by Ty Eriksen
Some have been sent home, some have been called up, and some have retired: here’s a recap of how Europe’s minor leaguers are performing in the States this year.
Belgium
Thomas De Wolf (DSL Mets) Hitting .238, 1 HR, 14 RBI’s in 36 games this season.
Czech Republic
Jan Rehacek (GCL Twins) Released by the Twins and back in the Czech Republic.
Matej Hejma (GCL Twins) Hitting .207, 0, 2 across 10 games in the GCL.
Stepan Havlicek (Rays organization) Look for him in the minors starting 2011.
France
Frederic Hanvi (GCL Twins) Saw more consistent time over the last week, but hitting just .067 with a lone RBI in 10 games.
Germany
Kai Gronauer (Port St. Lucie Mets) A 3-3, 2 RBI performance as well as tallying a hit in 8 of 9 games has Kai hitting .333 (8 RBI, 15 games) after his promotion.
Donald Lutz (Billings Mustangs) Hitting .286 and slugging .429 in his new home this season, including some incredible home splits: a .348 average and .826 slugging in Billings, Montana.
Max Kepler-Rozycki (GCL Twins) Hitting .268 with 6 RBI’s in 15 games.
Jennell Hudson (GCL Red Sox) Still out and recovering from elbow surgery, likely to miss the entire 2010 campaign.
Italy
Alex Liddi (West Tenn Diamond Jaxx) Still putting up an average of a hit a game, hitting .268, 6, 55 in 85 games
Alessandro Maestri (Dayton Cubs) A 2-4 record in the minors this season, across 34 appearances in Tennessee and Dayton. Two stints out of the pen saw him punch out 3 and give up 2 hits in 2.1 innings this week.
Luca Martone (GCL Astros) One start in the past week: now hitting .100 with 1 RBI.
Luca Panerati (Dayton Dragons) On DL to start the year.
Andrea Lucati (GCL Astros) The move to the GCL has given him more chances, as predicted: three relief appearances and 2.2 innings later, Andrea has given up just three hits in his new home.
Andrea Pizziconi (Yakima Bears): Appears to have turned his pen success into a trip to the starting rotation: 2 starts, 6 total innings, and a single run. Won’t be helped by the high number of walks, combining for 6 in his two starts.
Lithuania
Dovydas Neverauskas (GCL Pirates) No appearances to report for the week.
Netherlands
Gregory Halman (Tacoma Rainiers) A lone HR this week, but sitting on a 6 game hitting streak, and 13 hits in his last 10 games. Average stands at .253 with 19 HR, and 43 RBI’s for the season.
Rick van den Hurk (New Orleans Zephyrs) One start over the past week, marking a win in going 5 IP with 6 K’s, scattering 5 hits for 1 ER. Puts him over .500 for the season: 5-4, 76 IP, 67 K.
Loek van Mil (New Britain Rock Cats) One trip from the pen this week, resulting in a loss as van Mil allowed two runs on three hits and one walk in one inning pitched.
Mike Bolsenbroek (Lakewood BlueClaws) Called to the mound three times this week, Mike did his job in earning no decisions: 3 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 3 K. The BlueClaws are certainly hoping he can start working deeper into games in the near future, as they choked away his three great innings to lose 8-7.
Mariekson Gregorius (Dayton Dragons) Had a successful week, going hitless in just one game. Had 4 games in which he had multiple hits, and raised his average to .270, with 4 HR and 29 RBI on the season.
Kalian Sams (Clinton LumberKings) Managed just one base hit for the week: now hitting .184 in 66 games.
Tom Stuifbergen (Beloit Snappers) Back on the active roster after more than a month, Stuifbergen had a short start but showed why he was selected to the All-Star team. Tom surrendered 3 H in 3 IP, while striking out 2 in his no decision.
Daan Cornelissen (GCL Pirates) Had a 2 2B, 2 R game against the Braves this week: now his line stands at .125, 0, 3.
Jeroen de Haas (AZL Mariners) Took the loss after one bad inning of relief this week, in which three hits and a walk lead to two earned runs and a short outing.
Swen Huijer (GCL Red Sox) Picked up an unlikely win after giving up two runs in a single inning pitched. Bounced back with a three and one-third inning performance in which he allowed no earned runs.
Rien Vernooij (GCL Mets) Three starts in the field but no hits, no runs, and a single base on balls for Rien over the week.
Björn Hato (DSL Mets) Had time off over the last week, making one start. Hitting .250, 0, 7 in 17 games for the Mets.
Ruben Rijkhof (DSL Braves) A 1-5 performance in his fourth start of the season, but managed to get home twice in the game.
Kevin Weijgertse (DSL Mets) Batting .132 in regular time for the Mets in the Dominican.
Sidney Ponson (Retired) Officially packed it in. 12 Major League seasons, 1760.1 IP, 1031 K’s, and a career 5.03 ERA.
Russia
Andrei Lobanov (Elizabethton Twins) As mentioned, Andrei has been on the road a lot lately: moving from Ft. Myers to Elizabethtown to Beloit. Now he has settled down with the Snappers, and this week made 4 trips to the mound. Over 7.1 IP, Lobanov allowed 2 ER on 7 H, while sitting down 5 on strikes (3 in his last appearance).
Spain
Alejandro Sanchez (GCL Braves) Got on the field twice this week, a pinch run opportunity that he converted into a run, and a start in which he went hitless.
Eric Gonzalez (Lake Elsinore Storm) The short-lived role as a starter is over, as Eric went 1-1 with a ND this week coming out of the pen three times, spread over 7 IP, 3 ER.
Deoin Galvan (DSL Braves) Went one-for-the-week, but earned two more starts. Slowly starting to see more full games as a result of success when he gets AB’s.
Roberto Machado (DSL Braves) Has yet to appear in a game since the beginning of June.
Victor Velazquez (DSL Braves) Also seeing his name left off the line-up card this month; no field time since June.
