 Shairon Martis throw again for Pittsburgh
Nederlands
 BRADENTON, Florida (USA) -
Dutch National Team-pitcher Shairon Martis made his fourth appearance in the Major League-team of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday, March 22.
The righthander, who is a non-roster player, faced one batter to complete the seventh inning in an 8-6 loss vs. Tampa Bay Rays.
...Shairon Martis throwing on March 12 vs. the Netherlands...
(photo: Henk Seppen) |
Martis, who turns 25 next Friday, threw his first two scoreless innings in a Pirates-uniform on March 4 vs. the Toronto Blue Jays and then gave up four basehits and was the losing pitcher.
Next, on March 9, he again threw two innings vs. the Boston Red Sox and got credited with the win.
It then took until March 20 for his next appearance when he threw 1/3 inning vs. the New York Yankees.
So far, in 4 2/3 innings, Martis struckout two batters, walked none and gave up six basehits.
In between, on March 12, as a member of a split squad, Martis threw a scoreless ninth inning against the Dutch National Team during the St. Petersburg International Baseball Series.
In that inning, he struckout three batters, walked two and gave up one hit.
It is not yet clear if Martis will make the 25-man roster of the Pirates, but when he does, it initially was thought that it would be as a reliever.
After he threw against Boston, Manager Clint Hurdle stated that Martis was in the mix for a position in the starting rotation.
But on Thursday (so 13 days after Martis threw against the BoSox), Hurdle announced that lefthander Erik Bedard will be the starting pitcher for the Pirates on Opening Day on April 5 against the Philadelphia Phillies to be followed in the rotation for the next two games in the opening series by Jeff Karstens and James McDonald.
The fourth game of the season, vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers will be started by Kevin Correia.
Martis, who was born in Willemstad (Curaçao), made his professional debut in 2005 when he was pitching in the organisation of the San Francisco Giants.
On July 28, 2006, he was traded to the Washington Nationals.
In 2008-2009, Martis threw in 35 Major League-games for the Washington Nationals, 33 of them as a starting pitcher.
Last season, the righthander played for the Harrisburg Senators, the Double-A team of the Nationals, starting 23 games.
Martis was 8-6 and struckout 146 batters in 133 innings while giving up 123 basehits and walking only 39.
On November 2 last year, Martis became a Free Agent and on November 22 signed a contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
In October last year, Shairon Martis was a member of the Dutch National Team that captured the world championship title in Panama.
During the World Championship, Martis started the games vs. Taiwan (7 innings) and Australia (6 1/3 inning) and was the winner vs. Taiwan.
He struckout nine in 13 1/3 inning.
After completion of the Championship, Martis played winter ball in Venezuela.
(March 23)
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