This Monday the first pitchers and catcher report back to their Major League teams and Spring Training in Florida and Arizona is getting kicked off. The first exhibition games will be played at the end of the month and we already can smell Opening Day in the MLB, which is scheduled for Thursday, March 31.
Most of the European players which have a contract with a Major League organization in their pockets will have to wait until March to start Spring Training with their respective Minor League colleagues. But a handful of Europe’s hopeful will already be in big league camp for the next couple of weeks, hoping to make an impression to reach the big goal.
Some like Andruw Jones (New York Yankees) or Jair Jurrjens (Atlanta Braves) virtually already have locked up a spot on the opening day roster. Others like Rick van den Hurk (Baltimore Orioles), Roger Bernadina (Washington Nationals), Kenley Jansen (Los Angeles Dodgers) and Gregory Halman (Seattle Mariners) have pretty good chances to make it. Shairon Martis (Washington Nationals), Loek van Mil (Los Angeles Angels), Alex Liddi (Seattle Mariners) and Kai Gronauer (New York Mets) hope to find some playing time during the exhibition schedule.