Biography
Curtis James Mead (born 26 October 2000) is an Australian professional baseball third baseman for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023.
Amateur career
Mead was born and grew up in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia and attended Immanuel College, Adelaide. He began his professional baseball career at 16 with the Adelaide Giants of the Australian Baseball League, whom his father Tim had previously played for. Mead also played Australian rules football for the Woodville-West Torrens Football Club under-16 team until the club required him to choose between the two sports.
Professional career
Philadelphia Phillies
Mead was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies on May 4, 2018. After signing he was assigned to the Gulf Coast League Phillies. He returned to the GCL Phillies in 2019 and batted .285 with four home runs and 19 RBIs. After each season, Mead continued to play for the Adelaide Giants in the winter.
Tampa Bay Rays
The Phillies traded Mead to the Tampa Bay Rays on November 20, 2019, in exchange for Cristopher Sánchez. After the 2020 minor league season was canceled, Mead returned to the Giants and was named the team's MVP after batting .347. Mead began the 2021 season with the Low-A Charleston RiverDogs, where he hit for a .358 average with seven home runs and 35 RBIs in 46 games before being promoted to the High-A Bowling Green Hot Rods. He batted .282 with seven home runs, 32 RBIs, and an .814 OPS in 53 games for Bowling Green and was promoted again to the Durham Bulls of Triple-A East for the final week of the season. After the season, Mead played for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League. He was assigned to the Double-A Montgomery Biscuits at the start of the 2022 season. Mead was promoted to Durham after batting .305 with 10 home runs and 36 RBIs in 56 games at Montgomery. On November 15, 2022, the Rays selected Mead to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.
Mead was optioned to Triple-A Durham to begin the 2023 season, hitting .291/.379/.453/.832 with 3 home runs and 28 RBI over 46 games. He missed six weeks in May and June with a left wrist fracture. On August 4, 2023, Mead was promoted to the major leagues for the first time. On the first pitch he saw, Mead collected a single against Detroit Tigers pitcher Brendan White.