(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen)
   Gregorius and Profar join Netherlands Team for World Baseball Classic
Nederlands
 NIEUWEGEIN (Neth.) -
Dutch Major Leaguers Didi Gregorius and Jurickson Profar have agreed to play for the Netherlands Baseball Team during the upcoming fourth edition of the World Baseball Classic, the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Association (KNBSB) announced on Tuesday (January 24).
The global event opens on March 6 in South Korean capital Seoul and also has the status of World Championship.
The Netherlands Kingdom Team will play in Pool A in the First Round in Seoul.
There, the squad of Manager Hensley Meulens opens on March 7 against host South Korea, then meets Chinese Taipei and Israel on the following two days.
The two best teams advance to the second round, which takes place in Tokyo (Japan).
The Final Round will be held in Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles (USA).
Four years ago, the Netherlands reached the Semi-Final of the World Baseball Classic.
...Didi Gregorius playing for the...
...Netherlands Team during the...
...2009 World Championship...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Didi Gregorius is the short stop of the New York Yankees and Jurickson Profar played at five different positions last season with the Texas Rangers.
Earlier, it already was confirmed that infielders Xander Bogaerts, Jonathan Schoop and Andrelton Simmons and pitcher Rick van den Hurk will wear the Orange shirt during the event.
Bogaerts is the short stop of the Boston Red Sox and Schoop is the second baseman of the Baltimore Orioles.
Simmons is the short stop of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, where he made his debut last season after having played four years for Atlanta Braves.
Last year, Schoop was one of only three players to play in all 162 regular season-games.
Righthander Van den Hurk played in part of six seasons in the Major League for Florida Marlins, Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates.
He also briefly was part of the organizations of the Toronto Blue Jays and Cleveland Indians before the start of the 2012 season.
Since 2013, Van den Hurk plays in Asia.
There, he first won the Korean championship-title with Samsung Lions in 2013 and 2014.
He then moved to Japan, where he won the championship with Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in 2015.
Last year, Van den Hurk again played for the team from Fukuoka.
With Gregorius, Bogaerts and Simmons all being everyday short stops, Manager Hensley Meulens will have three of the best defensive players in the Major League available for this position.
Bogaerts was born on Aruba, while Profar, Schoop and Simmons all come from Curaçao.
Gregorius was born in Amsterdam (Netherlands), but later also grew up on Curaçao.
It was also announced that Kenley Jansen, the sixth Dutch player to play in the Major League, will not play for the Netherlands squad.
The closer recently signed a new 5-year, 80 million dollar contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
...Jurickson Profar playing for the Netherlands squad in the...
...Semi-Final of the 2013 World Baseball Classic...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Didi Gregorius, who turns 27 next month, last played in the Netherlands Team in 2011 when the Orange squad captured the World Championship-title in Panamá.
Gregorius plays in the Major League since 2012.
In that year, he played in 21 games for Cincinnati Reds.
Gregorius then was a regular in the following two seasons with Arizona Diamondbacks.
In December 2014, Gregorius was traded to the New York Yankees, where he became the new everyday short stop, succeeding Derek Jeter, who had retired.
Last year, Gregorius played in 153 games and batted .276 (155-for-562) with 32 doubles, two triples and 20 homeruns.
He scored 68 runs, batted in 70 and stole seven bases.
His at bats, runs scored, basehits, doubles, homeruns, runs batted in and stolen bases all were career-high.
Defensively, Gregorius made only 15 errors in 575 chances.
Jurickson Profar, who will turn 24 next month (two days after Gregorius), made his comeback in the Major League last year.
Profar made his debut during the 2012 season with the Texas Rangers for whom he played a full season in 2013.
Profar then missed both the 2014 and 2015 season due to an injury.
Last year, he played again in 90 games for the Rangers, hitting .239 (65-for-272) with six doubles, three triples and five homeruns.
Profar scored 35 runs and batted in 20.
In November last year, Profar played for the Netherlands in the Samurai Warm-Up Games in and against Japan.
In 2013 Profar was added to the Orange roster for the Semi-Final game of the World Baseball Classic in San Francisco (USA).
(January 24)
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