The MLB season is well underway now and there are currently five players from the Dutch Kingdom playing in the Majors. Here is an overview of how they are doing.
Xander Bogaerts is having his best season in the Bigs so far. The 23-year old shorstop from Aruba is hitting a very respectable .338, with an on base percentage of .390 and a sluggin percentage of .503. Last Sunday (May 15), Xander committed only his first error in 37 games that brought his fielding percentage to .992.
Of all the regulars, Xander is having the best batting average of the team so far.
Didi Gregorius comes off a slow start, though he hit rather well in the first three games of the season. But since then his batting average went downhill. His performance at the plate is rather fluctuating to put it mildly. At one moment he can go 0 for 4 but then again he hits 3 for 3 in the next game.
In the game vs the Chicago White Sox on Saturday, Didi went 3 for 3 with a double and an RBI. But then in the next game, Didi went 0 for 3 again. Currently his BA stands at .237, his OBP on .261 and his Slugging percentage stands at .368.
On the defensive side, Didi had a rough start too, making four errors in a very short notice. Since then he has settled down, but last night in and vs Arizona, he committed his fifth fielding error.
But the complaint of Yankee fans that the 26-year old Curacaoan cannot hit lefties, something they did last year, is totally outdated as he is hitting a lot better vs lefties than he is doing vs righties: .343 vs .190.
Curacao born Kenley Jansen is still perfect. In thirteen save opportunities he earned as many saves. His ERA stands at a microscopic 0.59(!). His opponents are hitting a lowly .140 with him on the mound and he has allowed a bit more than half a runner on base per inning so far this season. The 28-year old closer has fanned 16 batters which means that he has struck out a bit more than one per inning.
On Tuesday May 10, Kenley entered the game with a one run lead and earned the win instead of the save.
Jonathan Schoop’s batting average was in the low .200 range for a while but in his last seven games he has collected ten hits out of twenty-seven at bats (.370). In his last fifteen games he was hitting .339 (19 out of 56), so there is a clear incline. But compared with the previous season, Jonathan is trailing by .011.
In total Jonathan has hit seven homeruns and if he continues to hit them in this pace, he will finish the season with approximately 31 homeruns.
In 36 games, Jonathan committed two errors (.987), so even though two is not much, there is room for some improvement.
After struggling mightily at the plate, Andrelton Simmons has been placed on the DL due to a thumb injury that incurred when he dove for a ball and tore the ligament of his left thumb. Simmons will be out for at least two months as the Angels expect him to return at the end of July.
As stated, Andrelton didn’t see the ball well when in the batter’s box. In 114 at bats, the Curacao native collected just 25 hits (.219) with four doubles and a homerun.
On the defensive side Andrelton has committed three errors in 31 games already.
Dutch Baseball Hangout 