(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen)
  Spring Training-debut for Randolph Oduber
Nederlands
 PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida (USA) -
Outfielder Randolph Oduber also has played in his first Spring Training-game of the year.
And so, another player with a Dutch passport now has played in the current Major League Spring Training-season.
Last Saturday (March 14), four days before his 26th birthday, Oduber was used as a pinch-hitter in a split-squad game of the Washington Nationals against the New York Mets.
On Saturday, Washington had made up two teams to play exhibition games.
One team played a home game against Miami Marlins and was shutout 4-0.
The other Washington-squad played at the New York Mets and lost 13-4.
...Randolph Oduber with the...
...Championship-trophy...
...after winning the European title...
...last year with the Orange squad...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Oduber played in the game against the Mets.
In the top of the 9th inning, the Nationals trailed 13-2 and Eric Goeddel became the new pitcher for the Mets.
He gave up a lead-off ground-rule double to Jason Martinson and then Ian Stewart homered to make it 13-4.
Hereafter, pinch-hitter Kevin Mattison grounded out and then Randolph Oduber entered the game as pinch-hitter for designated hitter Mark Minicozzi.
On an 0-2 count, Oduber (playing with uniform number 14) connected and flied out to rightfielder John Mayberry.
A strikeout then followed to end the game.
Last season, Oduber appeared in two Spring Training-games with the Nationals.
In September last year, Oduber won the European Championship-title in the Czech Republic with the Netherlands National Baseball Team.
Earlier this Spring Training, more Dutch players appeared in their first game of the season with a Major League-club: short stop Carlton Daal, short stop Ozhaino Albies, catcher Spencer Kieboom and catcher Shawn Zarraga.
Daal played in one game for the Cincinnati Reds, going 0-for-1.
Albies played in one game for the Atlanta Braves, playing one inning defensively.
Kieboom has played in two games for the Washington Nationals in which he got one plate appearance.
Zarraga also played in two games for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
He is 1-for-3, scored once and batted in one run.
Kieboom and Zarraga are non-roster invitees, while Daal and Albies were added to the team for one game as an additional minor league-player.
Also added as a minor league-player for a game of the Reds early in Spring Training was Aruban catcher Chad Tromp, but he didn't play.
Besides these players, there are six Dutch players on Major League 40-man rosters.
They are Xander Bogaerts (Boston Red Sox), Didi Gregorius (New York Yankees), Kenley Jansen (Los Angeles Dodgers), Jurickson Profar (Texas Rangers), Jonathan Schoop (Baltimore Orioles) and Andrelton Simmons (Atlanta Braves).
Short stop Bogaerts has played in 7 games up to Monday.
In those games, he batted .188 (3-for-16), scored three runs and batted in six.
Two of his three hits were homeruns.
Bogaerts walked six times and struckout once.
So far, short stop Gregorius has played in 8 games for the Yankees, hitting .176 (3-for-17), including a double and triple.
He scored twice and batted in three runs, while also walking two times and striking out four times.
Gregorius also played in Spring Training-games in 2013 (15) and 2014 (19), while being with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Second baseman Schoop has played in eight games for the Orioles and is hitting .182 (4-for-22).
Amongst his four hits are two doubles and a homerun.
Schoop scored three runs and also batted in three.
...Roger Bernadina during...
...the 2013 World Baseball...
...Classic with the Dutch Team...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Short stop Simmons, who last season won his second consecutive Gold Glove, has played in only three games.
In these three games, Simmons batted .556 (5-for-9), including a homerun.
He scored two runs and batted in three.
Simmons began Spring Training with a strained left oblique and was rested to recover.
He played in his first game last Thursday.
Jansen and Profar both have not played.
Closer Jansen is recovering from surgery on his left foot he underwent the end of February to remove a growth from his fifth metatarsal.
He will be out until at least the end of April.
To keep his shoulder loose, he makes some 40 throws a day while resting his knee on a chair.
Short stop Profar will miss the entire season after undergoing surgery on February 23 to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder.
He will need a full year to recover.
The torn labrum is also what is believed to have caused the instability in his shoulder that led to a strained muscle, which sidelined also for the entire 2014 season.
Two Dutch players with big league-experience are currently non-roster invitees in the Spring Training-camp of the Colorado Rockies, being outfielder Roger Bernadina and pitcher Jair Jurrjens.
30-year old outfielder Bernadina became a Free Agent in October last year, then signed a minor league-contract with the Colorado Rockies in December.
Last season, Bernadina played in 53 games for the Cincinnati Reds and Los Angeles Dodgers, hitting only .176.
Bernadina has played in seven Major League-seasons, which also included periods with the Washington Nationals (2008-2013) and Philadelphia Phillies (2013).
As a non-roster invitee, Bernadina has played in three games for the Rockies so far, his last on March 7 in a 7-5 win vs. Chicago Cubs when he went 1-for-2 as leftfielder.
In his three games, Bernadina went 1-for-6 (.167), scored once and also had one RBI.
Another non-roster invitee with the Rockies is righthanded pitcher Jair Jurrjens.
He was acquired by the Rockies in July last year from the Cincinnati Reds in a minor league-deal.
Two days after coming to the Rockies, Jurrjens was added to the Major League-roster and started in two games.
In those games, he was 0-1 and struckout nine batters in 9 1/3 inning.
In Spring Training this year, Jurrjens had pitched twice in relief for the Rockies, striking out three batters in four innings, while giving up four hits.
Jurrjens has pitched in eight Major League-seasons for the Detroit Tigers (2007), Atlanta Braves (2008-2012), Baltimore Orioles (2013) and last year with the Rockies.
(March 16)
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