Max Draijer

Max Draijer

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0"
• School Tennessee Wesleyan University, Lewis and Clark State College, Cochise College
• High School Haemstede-Berger?

• Born October 7, 1997

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Max Draijer has played in the Hoofdklasse. He is the cousin of Victor Draijer and Remco Draijer.

He won the Ron Fraser Award in 2013. He joined the Vaessen Pioniers the next year at age 16. In the 2014 European Cup, he hit .176/.263/.176 in regular action and handled 26 chances error-free. The shortstop led the event in assists (20, 4 ahead of Zerzinho Croes and Willie Vasquez) and double plays (6, one ahead of Croes and Mark-Jan Moorman). He fielded .944 in the 2014 Hoofdklasse and hit .253/.392/.283 with 22 walks and 25 runs in 35 games. He was 8th in assists (97), between Dennis De Quint and Vince Rooi.

Draijer produced at a .275/.330/.343 clip and fielded .954 in the 2015 Hoofdklasse; he ranked 8th in assists (107, between Roy Seltenrijch and Rooi). He fielded .973 in 2016 but eked out a .160/.256/.213 line. When the Netherlands won the 2017 U23 European Championship, he batted .263/.500/.526 with 8 walks and 6 runs in 6 games, fielding .957. Only future Angels signee Vojtěch Menšík and Marcel Jimenez drew more walks. He was 6 for 15 with two walks, two runs and two RBI for the Dutch team in the 2017 World Port Tournament, playing error-free defense. He was 7th in average (between Frank Morejón and Edilse Silva) and tied Hiroto Kobukata for 6th in OBP. He was also at Cochise College this summer, hitting .303/.450/.442. That reduced his time with the Pioniers; he hit .253/.357/.373 and fielded .936 for them.

Transferring to Lewis and Clark for 2018, he batted .238/.396/.350 for them and .260/.345/.340 for the Pioniers after the US college season ended. Switching schools again, his batting line was .375/.431/.540 with 45 runs for Tennessee Wesleyan in '19. He was among the Appalachian Athletic Conference leaders in hits (75) and average and helped them win the 2019 NAIA College World Series. He hit .300/.396/.463 with 21 runs in 21 games in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 Hoofdklasse. He tied Mark Smit for 4th in runs (beating out his cousin and the MVP, Victor), tied Stijn van der Meer for 6th in hits (24), tied Dwayne Kemp for 5th with 19 RBI, tied Darryl Collins for the most triples (3) and was 7th in total bases (37, between Gilmer Lampe and Sharlon Schoop).

In 2021, he moved to HCAW along with cousin Victor. He slumped to .258/.384/.318 though his 138 assists were second to John Polonius and his 30 walks tied for 10th with Jorrit Penseel and Roelie Henrique Jr. He was at .253/.355/.345 with 28 runs and 27 RBI. HCAW went to the 2022 Holland Series, in which he was 1 for 12 with a walk, run and two RBI. His hit was timely as it was the game-winner in the finale of a sweep over powerhouse Neptunus; it came off Kevin Kelly to drive in Phildrick Llewellyn.

Max did very well in the 2023 European Champions Cup, batting .333/.524/.600 with six walks and five runs in five games. He again came up big in a championship game, as the light-hitting infielder went deep off Parma's Carlos Contreras, a former major leaguer, for a two-run shot. He also drew a bases-loaded walk to help HCAW win its first European Champions Cup. He tied Manuel Joseph for 8th in the tourney in RBI and tied for second in walks (one behind Tommy van de Sanden). During the 2023 Hoofdklasse, he hit .287/.403/.347 with 31 walks and 31 runs.