One of the most promising young German players is on the move. The 21-year-old right-hander Jan-Niclas Stoecklin will leave the Mainz Athletics to join the Mannheim Tornados. He is supposed to replace Rene Franke as German starting pitcher in game one of each weekend’s doubleheaders in the Baseball-Bundesliga. The Tornados already had introduced Matt Kemp as player-coach for the 2012 season. He is taking over as foreign starter in game two and succeeds Georg Bull as head coach.
Stoecklin also gets an apprenticeship with a sponsor (Pfitzenmeier – High End Gyms) of the Tornados, starting in January. His 2011 season with the A’s was cut short due to an ACL tear at the beginning of May. He recovered fully and already played baseball at Hill College in Texas during the fall. He returns to Germany after just one semester.
Stoecklin impressed in the Baseball-Bundesliga at the beginning of the year as one of the best pitchers in the league. He went 3-0 with an ERA of 1.59 in five starts before his injury. He struck out 39 batters in 34 innings, walking 14. He has a 90+ MPH fastball with a variety of solid off speed pitches. He also is able to swing the bat, going 7-for-20 with a homerun, three triples, five runs scored and five RBI.