Europeans in the Majors & Minors through August 26, 2015

by DZ

All current major or minor league players developed in European baseball are listed here.

Most minor league regular seasons finish in the week ahead, and some of these players will extend their seasons with playoff appearances and/or invitations to instructional league (where they’ll play, but we won’t see any stats or results from afar). Highlights from this addition: Vadim Balan became the first Moldovan to play professional baseball with a perfect 1.2 inning debut… Germans Max Kepler and Markus Solbach continue to succeed in breakout seasons… Lithuanian Dovydas Neverauskas allowed his first earned run since June… Nicolo Clemente and Marten Gasparini will be the professionals representing Italy at the U18 World Championships.

MLB –

Didi Gregorius, New York Yankees. Netherlands.
Current team: New York Yankees (MLB)
Gregorius has cooled over the last 2 weeks, with 9 hits and a home run in that time. While his year has gone hot and cold, he’s settling near his career pace for batting average and on-base percentage, while his next homer will match his season high. He’s hitting .253 with 6 home runs.

Triple A –

Roger Bernadina, Colorado Rockies. Netherlands.
Current team: Albuquerque Isotopes (AAA)
Bernadina has 13 hits and 5 stolen bases over his last 10 games. He has 14 home runs and 16 stolen bases on the year while hitting .273/.378/.471.

Double A –

Max Kepler, Minnesota Twins. Germany.
Current team: Chattanooga Lookouts (AA)
Kepler hasn’t let up in the last 3 months, putting up impressive numbers and getting mentions from various prospect followers and media outlets as a potential September call-up to the major leagues. He’s hitting .371 in his last 10 games while walking 8 times versus 4 strikeouts. For the season he’s at .329/.414/.544 with 55 extra base hits and 17 stolen bases in 107 game.

Alex Liddi, Kansas City Royals. Italy.
Current team: Northwest Arkansas Naturals (AA)
Liddi got 13 hits in his last 10 games, while striking out 16 times versus nary a walk. In 118 games, he has 53 extra base hits, 24 walks, 117 strikeouts, 8 stolen bases, and a slash line of .278/.318/.466.

Single-A –

Federico Celli, Los Angeles Dodgers. Italy.
Current team: Great Lakes Loons (A)
Celli is another European going through hot and cold spells. He has 5 hits and 20 strikeouts in his last 10 games. For the year, he’s hitting .242/.284/.328. It is quite impressive that he’s held his own, given the aggressive assignment this spring to a full season team.

Martin Cervenka, Cleveland Indians. Czech Republic.
Current team: Lake County Captains (A)
Cervenka got 3 hits in the last 7 games since we last checked in. He is hitting .192 with a .246 OBP and 9 extra base hits in 44 games.

Dovydas Neverauskas, Pittsburgh Pirates. Lithuania.
Current team: Bradenton Marauders (A)
Neverauskas received a promotion to high-A Bradenton and continued to excel. In his last 10 appearances, his last is the only one in which he has allowed an earned run. In those 18.2 innings, he has walked 5 and struck out 15. In 63.1 innings in 2015, he is 2-2 with a 3.13 ERA and 4 saves. He has 25 walks and 47 strikeouts.

Andy Paz, Oakland Athletics. France.
Current team: Beloit Snappers (A)
Paz has 6 hits in 6 games since returning from nearly 7 weeks on the disabled list. Paz has appeared in only 15 official games this year, walking 8 times and striking out 17 times while stealing a base and slashing .245/.351/.265.

Markus Solbach, Arizona Diamondbacks. Germany.
Current team: Visalia Rawhide (A)
Solbach has started 3 games since his promotion to High-A Visalia in the California League, which is well-known for ballparks and elevation that lead to big offensive numbers (and thus harsh pitching statistics). He debuted there with an 8 inning, 2 hit shutout to get his first win at the new level. Over the next two starts he’s totaled 11 innings, 11 runs, 14 hits, 4 strikeouts and 2 walks. He is 10-5 on the year with a 3.20 ERA in 140 innings.

Rookie –

Daniel Arribas, Pittsburgh Pirates. Netherlands.
Current team: West Virginia Black Bears (rookie)
Arribas continues his steady play, hitting .268 with a pair of stolen bases over the past 10 games. He’s hitting .270/.337/.339 in 49 games.

Vadim Balan, Minnesota Twins. Moldova.
Assigned to: GCL Twins (rookie)
Balan made his professional debut on August 26, and an impressive start it was for the first Moldovan in professional baseball. He threw 1.2 innings with no walks and no hits while striking out four.

Paul Brands, Pittsburgh Pirates. Netherlands.
Current team: GCL Pirates (rookie)
Brands has played 18 games this season, with two extra base hits and 9 walks to pair with 22 strikeouts. He’s hitting .212 with a .349 OBP.

Sam Buelens, Toronto Blue Jays. Belgium.
Current team: DSL Blue Jays (rookie)
Buelens has 3 hits and 3 stolen bases in his last 10 games. He’s played 42 games, hitting .232 with a .347 OBP and stealing 20 bases in 22 attempts.

Nicolo Clemente, Boston Red Sox. Italy.
Current team: DSL Red Sox 1 (rookie)
Clemente has allowed only one run in his last 5 appearances, covering over 12 innings. In 39 innings this season, he has a 3-3 record with 2.97 ERA, walking 13 and striking out 24.

Maik Ehmcke, Arizona Diamondbacks. Germany.
Current team: AZL D’backs (rookie)
Ehmcke has 7 hits in 31 at bats over his last 10 games. In 33 games and 101 at bats, he has 6 extra base hits, 10 walks, 29 strikeouts, 2 stolen bases, a .208 average, and .274 OBP.

Rachid Engelhardt, Baltimore Orioles. Netherlands.
Current team: DSL Orioles 1 (rookie)
Engelhardt has 6 hits, 3 walks, 3 stolen bases, and 11 strikeouts in his last 10 games. He has 9 extra base hits in 39 games this year while hitting .212/.295/.288.

Marten Gasparini, Kansas City Royals. Italy.
Current team: Idaho Falls Chukars (rookie)
The shortstop stole 5 bases and had 4 hits in his last 4 games before leaving to join the Italian U18 national team at the World Championships in Japan. He’s played 52 games this year, getting 16 extra base hits, stealing 25 bases, and hitting .262.

Federico Giordani, Los Angeles Dodgers. Italy.
Current team: AZL Dodgers (rookie)
Giordani has had 5 hits in his last 10 games and stole a base. The outfielder will remain with the AZL Dodgers rather than appear with Italy in the World Championships. He’s hitting .141 in 30 games there.

Misja Harcksen, Los Angeles Dodgers. Netherlands.
Current team: Ogden Raptors (rookie)
Harcksen has made 4 appearances, pitching 6 innings, over the past 2+ weeks. While giving up 9 hits, he walked only one and limited the opposition to one run. In 2015, he’s 1-0 with a 2.79 ERA and 23 strikeouts versus 3 walks in 19 innings.

Julsan Kamara, Philadelphia Phillies. Germany.
Current team: DSL Phillies (rookie)
The Mainz native got in 3 games over the past 10 days, getting a hit and an RBI after a month out of action. In 23 games, he’s hitting .158 with a .324 OBP.

Nadir Ljatifi, Cincinnati Reds. Germany.
Current team: AZL Reds (rookie)
Ljatifi played in 4 additional games recently (after appearing in two games in June), going 2-2 with an RBI in one of them. He’s had 9 at bats this year, hitting a pair of doubles and walking once while striking out five times.

Marek Minarik, Pittsburgh Pirates. Czech Republic.
Current team: Bristol Pirates (rookie)
Minarik has thrown 13 innings in 4 outings since the last check. He’s walked 3 and struck out 10, while allowing 11 hits and 8 runs. He’s 2-4 with a 6.00 ERA in 48 innings, walking 16 and striking out 36.

Alberto Mineo, Chicago Cubs. Italy.
Current team: Eugene Emeralds (rookie)
Mineo has 8 hits in his last 10 games. Over 34 games and 99 at bats this season, he’s hitting .202 with a .320 OBP while hitting 7 extra base hits.

Jan Novak, Baltimore Orioles. Czech Republic.
Current team: GCL Orioles (rookie)
Novak has allowed earned runs in only one of his last 8 appearances, all either one or two innings long. He’s pitched 24.2 innings in 17 games, with a 1-1 record and 4.01 ERA while striking out 19 and walking seven.

Milan Post, Milwaukee Brewers. Netherlands.
Current team: Helena Brewers (rookie)
Post hit .241 over his last 10 games while also walking 5 times. In 38 games he has 7 extra base hits and a stolen base while slashing .192/.301/.256.

Sven Schuller, Los Angeles Dodgers. Germany.
Current team: AZL Dodgers (rookie)
Schuller has continued to battle the strike zone while not allowing too many hits. In his last 6 innings (4 appearances) in the last two weeks, he’s allowed 6 hits and struck out twelve, while also walking eight. In 30 innings this season he’s walked 30 and struck out 29.

Matz Schutte, Minnesota Twins. Netherlands.
Current team: GCL Twins (rookie)
Schutte is pitching about every 4^th day and holding his own against older competition in the GCL (he doesn’t turn 18 until October). He’s thrown 24.2 innings in 13 appearances, winning 2 versus 1 loss with a 2.92 ERA. He has 3 walks and 12 strikeouts.

Artur Strzalka, New York Yankees. Poland.
Current team: GCL Yankees 2 (rookie)
Strzalka pitched 3 more times in the last two weeks, with 7 strikeouts in 3.2 innings. In 12 innings on the season, he has 6 walks, 12 strikeouts, and 11 hits allowed.

Ruar Verkerk, Minnesota Twins. Netherlands.
Current team: GCL Twins (rookie)
Verkerk has hit .214 with a stolen base over his last 10 games. In 63 at bats this season, he has 2 walks, 17 strikeouts, and an extra base hit while hitting .206.

Yet to appear in 2015:

Pascal Amon, Los Angeles Dodgers. Germany.

Taylor Clemensia, Minnesota Twins. Netherlands.

Loek van Mil, Minnesota Twins. Netherlands.