A few days after Jair Jurrjens opted out of the World Baseball Classic, the Dutch National Team receives another blow. Shairon Martis, who no-hit Panama in 2006 and made his Major League debut last year, announced his withdrawal from the WBC on Friday. The 21-year-old decided to stay in the Washington Nationals Spring Training camp, as he has hopes to make the 25-man roster.
Quote MLB.com:
“When I came to camp, the team told me I had a great chance to make the team, so that’s why I decided to stay with the team and see what happens,” Martis said. “Right now, [the Netherlands] don’t know that I’ve made this decision. When they find out, it’s going to be hard for them because they were counting on me. I want to play with them. I want to play in the Classic, but I better stay in Nationals camp. ”
.
Martis made a name for himself in the Classic as a Giants prospect. While representing The Netherlands, he pitched a seven-inning no-hitter against Panama. The game was stopped because of the 10-run rule.
.
Prior to that start, Martis didn’t play an inning in the Classic and was surprised to learn from manager Robert Eenhoorn the previous day that he would pitch the final game. Martis vowed The Netherlands would not lose another game, and he was true to his word.
After Jurrjens and outfielder Roger Bernadina, Martis is the third player with Major League experience on the provisional roster of the Netherlands to skip the World Baseball classic. Obviously the other teams in the tournament experience the same withdrawals. However the absence of two of their top starters will hurt the team, as they have to face the Dominican Republic, Panama and Puerto Rico in Pool D. Pitching coach Bert Blyleven already had reached out to Jurrjens in hopes that he might changes his decision. The two-time World Series winner probably will try the same thing with Martis.