© Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
Phillies Sign Amateur Free Agents From Germany and Australia
Among a litany of other international amateur free agents, the Philadelphia Phillies signed two players from countries you might not often expect to produce top baseball talent.
Reported as early as January 16 by Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com, the Phillies inked Lou Helmig, a German outfielder for $69,700 and Nikau Pouaka-Grego, an Australian middle infielder for $250,000.
These two are the only players the Phillies signed from countries outside Latin-America. In fact, Helmig is the only German signed by any team in Major League Baseball this year. Should he ever make the Phillies, he actually wouldn’t be their first German-born player.
In 2009, the Phillies drafted Aaron Altherr in the 9th round of the MLB Amateur Draft out of an Arizona high school. Though he was raised for much of his childhood in America, Altherr was born in Landstuhl, Germany to an American mother and a German father, Frank Altherr, who played soccer for 1. FC Kaiserslautern.
Helmig, though, would be the Phillies first German signed from Germany. There, the Helmig name has significant recognition in the baseball world. Lou Helmig’s father, Martin, grandfather, Claus, and great uncle, Jurgen all are members of the German Baseball Hall of Fame.
Claus Helmig spent time as a pitcher in the Baltimore Orioles system in 1956 while Martin played college ball with College of the Desert and Riverside Community College. In 1984 he attended spring training with the Chicago White Sox. Following his time in America, Martin spent time playing in Italy, Netherlands and his native Germany where he won multiple MVPs and Pitcher of the Year honors.
Pouaka-Grego’s name does not have the illustrious history the Helmig brand has in Germany, but he is no less accomplished a player than Lou Helmig, especially given Pouaka-Grego’s price tag.
The $250,000 bonus given to the young Australian is the 8th largest contract given by the Phillies this signing period. It constituted nearly 5% of the Phillies total international amateur signings bonuses in 2022.
The 17-year-old from Melbourne hits left handed and currently plays with the Sunshine Eagles in the Victorian Summer Baseball League.
It’s not entirely certain what path these two will follow through the Phillies system, but it does seem logical that they would first go through some level of rookie ball or foreign summer league. Though, it will be many years before either of them could see time playing for the big league club.
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