(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen & St. Louis Cardinals)
   First start Sem Robberse with new club; Netherlands Team-rookie Shervyen Newton in Spring Training
Nederlands
  JUPITER, Florida / SURPRISE, Arizona (USA) -
Dutch-born pitcher Sem Robberse made his pitching-debut for St. Louis Cardinals on Monday (February 26).
Robberse was traded to St. Louis during last season.
On Tuesday, first baseman Shervyen Newton was added to the Major League-team of Kansas City Royals as an additional player.
Newton, who was born in Tilburg (Netherlands), last year made his debut in the Netherlands Team.
...Sem Robberse...
(© St.L.Cardinals) |
On Monday, in an away-game against Miami Marlins in Jupiter, Florida, Sem Robberse was the starting pitcher for St. Louis Cardinals, where he is on the 40-man roster.
The 22-year old righthander threw two solid innings for St. Louis.
In the first inning, Robberse struckout the first two batters he faced, rookie Xavier Edwards and veteran Josh Bell.
A flyout ended his first inning.
In the second, Robberse got two flyouts, then walked Vidal Brujan and gave up a single to Dane Myers.
A grounder then ended the at bat.
In the third inning, Robberse was relieved by Giovanny Gallegos with St. Louis leading 1-0.
The team scored in the second inning on a single by Ivan Herrera, who was Robberse's catcher.
Gallegos gave up the tying run in the third inning on a double play-grounder.
The game ended with an 1-1 score in nine innings.
Robberse made his Spring Training-debut last year when he was with Toronto Blue Jays.
He then pitched in three games (one start) and was 0-1.
In six innings, Robberse gave up four basehits (one homerun) and four runs, while also striking out four batters.
Sem Robberse was signed by Toronto in July 2019.
He initially pitched in the Rookie League, but promoted in following seasons.
After the 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Robberse played in Single-A in 2021.
During the 2022 season, he promoted to Double-A, where he also started last year.
On July 30, Robberse was traded by Toronto to St. Louis.
There, he made his debut in Triple-A and pitched in eight games (seven starts) for Memphis Redbirds.
He was 2-1 and struckout 44 batters in 35 1/3 inning.
Also last year, Robberse was selected for the All-Star Futures Game.
He then pitched for the American League-team in the sixth with the National League-team leading 2-0.
Robberse gave up two singles and followed with a strikeout, but then was replaced.
Both runners went on to score.
...Shervyen Newton with the Netherlands...
...Team during the 2023 European...
...Championship in Czechia...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
On Tuesday, Kansas City Royals had two games scheduled, to be played by so-called 'split squads'.
Minor League-players are then often added as additional players, as many changes are made during early games in Spring Training.
One of the added players was 24-year old Shervyen Newton, but he didn't came into action on Tuesday.
Newton also didn't play in following days.
Spring Training is not new for Newton.
In 2022, he played in three games for New York Mets and was 0-for-5 with one walk and three strikeouts.
Last year, Newton played in four Spring Training-games for Kansas City Royals and was 1-for-7 with one RBI and three strikeouts.
Last year, the first baseman played the entire season for Quad Cities River Bandits in Single-A.
In 96 games, Newton batted .222 (72-for-324) with 17 doubles, three triples and 15 homeruns.
He scored 47 runs, batted in also 47, walked 37 times and struckout 119 times.
Newton made his professional debut in 2016 after being signed as a short stop in July 2015 by New York Mets.
Newton was a Free Agent after the 2022 season, then signed with Philadelphia Phillies in November of that year.
However, some three weeks later, he was put on waivers and his contract was claimed by Omaha Storm Chasers, the Triple-A team of Kansas City Royals.
In March last year, Newton was assigned to the Single-A team.
Also last year, Shervyen Newton made his debut in the Netherlands Team during the Rotterdam Baseball Weekend, a 3-game exhibition-series against Czechia in Rotterdam (Netherlands).
Newton played in the first two games and was 0-for-8.
Thereafter, Newton participated with the Orange-squad in the European Championship in Czechia.
He played in three of six games and batted 1-for-3, scored once and walked twice.
In all three games, he was inserted as pinch-hitter.
In two of these games, he went on to play defensively thereafter, one at first base, one at third.
(February 29)
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