(Story by Marco Stoovelaar)
    Carter Kieboom starts new season in Triple-A
Nederlands
 WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (USA) -
Carter Kieboom will begin the 2021 season in Triple-A.
The third baseman was one of five players optioned to Rochester Red Wings on Saturday (March 27) by Washington Nationals.
The others were righthanded pitcher Kyle McGowin, lefthanded pitcher Sam Clay, short stop Luis García and outfielder Yadiel Hernández.
Third baseman Jake Noll was designated for assignment.
With only a few days left before the start of the regular season on April 1, the rosters of the 30 Major League Teams have to be brough back to 26 players.
With that, Managers and General Managers have to make decisions on which players will be on the Opening Day-rosters and which players will begin the new season in the Minor League.
American-born Kieboom was a candidate for the starting position at third base, but it was decided to give him more time in Triple-A to work more on his hitting.
The 23-year old infielder played in 17 Spring Training-games so far and batted only .133 (6-for-45) with two doubles and a triple.
He scored twice, batted in only one run and struckout 17 times.
Kieboom played in four consecutive games since Tuesday, but wasn't successful offensively.
He struckout in his lone at bat on Tuesday.
The next day, he played a complete game and was 0-for-2 with a strikeout, but he also walked twice.
On Thursday, Kieboom was inserted twice as a pinch-hitter in the seventh and ninth inning, but both times, he struckout.
And on Friday, he was 0-for-5 when he played another complete game, but again struckout twice.
Defensively, Kieboom is doing a fine job.
In the 18 games he played, he committed only two errors in 38 chances (28 assists).
In the previous days, Didi Gregorius (Philadelphia Phillies) hit two homeruns and now has hit three this Spring Training.
Last Monday, he hit a 2-run homerun in a 4-0 win against New York Yankees.
On Thursday, Gregorius hit a 3-run homerun that closed a 5-run rally in the first inning, also against New York.
In that game, Philadelphia led 7-2 after two innings, but only 7-6 after five and 8-6 after six innings.
Four runs were added and so, Philadelphia was leading 12-6 when the ninth inning began.
New York then rallied for six runs to come alongside, but in the bottom of the ninth, Philadelphia won 13-12 thanks to a walk-off single by Dominican Johan Rojas.
Xander Bogaerts (Boston Red Sox) and Andrelton Simmons (Minnesota Twins) also homered.
Bogaerts hit a 3-run homerun in a 5-run rally in the third inning of a 7-6 win against Atlanta Braves on Tuesday.
Simmons hit a solo-homerun on Wednesday in a 7-6 loss against Tampa Bay Rays.
Kenley Jansen (Los Angeles Dodgers) earned his fourth Hold of the Spring-season on Thursday.
He then took over the pitching in the sixth inning from starter Dustin May.
Jansen began with two strikeouts, then gave up a single and was replaced in a 5-2 win against Chicago Cubs.
(March 27)
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