(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen & Real Federación Española de Béisbol y Sófbol)
 Hensley Meulens Spanish Hitting Coach in Premier12 Qualifier
Nederlands
 MADRID (Spain) -
Former Netherlands Team Manager Hensley Meulens will be the Hitting Coach of the National Team of Spain during the upcoming WBSC Premier12 Qualifier, which will take place October 9-11 in Barcelona (Spain).
The three-day tournament in Barcelona is the first of two Premier12 Qualifiers.
The second one will be held on November 26-28 in Zhongshan (China).
The teams in first and second place of both tournaments will qualify for the 4th WBSC Premier12 in 2027, which will be expanded to 16 participating countries.
In the first three editions (2015, 2019, 2024), twelve teams participated.
The twelve highest-ranked National Teams, based on the WBSC World Rankings, as of 31 December 2025, already qualified to participate in the group stage of the Premier12 in 2027.
The countries ranked 13-18 and two wild cards will play in the two Qalifiers to determine the other four participants in the group stage.
The countries that already secured their participation in the Premier12 are Australia (11th on World Ranking), Chinese Taipei (2), Cuba (10), the Dominican Republic (12), Japan (1), Mexico (6), the Netherlands (9), Panama (8), Puerto Rico (7), the USA (3), Venezuela (5) and South Korea (4).
Participating in Barcelona will be Colombia (13), Germany (18), Italy (14) and host Spain (26, wild card).
Participating in Zhongshan are host China (17), Czechia (15), Great Britain (19, wild card) and Nicaragua (16).
...Hensley Meulens during the...
...2017 World Baseball Classic...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
In March, Nicaraguan Marvin Benard was named Manager of the Spanish Team.
On Thursday (September 17), Benard announced his preliminary voster of 32 players for the Qalifier, while also the coaching-staff was confirmed.
Hensley Meulens will be the Hitting Coach in Benard's staff.
Meulens was the Netherlands Team Manager during several (professional) tournaments.
In 2013 and 2017, he led the Orange-squad to the Semi-Final of the World Baseball Classic and finished in fourth place both times.
In the 2023 Classic, the Netherlands was unexpectedly eliminated in the First Round.
Meulens also was the Manager during two Premier12-tournaments (2015, 2019) and the Baseball Final Olympic Qualifier (2021).
Before becoming Manager in 2013, Meulens had been a member of the Orange coaching-staff since 2003-2006 and 2009.
His coaching-career with the Netherlands Team followed a period of three years as player in the Orange-squad.
In 2000-2002, he participated with the team in the Olympic Games (2000), World Championship (2001), Haarlem Baseball Week (2002) and Intercontinental Cup (2002), playing in 35 games.
His most memorable game came during the Olympics in Sydney (Australia) when he belted a double against Cuba, which led to a 4-2 victory and Cuba's first-ever Olympic loss.
Hensley Meulens played in the Major League in 1989-1993 and again in 1997-1998.
On August 23, 1989, Meulens became the first player from Curaçao to make his debut in the Major League when, at age 22, he was the third baseman of New York Yankees.
From 1989 through 1993, Meulens, who later played in the outfield mostly, played in 159 games for New York.
Meulens then went on to play in the Japanese Major League (Nippon Professional Baseball) for Chiba Lotte Marines (1994) and Yakult Swallows (1995-1996), winning the Japan Series in 1995.
Thereafter, he returned to the USA and played in 23 more Major League-games in 1997-1998 for Montreal Expos and Arizona Diamondbacks.
Next, in 1999, he played in an Independent League in the USA and in 2000 for SK Wyverns in the highest professional league in South Korea, followed by two seasons in Mexico (2001-2002).
After being a Minor League-coach in 2003-2009, Hensley Meulens was a Major League-coach since 2010.
In 2010-2019, he was a member of the coaching-staff of San Francisco Giants.
In the first eight seasons as Hitting Coach, in the final two as Bench Coach.
With San Francisco, he won the World Series in 2010, 2012 and 2014.
In 2020, Meulens was Bench Coach of New York Mets and in 2022, he was one of two Assistant Hitting Coaches of New York Yankees.
In 2023-2024, Meulens was Hitting Coach of Colorado Rockies, where he also began the 2025 season, but was dismissed in April.
Manager Bud Black was fired a few weeks later.
Since May of this year, Meulens is the Manager of Leones de Yucatán in the Mexican League.
...Announcement of Marvin Benard...
...as Spanish Team Manager in March...
(© Photo: Real Federación Española
de Béisbol y Sófbol via X) |
Spanish Team Manager Marvin Benard played in nine Major League-seasons (1995-2003, 891 games, 54 homeruns) as outfielder with San Francisco Giants.
In 2015, Benard was the Hitting Coach of Tri-City Dust Devils, the Short-Season Single-A of San Diego Padres.
In 2016, he was the Manager of the Nicaragua National Team and also led the team in the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifying Tournament.
During the 2024 Caribbean Series, Benard managed Gigantes de Rivas, champions of the 2023?24 Nicaraguan Professional Baseball League.
Currently, Benard is the color commentator for the San Francisco Giants' Spanish-language radio broadcasts.
The other coaches are Daniel Martinez (Bench Coach), Aritz Garcia (1B Coach), Nestor Perez (3B Coach), Jorge De Paula (Pitching Coach), Eduardo Dominguez (Bullpen Coach), Adam Jones (Assistant Coach) and Pedro Feliz (Assistant Coach).
The preliminary roster includes three invited players from the Spanish U23 Team.
Fifteen players play in the highest Spanish League (Liga Nacional de Béisbol División de Honor Oro), including eight from Marlins de Tenerife, which is also known as Marlins Puerto de la Cruz.
Six play in the Italian Serie A, three in Mexico, three in American Minor League-teams, two in an American Independent League and one each in Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Germany.
The six games in Barcelona will be played in Camp Municipal de Béisbol Carlos Pérez de Rozas, which is located in the Olympic Ring (Anella Olímpica) on the hill of Montjuic.
The stadium was the main-site during the 2007 European Championship, which also served as Qualifier for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing (China).
In 2009, one of the group-stages of the Baseball World Cup was played on Montjuic.
The stadium, which opened in 1990, is named after Carlos Pérez de Rozas y Sáenz de Tejada (1920-1990), a wellknown sports photographer and a baseball advocate.
In the Barcelona Qualifier, the two highest ranked teams will play two home-games, being Colombia (13) and Italy (14).
The schedule is as follows:
October 9: Italy vs. Colombia (12 PM), Spain vs. Germany (7 PM)
October 10: Colombia vs. Germany (12 PM), Italy vs. Spain (7 PM)
October 11: Germany vs.Italy (12 PM), Colombia vs. Spain (7 PM)
To prepare for the Qualifier, Spain will play four practice-games against France on October 4, 5, 6 and 7 at the Carlos Pérez de Rozas Stadium.
The first three games begin at 6 PM, the last game at 10 AM.
(September 18)
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