Reigning German champion Buchbinder Legionaere Regensburg has added two former minor leaguers to complete the roster for the 2011 season in the Baseball-Bundesliga. Justin Kuehn and Evan LeBlanc are only the second and third new players for Regensburg this winter. Earlier this offseason they had added Enzo Muschik from the Mainz Athletics. Both attended the Santa Clara University (NCAA Division I) in California.
The 23-year-old Justin Kuehn is a right-handed pitcher who is replacing Eric Faint as the foreign pitcher in game two each week. Selected by the Chicago White Sox in the 19th round of the 2008 amateur draft he had a combined ERA of 2.70 in 16 games in the Appalachian and Pioneer Leagues in 2008 and 2009. Solely used as a reliever he struck out 29 batters in 30 innings, walking 17.
The 24-year-old Evan LeBlanc also was selected in the 2008 amateur draft. The New York Mets took him in the 23rd round. The outfielder had his lone professional season one year later, when he played for Kingsport, Brooklyn and Savannah. He batted a combined .197/.272/.270 with 16 runs and 15 RBI in 49 games. Regensburg stated in the press release that they might also use him in the infield.
Kuehn and LeBlanc will join the Buchbinder Legionaere on their Spring Training trip to Nettuno, Italy at the end of the week. Jonathan Eisenhuth, Kai Bindemann and James Larsen also will travel south. According to the press release head coach Martin Helmig would like to integrate the young guns into the Bundesliga roster this year.