<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="From now until the World Baseball Classic begins on March 6, we’ll be helping you get to know each team involved in baseball’s global tournament. Today’s entry: The Netherlands.” data-reactid=”9″>From now until the World Baseball Classic begins on March 6, we’ll be helping you get to know each team involved in baseball’s global tournament. Today’s entry: The Netherlands.
Back in 2013, the Netherlands went to the WBC with an infield full of young players who weren’t yet well known. Xander Bogaerts, Andrelton Simmons, Jurickson Profar, and Jonathan Schoop helped their team break out, surprising everyone by making it to the semifinals and making Honkbal (the Netherlands’ highest level of professional baseball) everyone’s favorite word.
Four years later, those four players are still relatively young, but much more well-known. And they’re going back to the WBC, joined by Didi Gregorius, to see if they can make it even farther. Four years of experience has done nothing but make these guys better, especially for Bogaerts and Schoop, who both had their MLB debuts in 2013 and have gotten steadily (and fantastically) better since.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="[Sign up for Yahoo Fantasy Baseball | 2017 Player Rankings]” data-reactid=”12″>[Sign up for Yahoo Fantasy Baseball | 2017 Player Rankings]
The Netherlands definitely has their infield all locked up, but pitching is the one area where they’re lacking. They have three guys with major league experience in their rotation: Jair Jurrjens, Shairon Martis, and Rick van den Hurk. However, none of them are currently pitching in the majors. Kenley Jansen would be the big name, but he won’t appear unless the team makes it past pool play and into the elimination rounds. They do have Loek van Mil, a former Minnesota Twins prospect who is 7-foot-1 (or perhaps two 3-foot-6 children standing on each other’s shoulders). He wasn’t bad in his time in the minors (3.48 ERA over nearly 400 innings), but the Netherlands is going to need all its pitchers to get hot in order to beat their showing from 2013.
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Will the Netherlands’ infield help lead them to WBC glory?
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Schedule details: The Netherlands plays in Pool A, and will start their tournament by playing Korea on March 7. They play Chinese Taipei on March 8 and Israel on March 9. After that? Well, that’s up to them.” data-reactid=”32″>Schedule details: The Netherlands plays in Pool A, and will start their tournament by playing Korea on March 7. They play Chinese Taipei on March 8 and Israel on March 9. After that? Well, that’s up to them.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="’13 Finish: They went 4-4 overall in 2013, but they made it to the semi-finals after busting out of pool play with a 2-1 record. In the semis they beat Cuba two separate times, but fell to Japan in the last game of round two and were eliminated.” data-reactid=”33″>’13 Finish: They went 4-4 overall in 2013, but they made it to the semi-finals after busting out of pool play with a 2-1 record. In the semis they beat Cuba two separate times, but fell to Japan in the last game of round two and were eliminated.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Biggest stars: It’s definitely that infield quintet of Bogaerts, Simmons, Schoop, Profar and Gregorius, who are stars of varying levels in the MLB. Most notably, Bogaerts, Simmons and Gregorius are all coming off the best seasons of their young careers.” data-reactid=”34″>Biggest stars: It’s definitely that infield quintet of Bogaerts, Simmons, Schoop, Profar and Gregorius, who are stars of varying levels in the MLB. Most notably, Bogaerts, Simmons and Gregorius are all coming off the best seasons of their young careers.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Notable absences: 2013 “father figure” Andruw Jones is not playing in the WBC this year.” data-reactid=”35″>Notable absences: 2013 “father figure” Andruw Jones is not playing in the WBC this year.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Player you should get familiar with: Wladimir Balentien, who’s playing in right field. Balentien survived in the majors for just three years, but resurrected his career in Japan in 2011. “Resurrected” might be an understatement, actually, since in 2013 Balentien set the single-season home run record with 60 dingers.” data-reactid=”36″>Player you should get familiar with: Wladimir Balentien, who’s playing in right field. Balentien survived in the majors for just three years, but resurrected his career in Japan in 2011. “Resurrected” might be an understatement, actually, since in 2013 Balentien set the single-season home run record with 60 dingers.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Do they have a chance to win?: They do have a chance, but it’s incredibly slim. That infield makes it tempting to say yes, but their pitching is quite the obstacle. They could break out and surprise everyone, and they’re bound to do well early on, but once they start facing teams in the knockout rounds, it’s going to be tough to win with what they have.” data-reactid=”37″>Do they have a chance to win?: They do have a chance, but it’s incredibly slim. That infield makes it tempting to say yes, but their pitching is quite the obstacle. They could break out and surprise everyone, and they’re bound to do well early on, but once they start facing teams in the knockout rounds, it’s going to be tough to win with what they have.
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Loek Van Mil is over seven feet tall, making him the tallest professional baseball player of all time. (AP Photo)
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="THREE BIG QUESTIONS ABOUT THE NETHERLANDS
How far can their infield take them? Pretty far. Gregorius and Schoop have power, Simmons has average and Bogaerts has lots of both. But they won’t just help at the plate. They’ll help their pitching staff with their excellent defense. Simmons in particular is utterly amazing defensively, and will be a one-man show over at shortstop.” data-reactid=”56″>THREE BIG QUESTIONS ABOUT THE NETHERLANDS
How far can their infield take them? Pretty far. Gregorius and Schoop have power, Simmons has average and Bogaerts has lots of both. But they won’t just help at the plate. They’ll help their pitching staff with their excellent defense. Simmons in particular is utterly amazing defensively, and will be a one-man show over at shortstop.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Will everyone still love Honkbal Hoofdklasse? Undoubtedly. That’s the full name of the Netherlands’ own version of MLB, and it’s super fun to say. Honkbal Hoofdklasse is one of the biggest baseball leagues in Europe, and it’s sadly not as well known as the leagues in Japan and Korea. It has eight teams, and the games are played mostly on weekends between April and September. Their version of the World Series is called the Holland Series. Many of the players on the Netherlands team who aren’t from MLB are from Honkbal Hoofdklasse. Fun fact: one of their teams plays their home games in a stadium called Sportpark De Paperclip, which leads to images of a ballpark somehow shaped like a paperclip.” data-reactid=”62″>Will everyone still love Honkbal Hoofdklasse? Undoubtedly. That’s the full name of the Netherlands’ own version of MLB, and it’s super fun to say. Honkbal Hoofdklasse is one of the biggest baseball leagues in Europe, and it’s sadly not as well known as the leagues in Japan and Korea. It has eight teams, and the games are played mostly on weekends between April and September. Their version of the World Series is called the Holland Series. Many of the players on the Netherlands team who aren’t from MLB are from Honkbal Hoofdklasse. Fun fact: one of their teams plays their home games in a stadium called Sportpark De Paperclip, which leads to images of a ballpark somehow shaped like a paperclip.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Previously in this series:
— Team Australia
— Team Canada
— Team China
— Team Chinese Taipei
— Team Columbia
— Team Cuba
— Team Dominican Republic
— Team Israel
— Team Italy
— Team Japan
— Team Korea
— Team Mexico
” data-reactid=”63″>Previously in this series:
— Team Australia
— Team Canada
— Team China
— Team Chinese Taipei
— Team Columbia
— Team Cuba
— Team Dominican Republic
— Team Israel
— Team Italy
— Team Japan
— Team Korea
— Team Mexico
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:” data-reactid=”64″>More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:
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<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher” data-reactid=”70″>Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher
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