26-year-old German outfielder/first baseman Donald Lutz is back with the Cincinnati Reds. He signed a new minor league contract with the NL Central team on Wednesday. After having Tommy John surgery in May of 2015 he got released by the Reds, as they needed his roster spot.
However he was able to continue his rehabilitation with that organization and chose them over other interested organization due to a familiarity factor. He is currently playing in the Australian Baseball League with the Brisbane Bandits. Through 21 games he is batting .275 with three home runs, ten doubles, 11 runs scored and 19 RBI. Brisbane is currently leading the standings.
With Cincinnati Lutz made his Major League debut at the end of April 2013 and became the first German player to reach the big leagues and the second European player which went through the MLB European Elite Camp after Alex Liddi. In 2013 and 2014 he played in a total of 62 games in Major League Baseball, batting .211/.239/.284 in 109 at-bats. In the minors he had a batting line of .271/.337/.467 with 70 home runs in 488 games.