Chris Reed’s baseball career sending him around the world

By: Matthew Osborne

Even though Chattanooga Lookouts pitcher and Los Angeles Dodgers prospect Chris Reed is only 23 years old, his baseball career is well traveled.

The London, England native played baseball for Stanford University in Southern California and represented Team Great Britain in Germany during qualifications for the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

While representing his homeland earlier late last year, Reed started Great Britain’s first qualifier against Team Canada and faced another current Southern Leaguer, Huntsville Stars outfielder Rene Tosoni. Reed took the loss after going 2.2 innings and allowing two unearned runs.

“That was the most fun I had playing baseball,” Reed said about representing Great Britain. “A bunch of guys that really wanted to be there. Playing overseas for the first time in my career and playing in Germany of all places.”

While his time with England during the Classic was the most fun Reed has had playing baseball, the pitching staff at Stanford was – to put it lightly – loaded.

His former teammates included current Birmingham Barons pitcher Scott Snodgress and the first overall pick in the 2013 MLB Draft Mark Appel.

“It was awesome. We had a lot of talented arms on that team,” Reed said about his three-year stay in Palo Alto. “It just turned into a friendly competition between all of us. I think we made each other better and it was a lot of fun.”

After his 2011 season with Stanford, the Los Angeles Dodgers drafted the left-handed pitcher with the 16th overall pick of the draft.

After spending most of his time in the bullpen with Stanford, Reed decided that he wanted to be a starter in the pros.

“It was basically before the draft I told all the teams that I wanted to be a starter,” Reed said. “Everyone knew I wanted to make the switch back to being a starter. I had one start at Stanford and after that I went to the pen. They agreed with the decision and from there I was a starter.”

And while maybe a few teams weren’t happy about his decision to start, Reed said most teams agreed with what he wanted.

“Yeah, maybe a couple of teams here and there. For the most part, everyone liked my three-pitch mix and thought I could be a starter,” Reed said.

Since joining the Dodgers organization, Reed has spent the past two Spring Trainings with the major league squad. In 2013, he appeared in four games and finished with a 5.40 ERA.

“It was only split squad that I played; it was usually on the road,” Reed said about his time in the Cactus League. “There’s a few big names there but they tended to be hitters. Just interacting and seeing how they go about their business and enjoy it.”

When Reed eventually gets his call up to the majors, he may be able to add one more country to his travels: Canada.

His career has sent him all around the world and if Chris Reed’s career goes as he would want, it may end up in Cooperstown, N.Y.

To stay current with all the latest news, follow Smokies on Radio on Twitterand like the Smokies on Radio Facebook page. Matthew Osborne is a beat writer for the Smokies Radio Network. You can follow Matthew on Twitter here: @themindoftheoz