NSU All-American David Fry called up to major leagues

NATCHITOCHES, La. (NSU) - David Fry’s road to “The Show” is complete, and it is taking him to the brightest lights of Major League Baseball.

Fry, the 2018 Southland Conference Player of the Year and All-Louisiana Hitter of the Year, was called up to the majors for the first time Monday by the Cleveland Guardians. Upon his promotion, Fry joined the Guardians ahead of their series opener against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

The Guardians acquired Fry from Milwaukee in March 2022 as the player to be named later in a trade that sent J.C. Mejia to the Brewers. In order to be promoted to the major leagues, Fry was added to the Guardians’ 40-man roster.

Fry was one of the Guardians’ final cuts in spring training and was assigned to Triple-A Columbus where he batted .289 with two home runs and 15 RBIs, producing an .859 OPS, which rates in the “very good” category according to sabermetrician Bill James.

Fry was a three-time minor league all-star in Milwaukee’s system and was named an MiLB.com organization all-star with both Milwaukee (2019) and Cleveland (2022). He earned his first all-star nod in the Pioneer League in 2018, just months after Milwaukee drafted him in the seventh round following NSU’s Southland Conference Tournament championship in which Fry earned MVP honors.

A four-time All-Southland Conference selection as a Demon, Fry owns Northwestern State school records for career at-bats (851), doubles (74) and total bases (431). Fry shared the career home run record of 31 with Daryl Woods until Saturday when Jeffrey Elkins snapped a three-way tie for the mark.

Fry ranks second in school history in hits (256) and RBIs (156) and is sixth in runs scored (154) and 10th in career walks (89). He owns the school single-season mark for at-bats (245 in 2018) and doubles (26 in 2018) while his 80 hits in the 2018 season rank sixth on NSU’s single-season list.

With his promotion, Fry becomes the third member of the 2015 and 2016 NSU rosters to reach the major leagues, joining former teammates Nick Heath (Kansas City, Arizona) and Adam Oller (Oakland).