(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Henk Seppen)
   Jurickson Profar released by Colorado Rockies
Nederlands
 DENVER, Colorado (USA) -
Outfielder Jurickson Profar has been released by Colorado Rockies, the club announced on Sunday (August 27).
The Curaçao-born Profar was in his first season with Colorado, with whom he signed a contract during Spring Training, on March 21.
Profar was a Free Agent after last season when he had played for San Diego Padres.
...Jurickson Profar with the Netherlands...
...Team against Chinese Taipei during...
...the World Baseball Classic...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
The 30-year old Jurickson Profar had played in 111 games for Colorado before his release.
However, he batted only .236 with eight homeruns and batted in 39 runs.
Profar's spot on the roster was taken by prospect Hunter Goodman.
Two weeks ago, Profar sustained a knee-injury when he ran into the wall at Dodger Stadium against Los Angeles Dodgers while catching a line drive hit by Mookie Betts.
Two days later, he returned to action and played in eight more games.
Profar played his last game on Friday and then was 0-for-1 (strikeout) as pinch-hitter in an away-game against Baltimore Orioles.
Jurickson Profar made his Major League-debut in 2012 when he was with Texas Rangers.
In his first game, on September 2, Profar hit a homerun in his first Major League at bat.
Profar played in nine Major League-games that year.
After having played in 85 games for Texas in 2013, Profar missed both the 2014 and 2015 seasons due to a shoulder-injury.
He returned in 2016 and then played in 90 games for Texas, hitting .239 with five homeruns.
During the 2017 season, the oufielder appeared in only 22 Major League-games for Texas, but he was a regular in 2018, playing in 146 games, hittting .254 with 20 homeruns and 77 runs batted in.
In December 2018, Profar was part of a 7-player deal which was done by Texas and Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays.
Profar, who then primarily was an infielder, ended up at Oakland for whom he played in 139 games in the 2019 season, hitting .218 with 20 homeruns.
In December 2019, Profar was traded again, this time to San Diego Padres.
In the meantime, Profar had become an utility player, playing in both the infield and outfield.
He played three seasons (2020-2022) for San Diego.
Last year, Profar played in a career-high 152 games and was the prime leftfielder for San Diego.
He batted .243 with 36 doubles and 15 homeruns and batted in 58 runs.
After the season, Profar opted out of his final year of his contract to become a Free Agent, hoping to get a long-term contract somewhere.
And so, after the 2022 season, Profar was a Free Agent, but the long-term contract didn't come.
As mentioned, in March of this year, he signed an one-year contract ($ 7.75 million) with Colorado Rockies and was re-united with Hensley Meulens, who was the Hitting Coach of the team for the first time this season.
Earlier in March, Profar played for Meulens when he was the Manager of the Netherlands Baseball Team during the World Baseball Classic.
As he had more than 400 plate appearances this season with Colorado, Profar earned an additional one million dollar bonus.
Profar first played in the Netherlands Team during the Classic in 2013 when he was added to the roster of the Orange Team for the Semi-Final, replacing injured Yurendell de Caster.
In November 2016, he played for the Netherlands in a 2-game exhibition series against Japan in Tokyo.
And in 2017, he reached the Semi-Final of the World Baseball Classic with the Netherlands.
In March, Profar returned to the Netherlands Team to play in his third Classic, but this time, the team was eliminated in the First Round.
In 2004 and 2005, Profar played for Curaçao in the Little League World Series, winning the event in 2004.
(August 27)
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