San Diego Padres take a swing at Biggar-born pitcher

Garrett Hawkins got his start in baseball on the diamonds in Biggar.

Now, the 21-year-old could be the next Saskatchewan-born player to reach the big leagues.

The right-handed pitcher was selected by the San Diego Padres on Monday in the ninth round (280th overall) of the Major League Baseball draft.

“We were texting back and forth with him. Eventually, we saw his name pop up on the (draft) tracker in the ninth round to the Padres and it was pretty exciting,” recalled Ian Hawkins, Garrett’s dad.

According to Ian, Garrett never saw himself as a big-league ball player.

“I would say he’s too humble for that. His comment was always, ‘I’m just going to go as far as I can go.’ I guess he’s doing that,” Ian said.

Ian said Garrett has always had talent and it didn’t take long before it showed.

“From a very young age, he was pretty natural,” Ian said. “He threw, caught and hit well.

“We played catch all day every day. By the time he went to kindergarten, we were playing catch overhand at pretty good speed. He was just catching and firing right back.”

Garrett, a 6-foot-5, 230-pounder, has been playing summer ball in the U.S. for the Trenton Thunder of the MLB Draft League. He was entering his third season with the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds before their season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ian said Garrett hasn’t made any decisions yet about his future, but his son will likely put university on hold if the Padres offer him a contract.