(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen)
  Stijn van der Meer makes professional debut; teammate of Gurriel
Nederlands
 KISSIMMEE, Florida (USA) -
Dutch short stop and Netherlands Team-player Stijn van der Meer has made his professional debut.
On Monday (August 1), he was the short stop for the GCL Astros, the Rookie League-team of the Houston Astros.
In his first professional game, Van der Meer batted 1-for-3.
The Astros played at home against the GCL Marlins (Miami Marlins) and were shutout 3-0.
In the team, Van der Meer is a teammate of wellknown Cuban National Team-player Yulieski Gurriel.
...Stijn van der Meer during this years Baseball Week Haarlem...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Stijn van der Meer was drafted in ther 34th round by the Astros as the 1,027th player overall on June 11 during the annual Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.
He then signed a contract with the club on June 23.
After returning from the USA late May after completion of his Senior-year there at Lamar University, Van der Meer joined his clubteam of Curaçao Neptunus shortly before the team left for Italy to participate in the European Champions Cup-tournament.
Last year, Neptunus had won the Cup, but now, it was dethroned by L&D Amsterdam Pirates, which then captured the European Cup the next day.
Neptunus ended up in fourth place.
After returning from Italy, the 23-year old Van der Meer then played in 16 regular season-games for Neptunus in the Dutch big league, hitting .339 (20-for-59), scored 15 runs and batted in seven.
The lefthanded hitting Van der Meer also played for Neptunus in 2014 and 2015 after having played in the highest Dutch league for UVV.
Just over a week ago, Van der Meer won the bi-annual Baseball Week Haarlem with the Netherlands National Team.
Last Thursday, four days after completion of the international event, Van der Meer left for the States to start his professional career.
Last Sunday, he was assigned to the GCL Astros.
At Osceola County Stadium, Van der Meer was the starting short stop on Monday-afternoon and batted in ninth position.
In the bottom of the third inning, he led off and delivered a single in his first professional at bat.
He was followed in the batter's box by Gurriel (who was the DH), who flied out.
Shortly hereafter, next batter Andy Pineda popped out to second baseman J.C. Millan, which led to a double play, as Van der Meer was eliminated at first base.
...Yulieski Gurriel playing for Cuba during...
...the 2013 World Baseball Classic...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
In his next at bats in the game, Van der Meer popped out to short (6th inning) and lined out to short (8th inning).
The Marlins opened the score in the first inning, then Gurriel led off the first Astros at bat with a double, but later stranded at third base.
The Marlins added two more runs in the fourth inning.
The 32-year old Yulieski Gurriel left the Cuban squad in February of this year after completion of the Caribbean Series in the Dominican Republic together with his younger brother Lourdes Gurriel.
He was signed by the Houston Astros on July 16 and was assigned the Rookie League-team.
It was reported that Gurriel signed a 5-year, 47,5 million dollar contract.
After his work visa was approved, Gurriel, who mostly plays at third base, made his debut last Saturday and then went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.
Gurriel played 15 seasons for Sancti Spiritus and Industriales in the National Cuban League, then played in the Japanese Professional League in 2014 for Yokohama DeNA BayStars.
Gurriel played in many big international events with the Cuban National Team, including all three World Baseball Classics (2006, 2009, 2013), as well as in the Olympic Games of 2004 and 2008, but also several World Championships, Panamerican Games and Intercontinental Cups.
With the Cuban squad, Gurriel won the gold in the 2004 Olympics and silver in 2008 and captured the World Championship-title in 2003 and 2005.
While playing for Cuba, the infielder played frequently against the Netherlands National Team and also participated in the Haarlem Baseball Week and World Port Tournament.
It is expected that Gurriel will move up to Double-A soon and will be added to the Major League-squad of the Houston Astros somewhere later this month.
(August 1)
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