The Dutch national team pitcher Shairon Martis is scheduled to make his big league debut on Thursday, September 4th against the Atlanta Braves. His team, the Washington Nationals, announced Wednesday evening that Martis is getting the nod instead of Collin Balester, who is scratched from his appointment due to a mild left glut strain. Washington is currently in fifth place in the National League East Division with a 54-86 record.
Martis was called up from Triple A Columbus on September 1st, joining Roger Bernadina with the Nationals, as teams were allowed to extend their active rosters. He is the fourth pitcher, who is eligible to play for the Dutch national team, to appear in a Major League game this season after Rick Van Den Hurk (Florida Marlins), Jair Jurrjens (Atlanta Braves) and Sidney Ponson (Texas Rangers/New York Yankees).
Martis started the year in Double A Harrisburg, posting a 4-4 record with an ERA of 3.98 in 14 starts. He was called up to Triple A Columbus and started in seven games with an ERA of 3.02. In between, he pitched for the Netherlands in two games at the Olympics in Beijing, going 0-2 with an ERA of 6.75 against Canada and Team USA.
Martis was signed by the San Francisco Giants at the age of 16 and debuted in 2004 in the Dominican Summer League. After starting 2006 at the Single A level in the Giants organization, he was traded to the Nationals in exchange for left-handed reliever Mike Stanton and climbed the farm system up since then. In 74 minor league starts he had a 21-15 record with an ERA of 3.80 and 345 strikeouts (137 walks) in 416.1 innings pitched. In his debut with the Dutch national team in 2006 at the World Baseball Classic, Martis threw a seven-inning no-hitter against Panama. In the All Star Futures Game this summer at Yankee Stadium, he closed out the victory for the World Team.