(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen & Robert Bos)
 Neptunus adds 5 players, including Ricardo, Cornelisse
Nederlands
 ROTTERDAM (Neth.) -
Reigning Dutch champion Curaçao Neptunus has added five new players to its roster for next season, the club announced today in early morning-hours of Sunday, November 1.
Seven players are leaving the Rotterdam-based club, with three of them retiring.
The transfer-period ends today at 5 PM.
The club confirmed that catcher Dashenko Ricardo is coming to Neptunus from Corendon Kinheim.
Ricardo's name already was linked with Neptunus in rumors circulating since the Play-Offs, but the transfer is now officially confirmed.
Also coming to Neptunus are RHP Bayron Cornelisse, who was the closer of Vaessen Pioniers, RHP Steven van Groningen (HCAW), infielder Daniel Fernandes (Pioniers) and outfielder Steven Wharwood (Mampaey The Hawks).
RHP Jorian van Acker and outfielders Adrian Anthony and Gyenuar Lopez announced their retirements.
Also not returning are RHP Floris Timmer, catcher Mourik Huijser and 1B Shurman Marlin.
Timmer will join Twins, which will make its comeback in the big league next season, while Huijser will play at a lower level.
Marlin transfered to Vaessen Pioniers.
It already was known that righthanded pitcher Loek van Mil will return to professional baseball again in 2016.
He signed a contract late this season, then briefly pitched for the Triple-A team of the Minnesota Twins towards the end of the season, appearing in three games.
It was then announced that he will be back in Spring Training in February next year.
However, Van Mil remains a non-roster player for Neptunus, making him eligible to play for the team in the postseason.
Catcher Dashenko Ricardo was the leading hitter this season for Corendon Kinheim, with whom he reached the Holland Series.
Ricardo batted .420 (71-for-169) and also led the Haarlem-based team in hits (71) and runs batted in (40).
He scored 27 runs and hit four homeruns.
Ricardo's batting average was only .011 less than the league's batting champion Christian Diaz, who batted .431 and now will become a teammate at Neptunus.
His 71 basehits were the most in the league, while his 40 RBI's are second-best.
Last year, his first with Kinheim and in the Dutch big league, Ricardo batted only .266, but the also led the team with 28 runs batted in and 13 doubles.
...Bayron Cornelisse...
(© Photo: Robert Bos) |
Righthanded pitcher Bayron Cornelisse was the closer this season of Vaessen Pioniers.
He earned nine saves and was 1-3, appearing in 23 games.
Cornelisse struckout 21 batters in 24 2/3 inning.
Last year, Cornelisse earned four saves in 15 games, while being 2-0 for Pioniers.
In 2013, the righthander led the league with 10 saves, after having earned eight in the 2012 season, which was his first in the big league.
Righthanded pitcher Steven van Groningen will play for a different team in his fourth consecutive season.
This year, he led the pitching staff of HCAW with a 2.82 ERA.
He was used only in relief, appearing in 24 games, but won the most games in the HCAW-staff with three.
Van Groningen struckout 32 baters in 51 innings.
This year was his first with HCAW, as he pitched for Vaessen Pioniers in 2014.
There, he was one of the starting pitchers and closed with a 5-3 record and a 4.83 ERA, striking out 34 batters in 63 1/3 inning.
In 2013, Van Groningen pitched for Corendon Kinheim.
He then was 3-0 with a 2.03 ERA, pitching in seven games.
The righthander also pitched for Kinheim in 2010-2012.
Daniel Fernandes returns to Neptunus.
This season, he played at second base mostly for Vaessen Pioniers, but was also used as catcher.
There, he was the team's leading hitter with a .315 batting average (53-for-168).
He also led the team in hits (53), runs scored (34) and stolen bases (6), while batting in 13 runs.
Last year, Fernandes batted .246 for Neptunus in 37 games, after having played in 16 games for the Rotterdam-squad in the 2013 season.
Steven Wharwood was the second-best hitter this season of Mampaey The Hawks, which relegated to the second highest division.
The outfielder led the team in runs scored (15) and batted in 11 runs.
A year ago, Wharwood also was the second-best hitter of The Hawks and then batted .273.
In his first big league-season in 2013, he batted .295 for The Hawks.
Righthanded pitcher Jorian van Acker was 1-0 with an 1.65 ERA this season, pitching in relief in 18 games.
He struckout 12 batters in 27 1/3 inning.
Righthanded pitcher Floris Timmer appeared in only four games this season and was 0-0 with four strikeouts in 6 2/3 inning.
His brother Gijs Timmer (who transfered to DSS) pitched in three games this season and was 0-0.
Catcher Mourik Huijser was used as back-up catcher this season and played in only 15 games.
He batted .179 (7-for-39).
First baseman Shurman Marlin first had to recover from an injury, then played in 23 games, hitting .215, while scoring 11 runs and batting in ten.
Outfielder Adrian Anthony batted .286 (22-for-77) in 31 games.
He scored 18 runs and batted in 14.
Outfielder Gyenuar Lopez played in only 24 games this season after having recovered from an injury, hitting .333 (22-for-66), scoring 15 runs and also batting in 15.
Loek van Mil wore the Neptunus-shirt for the first time this season after returning from a professional adventure in Japan.
He was 2-1 with six saves in 19 games as a closer and finished with an 0.36 ERA.
The tall righthander struckout 31 batters in 24 2/3 inning and walked only nine.
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...Jorian van Acker, Mourik Huijser, Adrian Anthony, Gyenuar Lopez and Shurman Marlin...
(© All Photos: Henk Seppen) |
(November 1)
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