Jurickson Profar replaces De Caster on Dutch roster
Nederlands
PHOENIX, Arizona (USA) -
Short stop Jurickson Profar will be playing for the Dutch Baseball Team in the final round of the World Baseball Classic in San Francisco.
On the Dutch roster, Profar replaces Yurendell de Caster, who sustained a foot-injury in the game against Cuba last Monday (March 11).
The Dutch Team will play in the second semi-final game on Monday, facing the winner of Pool 2 of the Second Round, which is currently underway in Miami, Florida.
There, Italy was eliminated on Wednesday by Puerto Rico.
Italy appeared to be en route to a victory after taking a 3-0 lead in the fifth inning.
But then, its defense committed several mistakes and Puerto Rico went on the win 4-3.
The USA and the Dominican Republic are the other two teams in contention for the two remaining spots in the final round in San Francisco.
On Thursday (March 14), the Dutch Team is playing an exhibition game against the San Diego Padres.
On Friday, the Orange faces the Seattle Mariners.
Both games will be played in Peoria.
After the Friday-evening game, the team flies to San Francisco.
Jurickson Profar, a switch-hitter, was one of the players named on the provisional 28-man roster, which was named in January.
Only players who are listed on provisional rosters are available to replace injured players.
Profar (who turned 20 on February 20) is ranked the number 1 prospect overall in the Major League.
In February, he announced that he declined to be with the Orange squad during the WBC, as he wanted to focus on Spring Training with the Texas Rangers, hoping to win a spot on the Major League-roster.
Last year, Profar played in 16 Major League-games for the Rangers when he was only 19 years old.
He batted .176 (3-for-17) with two runs, two RBI's, two doubles and a homerun.
On September 2 of last year, Profar made his Major League-debut, playing at second base for the Texas Rangers at the Cleveland Indians.
And it became a memorable debut.
He led off the bottom of the third inning for his first Major League at bat and then drilled the fourth delivery he saw (2-1 count) from Zach McAllister deep into the rightfield stands for a homerun.
Profar also added a double and went 2-for-4.
In Spring Training this year, Profar played in 16 games and is hitting .222 (8-for-36) with five runs, five RBI's, a double, triple and one stolen base.
Profar signed a professional contract with the Rangers in 2009, then made his debut in 2010 playing in Single-A Short Season for Spokane Indians.
He promoted to Single-A in 2011 and hit .286 for Hickory Crawdads.
Last season, he played for the Frisco RoughRiders, the Double-A team of the Rangers and hit .281 in 125 games with 135 basehits, 76 runs scored, 62 runs batted in, 26 doubles, seven triples and 14 homeruns.
(March 13)
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