(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen)
   Jurickson Profar signs one-year contract with Colorado Rockies
Nederlands
 DENVER, Colorado (USA) -
Outfielder Jurickson Profar will play this season in the Major League for Colorado Rockies.
That was reported by several sources on Sunday (March 19).
The deal has not yet been confirmed, but sources say it would be an one-year contract, worth 7.75 million dollar.
...Jurickson Profar with the Netherlands...
...Team against Chinese Taipei during...
...the World Baseball Classic...
...last week in Taiwan...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
At Colorado, Profar will be re-united with Hensley Meulens, who a week ago was his Manager at the Netherlands National Team during the World Baseball Classic.
In November last year, Meulens was named the new Hitting Coach of Colorado after having been one of the two Assistant Hitting Coaches at New York Yankees last year.
In the past two seasons, Profar played for San Diego Padres.
Last year, Profar had career-highs in Games Played (152) and Plate Appearances (658) and was the prime leftfielder for San Diego.
He batted .243 with 36 doubles and 15 homeruns and batted in 58 runs.
After completion of last season, the utility player became a Free Agent when he opted out of of the final year of his 3-year contract.
Profar plays in the Major League since 2012.
The 30-year old, Curaçao-born Jurickson Profar signed a professional contract at age 16 in 2009 as an infielder (short stop/second base) with Texas Rangers.
He made his professional debut in 2010 in Single-A, playing in 63 games, hitting four homeruns.
In 2011, Profar again played in Single-A, was selected for the All-Star Futures Game and also was named Most Valuable Player of the South Atlantic League.
In this season, he batted .286 with 123 basehits, including 37 doubles and 12 homeruns and batted in 65 runs.
In 2012, Profar promoted to Double-A and on August 31 of that year, he was recalled to the Major League-team of Texas Rangers.
At that moment, he was 19 years old and the youngest player in the Majors that season.
Two days later, Profar made his debut against Cleveland Indians at second base and hit a homerun in his first Major League-at bat.
He went on to play in nine games and collected three basehits.
Profar began the 2013 season in Triple-A, but returned to the Major League in May.
This time, he played in 85 games and batted .234 with six homeruns.
In 2014, Profar was to become the starting second baseman for Texas, but missed the entire season due to a shoulder-injury he sustained in Spring Training.
He then underwent surgery to his shoulder in February 2015 and also missed the entire 2015 season.
Profar then started the 2016 season in Triple-A, but was back in the Majors at the end of May.
He became an utility player, as he was inserted in five different positions in 90 games.
However, in 2017, he played in only 22 games.
...Jurickson Profar celebrates his homerun...
...against Panama while playing for the Netherlands...
...Team during the World Baseball Classic...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
2018 was the first full Major League-season for Profar.
He then played in 146 games and batted .254 with 133 basehits, including 20 homeruns.
Profar batted in 77 runs and scored 82.
In December 2018, Texas traded Profar to Oakland Athletics.
In 2019, he mostly played at second base for Oakland.
His batting average dropped to .218, but he hit 20 homeruns and batted in 67 runs.
After the 2019 season, another trade followed.
This time, Profar was traded to San Diego Padres for whom he played in the last three seasons.
Last year, Profar mostly played in leftfield (146 games).
In 152 games overall, he batted .243 and finished with a career-high 140 basehits.
He also set a career-high with 575 at bats, 73 walks, 36 doubles and tied a career-high with 82 runs scored.
However, his 103 strikeouts also were a career-high.
Jurickson Profar made his debut in the Netherlands National Team in 2013.
When the team reached the Semi-Final of the World Baseball Classic, Profar was added to the Orange-roster to replace injured Yurendell de Caster.
In the Semi-Final, Profar is the third baseman for the Netherlands.
In November 2016, Profar traveled to Japan with the Netherlands Team for a 2-game series against Japan.
In 2017, Profar played for the team in the World Baseball Classic, where the Netherlands again reached the Semi-Finals.
This year, Profar again represented the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic.
As leftfielder, Profar made some great defensive plays.
Offensively, he batted .231 (3-for-13) with one homerun.
Profar scored twice, walked three times and also struckout three times.
Unfortunately, this time, the Netherlands Team was eliminated in the First Round.
The Orange Team won against Cuba (4-2) and Panama (3-1), but then lost to Chinese Taipei (9-5).
The team then ended up short against Italy, losing 7-1.
As all five teams in Pool A ended up in a tie, the runs-given-up-formula decided the final ranking.
The Netherlands finished third and was eliminated.
In 2004 and 2005, Profar participated with a team from Curaçao in the Little League World Series, winning the event in 2004.
His younger brother Juremi Profar also plays professionally.
He played in the Minor Leagues for Texas Rangers in 2013-2019.
Through May of last year, he played in Mexico.
Juremi Profar also played for the Netherlands Team.
(March 19)
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