Waters lives in Marietta, Ga...Waters in 2019 was selected to USA Baseball’s Premier12 roster...Named the 2017 Gatorade State Player of the Year in Georgia, after batting .510 (53-for-104) with 15 HR as a senior at Etowah HS (Ga.)…he led the Eagles to the first Class 7A state title in school history.
2025
After appearing in just seven games with the Royals in 2024, Waters played in 71 games with the big league club in 2025, making 24 starts in left field, 17 starts in center field and 14 starts in right field...Was named International League Player of the Week for March 31-April 6 after going 10-for-19 with two doubles, one triple, two home runs and seven RBI in five games vs. Louisville...he hit for the cycle on April 2, the fourth cycle by an Omaha player since 2000...Had one stint with the Royals from April 9-July 4...he went just 4-for-25 over his first eight games after his recall, but from April 20 until he was optioned to Triple-A Omaha, he batted .254 (46-for-181) in 63 games...On April 22 vs. Colorado, he singled, tripled and hit a solo home run—his first homer with the Royals since Aug. 26, 2023 at Seattle—to fall just a double shy of the cycle...snapped a run of 123 homerless at-bats...In 54 games with Triple-A Omaha in 2025, he slashed .236/.309/.404 (49-for-208) with 10 doubles, two triples, seven home runs, 29 RBI and 34 runs...On Aug. 23, he became the first Triple-A Omaha batter to homer from both sides of the plate in a game since Tim Raines Jr. on Aug. 20, 2009…Waters’ two home runs traveled a combined 887 feet.
2024
Drew had two stints with the Royals in 2024, from June 11-18 and July 18-28, and went a combined 3-for-16 (.188) with two walks, a double, an RBI and two runs scored in seven games played....Spent the majority of the season with Triple-A Omaha, where he slashed .290/.379/.494 (114-for-393) with 50 extra-base hits, 61 RBI and 84 runs scored in 109 games...His 33 doubles in 2024 with Omaha were tied for the fifth most in all of Triple-A, while he ranked among International League leaders in runs (84, T-fifth), OPS (.873, sixth), slugging percentage (.494, ninth) and on-base percentage (.379, 10th)...Led all Royals farmhands in 2024 in doubles (33), ranked second in slugging percentage (.494), extra-base hits (50), runs (84) and OPS (.873), fourth in total bases (194), T-fourth in hits (114), fifth in batting average (.290), sixth in on-base percentage (.379) and T-sixth in RBI (61)...Was named International League Player of the Week twice in 2024, for the weeks of July 8-14 and Sept. 16-22...earned the weekly honor in July after leading the league with a 1.548 OPS and 22 total bases after connecting for four doubles and three home runs...claimed the award in September after posting a .565 batting average (13-for-23), 1.067 slugging percentage and 1.687 OPS, all of which were marks that led the league...Named Triple-A Omaha Player of the Month for April, after slashing .288/.390/.500 (19-for-66) with six doubles, one triple, two home runs, 10 RBI and 16 runs scored over 18 games.
2023
Waters opened the year on the Injured List with a left oblique strain and was returned from his rehab assignment and reinstated on May 26...he played in 98 games and appeared at all three outfield positions, including 50 games (44 starts) in center field, 47 games (39 starts) in right field and four games in left field...On July 16, he hit a solo homer off Tampa Bay’s Yonny Chirinos that traveled 465 ft., per Statcast, matching Jorge Soler on Aug. 3, 2019 at Minnesota for the third-longest HR by a Royal in the Statcast Era (since 2015), behind Brandon Moss’ 474-ft. HR on July 1, 2017 vs. Minnesota and Kendrys Morales’ 469- ft. HR on Aug. 25, 2015 vs. Baltimore...Also on July 16, Waters and Bobby Witt Jr. became the first set of teammates in Royals history to each record a triple and a home run in the same game, and the first set of Major League teammates to turn the trick since Cleveland’s Andrés Giménez and José Ramírez on April 12, 2022...Ranked tied for eighth in the American League with five triples, trailing teammate Bobby Witt Jr., who led the Majors with 11...His six assists as a right fielder ranked tied for 8th most in the American League, trailing leaders Teoscar Hernández and Alex Verdugo (12 each)...among players who recorded at least six assists from right field, his 47 games played in that position were the fewest, with the next-closest being Ramón Laureano, who tallied seven assists over 83 games in right field...Ranked tied for third among qualified Major League center fielders with a 92.8 mph arm strength, behind Colorado’s Brenton Doyle (96.1 mph) and Washington’s Victor Robles (93.1)...according to Statcast, arm strength averages the top 10% of throws for an outfielder (min. 100 throws to qualify)...Batted .290 (42-for-145) with 16 extra-base hits (.483 SLG) in 47 games at Kauffman Stadium, which was the third-best home batting average by a Royal (min. 140 AB), and it was significantly better than his .172 clip (27-for-157) in his 51 games on the road...After hitting .167 (10-for-60) in his first 21 games, he slashed .244/.314/.413 (59-for-242) in his final 77 games since June 22, with 22 XBH...Hit safely in a career-high five consecutive games from June 28-July 2, batting .471 (8-for-17) with six runs scored, three doubles and three RBI during that span...Connected for his second HR of the season on June 22 at Tampa Bay with a 386-ft. solo shot in the seventh inning which broke a 2-2 tie...with the Royals down 5-3 in the eighth, he lined a game-tying, two-run single to right field to mark a season-best three RBI on the night, after recording just four RBI in his 1st 21 games.
2022
Waters began the 2022 season on the Injured List, and made a brief rehab stint with High-A Rome before joining Triple-A Gwinnett on May 3...In 52 games in the Atlanta Braves organization, he recorded 17 extra-base hits in 52 games…in 63 games after being traded to the Royals, he recorded 36 extra-base hits, including Major League and minor league totals...Waters made his Major League debut on Aug. 22 and spent the rest of the season with Kansas City…he hit .182 (10-for-55) with five extra-base hits in his first 20 games, but in his last 12 games, he hit .317 (13-for-41) with seven extra-base hits, including four home runs...He went 0-for-3 in his debut on Aug. 22 vs. the White Sox, but had the go-ahead, bases-loaded walk in the 8th inning, making him the second player in American League history to have a go-ahead, bases=loaded walk in the eighth or later of his Majors debut...Of his 23 hits in the Majors, 12 of them (52.2%) went for extra bases...He led the Royals with five home runs in September/ October and matched MJ Melendez for the team lead with 11 extra-base hits...During a four-game span in Cleveland from Sept. 30- Oct. 3, Waters went 6-for-15 with three HR and eight RBI...On Oct. 3 in Cleveland, Waters hit a go-ahead, three-run home run in the 10th inning to become the ninth rookie (10th occurrence) in Royals history to hit a go-ahead homer in extra innings.
2021
Played the entire season at Triple-A Gwinnett, hitting .240 (97-for-404) with 22 doubles, 11 home runs and 37 RBI...Also stole 28 bases, which were his most in a single professional baseball season...Drew 47 walks over 103 games with the Stripers...Enters 2022 as Atlanta's No. 3 prospect.
2020
Received a non-roster invitation to Atlanta’s Spring Training…Played in a team-most 17 games and went 5-for-28 (.179) with one double, three RBI, two walks and three runs scored...Struck out in 14 of his 30 plate appearances (46.7%)…Drove in two of his three runs with a first-inning single on 2/24 off the Blue Jays’ Shun Yamaguchi...Split his time defensively between all three outfield positions, appearing in eight games in center field, six games in right field and four in left field...Spent the rest of the season at the club’s alternate training site...Ended the season ranked by MLB.com as the Braves’ second-best prospect, behind OF Cristian Pache.
2019
Split the campaign between Double-A Mississippi and Triple-A Gwinnett, hitting .309/.360/.459 (163-for-527) with seven home runs, 52 RBI and 80 runs scored...Led all Atlanta minor leaguers in hits (163), doubles (40), triples (9, tied) and total bases (242)…Also ranked third in extra-base hits (56, tied) and runs (80, tied) and sixth in stolen bases (16)...Began the season with Mississippi and played in 108 games with the M-Braves before being transferred to Gwinnett on 8/5, where he finished the season...Named the Southern League Most Valuable Player…At 20 years old, became the youngest player to win the award since Delmon Young did so in 2005 as a 19-year-old for the Montgomery Biscuits...Tabbed a Southern League Mid- and Post-Season All-Star…Also won the league’s Player of the Week for the period of 6/10-16 (16-for-36, 4 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI in 9 games)…Won the Southern League batting title after hitting .319 (134-for-420), a Mississippi single-season franchise record…The mark was previously held by Ozzie Albies, who hit .315 in 2016...Also paced the Southern League in hits (134), doubles (35), triples (9) and extra-base hits (49), while finishing second in slugging percentage (.481) and OPS (.847)…Had a 30-game on-base streak from 5/23-6/26, the third-longest such streak in M-Braves history…Hit .388 (45-for-116) over the stretch with a .437 on-base percentage...Selected by the organization as the Mississippi’s co-Player of the Year with OF Cristian Pache… Was also named the M-Braves’ Player of the Month for April...With Gwinnett, hit .271 (29-for-107) with seven extra-base hits (5 2B, 2 HR) in 26 games…Also scored 17 runs, the most on the team from the time of his promotion through the end of the season...Finished the campaign ranked by MLB.com as Atlanta’s No. 2 prospect...Named by Baseball America as the “Best Hitter for Average” in the Braves organization...After the season, was selected to USA Baseball's Premier12 roster, marking the first opportunity for Team USA to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games...The roster was comprised of 28 players (15 pitchers, 13 position players) not on Major League 40-man rosters...Waters hit one home run, going 1-for-9 (.111).
2018
Combined to bat .293/.343/.476 in 114 games between Single-A Rome and High-A Florida...Ranked in the Top 10 among Braves prospects in doubles (1st, 39), hits (2nd 135), stolen bases (2nd, 23), OPS (5th, ,819), batting average (6th, .293) and slugging percentage (6th, .476)…Named a South Atlantic League Mid- and Post-Season All-Star with Rome…Ranked fourth in the league in doubles (32, tied) and seventh in extra-base hits (47, tied)…Tabbed by the organization as Rome’s Player of the Year, and also earned Player of the Month honors for May (.325/.379/.675 in 20 games)...Garnered South Atlantic League Mid-Season All-Star honors.
2017
Appeared in 50 games between the GCL Braves and Rookie-Advanced Danville, combining to bat .278/.362/.429...Ranked 10th among all Atlanta farmhands (min. 175 at-bats) with a .791 OPS.
