(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Henk Seppen)
  Fine performance Jurickson Profar in Fall Stars Game
Nederlands
 SCOTTSDALE, Arizona (USA) -
Curaçao-born infielder Jurickson Profar had a fine performance on Saturday-evening (November 7) during the Fall Stars Game presented by Bowman, which is the All Star Game of the Arizona Fall League.
In the game, which was played at Salt Rivers Field @ Talking Stick in Scottsdale, Profar reached base four times.
His team AFL West won 8-3 vs. the AFL East in front of a record-setting attendance of almost 7,000 spectators.
Switch-hitter Jurickson Profar is recovering from a shoulder-injury that has sidelined him the past two seasons.
The 22-year old second baseman/short stop, who was the number one prospect in the Major League a few years ago, suffered a torn shoulder muscle during Spring Training in 2014 and underwent surgery in February of this year.
Profar made a memorable Major League-debut on September 2, 2012, as he homered in his first at bat in an 8-3 win vs. Cleveland Indians.
He went on to play in nine games for the Texas Rangers, hiting 3-for-17 (.176).
In March 2013, Profar was added to the roster of the Netherlands National Baseball Team for the semi-final of the World Baseball Classic in San Francisco (USA).
In the 2013 season, Profar began the season in Triple-A, but on May 19 of that year, he was recalled to the big league-team and played in 85 Major League-games for the Rangers.
He finished the season with a .234 batting average (67-for-286) with 11 doubles and six homeruns, scoring 30 runs and batting in 26.
The switch-hitter returned to action in August when he was assigned to the Hickory Crawdads, the Single-A team of Texas.
There, he played in nine games, then was moved up to the Frisco RoughRiders (Double-A) and played three more games.
After completion of the season, Profar continued playing in the Arizona Fall League, working on his recovery.
While with the Surprise Saguaros, he played in eleven games since October 22.
In those games, he batted .238 (10-for-42), scored seven runs and batted in eleven, while hitting four doubles, one triple and one homerun.
Tonight, Profar went 2-for-3, walked twice, scored a run and stole two bases.
He played for the AFL West-team and was the designated hitter, as he has been in all games he played so far in the Arizona Fall League.
In the game, the AFL East took a 2-0 lead in the second inning.
Rowdy Tellez (Toronto Blue Jays) led off with a double off of starter Lucas Sims (Atlanta Braves).
With one out, he scored when Austin Dean (Miami Marlins) hit an inside-the-park-homerun into rightfield.
The throw back to the catcher was in time, but the catcher didn't got the ball under control, otherwise Dean probably would have been tagged out.
No error was scored, but a homerun instead and so, the East was leading 2-0.
...Jurickson Profar playing for the Netherlands Team...
...during the 2013 World Baseball Classic...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
The AFL West came alongside in the top of the fourth inning off of Kyle Freeland (Colorado Rockies), who had relieved starter Sean Manaea (Oakland A's) in the third inning.
Jurickson Profar, who had walked (and stole second base) with two outs in the first inning, led off with a single.
Next batter Gary Sanchez (New York Yankees) then homered to tie the score at 2-2.
In the fifth inning, off of new pitcher Abel De Los Santos (Washington Nationals), the West took a 3-2 lead.
With one out, Adam Engel (Chicago White Sox) singled, stole second, advanced on a passed ball, then scored on a sacrifice fly by Ramon Torres (Kansas City Royals).
Hereafter, Jurickson Profar singled again, stole second base again, advanced on a wild pitch, but this time was left behind.
In the sixth, the West took more distance.
There were several defensive East-changes, including Adam Ravenelle (Detroit Tigers) becoming the new pitcher.
He saw pinch-hitter Patrick Wisdom (St. Louis Cardinals) reach second base on a throwing error.
Hereafter, pinch-hitter Austin Meadows (Pittsburgh Pirates) homered to lift the lead to 5-2.
Later in the at bat, with two outs, the West got the bases loaded, but this time Profar grounded out to end the inning.
In the bottom of the seventh, the East got a run back off of new pitcher David Rollins (Seattle Mariners).
With one out, pinch-hitter Sam Travis (Boston Red Sox) walked and scored on a 2-out double by Jeimer Candelario (Chicago Cubs) to make it a 5-3 score.
The West then took more distance with a 3-run rally in the top of the eighth inning.
Corey Black (Chicago Cubs) became the new pitcher for East and was greeted with a lead-off single by Phillip Ervin (Cincinnati Reds).
With two outs, he moved on a wild pitch, then Adam Engel (Chicago White Sox) singled to bring him home.
Alex Blandino (Cincinnati Reds) followed with a homerun to increase the lead to 8-3.
Hereafter, Jurickson Profar walked and with that reached base for the fourth time tonight, but was left behind.
No more runs were added and so the West won 8-3.
West-catcher Gary Sanchez (New York Yankees) was named Bowman Star of the Game.
Playing in the annual Fall Stars Game are the best players from the Arizona Fall League, which is an off-season league and closes on November 21.
In the AFL many of the top Minor League-prospects are playing.
Many of the players are coming from Double-A and Triple-A.
Each club club have the option to send two players from below Double-A.
Each August, a draft will be held to determine the rosters for the AFL.
The league was founded in 1992 to enable these prospects to refine their skills and play in game situations in front of Major League- and Minor League-scouts, who are in attendance daily when the games are played.
There are playing six teams in the AFL, with each of them being affiliated with five Major League-teams, who will provide seven players for the team.
Each team has a 35-man roster.
The AFL also is used to try several rule-changes.
That includes the testing of the six proposed speed-up rules, like a 20-second pitch clock, staying in the batter's box with one foot throughout his at bat, no pitches for an intentional walk, a maximun of 2:30 minutes between innings, a maximum of 2:30 minutes during a pitching change and a limit of only three time-outs per team (which includes a visit to the pitcher by either catcher or coach and coach conferences with a batter).
(November 7)
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