(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Henk Seppen)
 Jurickson Profar first Dutch Major League-player to get into action
Nederlands
 MESA, Arizona (USA) -
Curaçao-born infielder Jurickson Profar was the first Dutch Major League-player to get into action in a Spring Training-game.
On Thursday (February 21), Profar was the starting second baseman for his new team Oakland Athletics in a home-game against Seattle Mariners.
However, Profar's action was limited, as the game was halted due to rain halfway the second inning.
On March 20-21, Oakland and Seattle will officially open the new Major League-season playing two games in Tokyo (Japan).
The 30 Major League Spring Training-camps opened a week ago when pitchers and catchers had to report.
A few days later, the full team had to be in camp.
When Spring Training started, Jurickson Profar was one of eight Dutch players on 40-man Major League-rosters.
The others are Ozzie Albies (2B, Atlanta Braves), Xander Bogaerts (SS, Boston Red Sox), Didi Gregorius (SS, New York Yankees), Kenley Jansen (RHP, Los Angeles Dodgers), Spencer Kieboom (C, Washington Nationals), Jonathan Schoop (2B, Minnesota Twins) and Andrelton Simmons (SS, Los Angeles Angels).
On February 12, short stop Carter Kieboom (the brother of Spencer) was invited to Spring Training as a Non-Roster Player with the Washington Nationals.
The Kieboom-brothers were born in the USA, but they have a Dutch father, former catcher Alswinn Kieboom.
He played in the Dutch big league for HCAW and also played in the Netherlands National Juniors Team.
In 2013, Spencer Kieboom was on the preliminary roster of the Netherlands Team for the World Baseball Classic.
So, when Spring Training went underway, there were nine Dutch players in Major League-camps.
Last year, a record of 23 Dutch players participated in Spring Training.
At Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Jurickson Profar was the sixth batter and starting second baseman for Oakland Athletics, the team of Manager Bob Melvin, who was named Manager of the Year for the third time after last season.
Profar, who turned 26 on Wednesday (February 20), made his Major League-debut on September 2, 2012 when he was the second baseman for Texas Rangers.
On that day, against Cleveland Indians, he hit a homerun in his first Major League-at bat.
Profar played in nine games in 2012, then appeared in 85 the following season.
...Jurickson Profar with the Netherlands in Phoenix (USA)...
...during preparation for the 2017 World Baseball Classic...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Thereafter, the infielder missed both the 2014 and 2015 season due to a severe injury.
He returned in 2016 and then batted .239 in 90 games with five homeruns and 20 runs batted in.
Profar played in only 22 Major League-games in 2017 when he played the majority of the season in Triple-A.
Last year was Profar's best in the Major League.
He played in 146 games for Texas and batted .254.
He collected 133 basehits, including 20 homeruns, scored 82 runs and batted in 77.
After the season, on December 21, Profar was one of the players involved in a 3-team trade and moved from Texas to Oakland.
Profar participated with the Netherlands National Team in the 2013 and 2017 World Baseball Classic.
Oakland faced a quick deficit in the first exhibition game of the season.
Seattle opened the score with two runs in the top of the first inning and added three more in the second at bat.
In the first inning, off of starting pitcher Paul Blackburn, Shed Long led off with a double to account for the first basehit in Spring Training this year.
He moved on a single by Tim Beckham and scored on a sacrifice fly by Domingo Santana.
A following single by Omar Narvaez made it a 2-0 score.
In the second inning, off of new pitcher Jerry Blevins, Dylan Moore added a 2-run double and scored himself on a ground-rule double by Long, which was the third double in this at bat.
Profar, who had participated in a double play, was scheduled to be the third batter in the bottom of the second inning.
However, after completion of the top of the second inning, the game was halted due to rain and was cancelled.
On Friday, four games are scheduled.
(February 21)
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