5 for 13, 2 2B, 8 RBI, no errors in 12 chances). In that year's European Junior Championship, he hit .333/.444/.429 with 7 RBI in 6 games, with no errors in 24 chances. He was 1-for-3 in steal attempts. He tied for 3rd in the event in RBI, two behind Tijmen Takke.

He hit .143/.294/.143 and fielded .850 in the 2017 European Champions Cup, with 3 errors in 5 games. He tied for 3rd in errors in the event. In the Bundesliga, he played mainly third base with Jahn starting at second for the Legionäre. He hit .310/.358/.356 and drove in 25 runs in 23 games, while fielding .936 between 3B, 2B and SS. He tied for 3rd in the Bundesliga-1 south in assists, missed the top 10 in RBI by one and easily led players 21 years or younger in RBI (no one else had more than 14). He hit .200/.500/.200 with 5 runs in 6 games in the 2017 European U-23 Championship.

Schmidt moved to short in 2018 and established himself as one of Germany's top hitters at .392/.479/.505 with 18 runs and 18 RBI in 27 games. He also fielded .972. He was 7th in the league in average, tied Andrija Tomić for 3rd in hits (38), tied for 2nd in triples (2), was 8th in OBP (between Sascha Lutz and Ludwig Glaser), 9th in OPS, tied for 5th in steals (8) and second in fielding at SS (.006 behind Philip Schulz).

He debuted with Germany's senior national team in the 2018 Super6. He struck out against Luis Lugo in his first at-bat and finished the event 0 for 6 with a sacrifice fly, but played error-free defense (7 PO, 13 A) while backing up former minor leaguer Nadir Ljatifi at short.

In 2019, he hit .331/.410/.419 for Regensburg and fielded .944. He was third in hits (behind Gary Owens and Max Boldt), tied Pascal Amon for 6th in runs (30), tied for 8th in doubles, was second among regular shortstops in fielding (behind Schulz) and trailed only Abdiel Alicea in assists. In the 2019 European Championship, he had three hits against the Czech national team and four hits versus France. He was hitless in their other five games, though, to finish at .269/.321/.269 while handling 33 chances error-free. He was 10th in assists and won the Outstanding Defensive Player award.

The Canberra native was on Germany's roster for the 2020 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers but those were among the first baseball events cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He produced at a .328/.373/.621 clip that summer and scored 19 runs in 14 games in a pandemic-shortened campaign. He tied for 5th in home runs (4), tied Jonas van Bergen for 8th in hits, tied Schulz and Devon Ramirez for 3rd in runs, tied Nateshon Thomas and David Grimes for 8th in steals (6), was 6th in assists, tied for 7th with 4 errors and was 5th in fielding at short (.911).

The young infielder batted .276/.380/.569 with 9 homers, 34 runs and 28 RBI in 27 games for the 2021 Legionäre. He placed among the leaders in homers (8th), runs (tied Andrija Tomić for 9th), assists (68, 4th) and fielding at short (.960, 1st, .019 ahead of Schulz). He was back with Germany for the 2021 European Championship, with a 3-hit game against Sweden. He had a better tourney overall at .429/.500/.476 with six runs in six games, again playing flawless defense (16 TC). Only Lou Helmig had more hits or runs for the Germans.

Schmidt fell to .290/.368/.350 in 2022 though he was still a top fielder, third with 67 assists, tying for the most double plays (16) and leading in fielding at short (.953, .013 ahead of Francisco Riestra). The next year, his offensive production really slipped - .167/.330/.202, 19 BB in 24 G. He tied Ronnie Sweeny for 5th in walks, led with 13 steals and was 5th with 50 assists. His .974 fielding at short easily led anyone with 20+ games there, .059 ahead of anyone else, so his glove helped compensate for his bat. That won him a spot on Germany's team for the 2023 European Championship. He began with a three-hit game against Belgium and hit .375/.346/.583 with six RBI in six games as his regular season woes didn't carry over. He tied Roman Boiko for 6th in those Euros with 18 assists and tied Eric Brenk for the team lead in hits.

In the 2024 European Champions Cup, he hit .423/.516/.615 with four steals in seven games, handling 22 chances without a miscue. He homered off Jhenderson Hurtado. He tied for 5th in runs (5), led in hits (11, one ahead of Shawn Larry), tied Drew Janssen for 3rd in total bases (16), was second to Larry in average, ranked 4th in OBP (between Lukáš Derganz and Simon Gühring), was 5th in slugging, ranked 4th in walks (5), tied Thomas for the most steals and tied Simon Liedtke for second in assists. That summer in Germany, he rebounded from his rough '23. He hit .400/.475/.540 with 30 RBI in 30 games. He was 4th in average (between Patrick Music and Elias von Garßen), 3rd in RBI (after Billy Germaine and Larry), 3rd in hits (40), tied for 3rd in doubles (8, even with Ramirez and Antonio Torres-Skerrett), 7th in slugging (between Music and Terrell Joyce), 5th in OBP (between von Garßen and Janssen), 6th in OPS (between Music and von Garßen), 1st in assists (90), tied for third in double plays (15) and was second to Liedtke in fielding at short. For his two-way excellence, he was named the MVP. He was the second Australian native in the past decade to win a MVP in Germany as Wilson Lee had won as well.