By DZ. Filed Aug. 8, 2025.
The Arizona rookie league season is finished, ending campaigns for nine European baseball players, while the regular season for the four Europeans in the Dominican rookie league will conclude before August is out. The full-season leagues still have a few weeks to go, however, with 10 active players from the continent.
Among the various highlights of the month, Max Kepler’s Phillies have a 98% probability of making the playoffs (via Fangraphs), giving the German major leaguer and Philadelphia’s starting left-fielder a fifth opportunity to play in the post-season. Williams Wong finished his season with the Rangers and is competing with the Italian Under-23 National Team. Two former minor leaguers also feature on the tournament’s rosters: Italy’s Ettore Giulianelli and the Netherlands’ Stijn van der Schaaf.
Among the players whose seasons are concluded, Dutchman Connor Prins was released after a season lost to injury, and countryman Gijs van den Brink saw only one appearance in May before getting hurt and also missing the year.
This is likely to be the last in-season update in 2025, but we will have a season recap after the minor league playoffs have concluded, potentially previewing pro player participation in the upcoming European Championships.
Key
Name (age*), organization, country, team.
*Age is as of Sept 1, 2025 (playing age this season).
Team Prospect Rankings: BA (Baseball America): #; FG (Fangraphs): #; MLB (MLB.com): #.
“NR” denotes not ranked (only included for players listed in other rankings).
MLB (1)
Max Kepler (32), Philadelphia Phillies. Germany.
Kepler had a pair of extra base hits on Aug. 6, the second time he has accomplished that this season. He has tallied 12 home runs and 15 doubles across 314 at bats for the year, with a .204 average and .295 OBP. He is playing on a one-year, $10m contract and is scheduled to re-enter free agency this winter after the Phillies’ expected playoff run.
Triple-A (3)
Adam Macko (24), Toronto Blue Jays. Slovakia/Ireland. Buffalo Bisons. BA: 24; FG: 12; MLB: 14.
Macko has allowed only two runs in 13 innings across his last three starts, including six hits, 11 strikeouts, and 13 walks. The starter has a 1.59 WHIP and 5.20 ERA in 15 games and 55.1 innings.
Ernesto Martinez, Jr. (26), Milwaukee Brewers. France. Nashville Sounds. BA: NR; FG: 20; MLB: 30.
Martinez has an active four-game hit streak, hitting .250 thus far in August after .194 in May through July. The first baseman maintains a .346 OBP and has six home runs and a stolen base.
Sem Robberse (23), St Louis Cardinals. Netherlands. Memphis Redbirds. BA: 22; FG: 16; MLB: 14.
Robberse had surgery on his throwing elbow in June and is on the injured list for the remainder of the season.
Double-A (4)
Sam Aldegheri (23), Los Angeles Angels. Italy. Rocket City Trash Pandas.BA: 7; FG: 5; MLB: 5.
Aldegheri has pitched six, six, and seven innings in his last three starts, allowing 15 hits and four runs while striking out 16 and walking just three. He is 5-7 with a 4.10 ERA in Double-A this season, pitching 96.2 innings across 18 starts, in addition to his 4.1 MLB innings.
Alessandro Ercolani (21), Pittsburgh Pirates. San Marino. Altoona Curve. BA: NR; FG: Hon. Men.; MLB: NR.
Ercolani has made four starts since the last update, pitching 14.2 innings with 12 hits, 13 strikeouts, 12 walks or hit batters, and six runs. He is 1-7 with a 3.79 ERA in 78.1 innings across 20 games. He has 55 strikeouts and 34 free passes.
Arij Fransen (24), Cincinnati Reds. Netherlands. Chattanooga Lookouts. BA: NR; FG: Hon. Men.; MLB: NR.
Fransen has three appearances since we last checked in, pitching six innings, walking six, allowing six runs, and striking out one. He has a 3-3 record at 4.33 ERA in 22 games and 43.2 innings. He has struck out 40 and walked or hit 30 while pitching in Double-A the entire season.
Omar Hernández (23), Kansas City Royals. Spain. NW Arkansas Naturals.
Hernández has split this season between High-A and Double-A, receiving a mid-season promotion. In 24 games at the new level, he’s hitting .236/.239/.258, including two doubles and two stolen bases in his 89 at bats.
High-A (1)
Kay-Lan Nicasia (25), Milwaukee Brewers. Netherlands. Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.
Nicasia is in his first season at High-A Wisconsin. In 54 games, he is hitting .143/.313/.286. He has stolen 10 bases in 12 attempts and has 12 extra base hits.
Single-A (2)
Mathias LaCombe (23), Chicago White Sox. France. Kannapolis Cannon Ballers.
LaCombe has now pitched twice in Kannapolis since his promotion. In 5.2 innings, he has allowed only one hit and two runs, walking three and striking out 8. For the season, his first healthy year in pro baseball, he is 0-1 with a 2.61 ERA, pitching 14 games and 41.1 innings.
Yannic Walther (21), Milwaukee Brewers. Germany. Carolina Mudcats.
With a couple weeks to go, Walther has now played in as many games this year in Low-A as he played the previous two seasons in the complex leagues (48). He’s hitting 168 with a .310 OBP (thanks to 29 walks). He has eight extra base hits, 17 runs, and seven RBI.
Rookie League, U.S. Complex Leagues (9)
The US complex league season is complete. These stats are final for the year unless any of the players receives a late call-up to A-ball.
Peter Bonilla (20), Los Angeles Dodgers. Spain. ACL Dodgers.
Bonilla finished the Complex League season strong, allowing only one run in his last five appearances. He walked eight and struck out six, but allowed just three hits. He pitched 22 innings this season, compiling an 0-2 record and 4.50 ERA while striking out 27 and walking 21.
Tim Fischer (20), Los Angeles Dodgers. Germany. ACL Dodgers.
Fischer concluded his third season as a Dodger and first in the U.S. He pitched in 15 games (two since our last update, in which he surrendered four runs and five walks in two innings) and 18 innings with an 0-2 record, one hold, and a 6.00 ERA. He walked 22 and struck out 14.
Brandon Herbold (22), Kansas City Royals. Netherlands. ACL Royals.
Herbold concluded his third pro season with a 1-0 record and 2.63 ERA in 13.2 innings. He allowed nine hits and 10 walks while striking out 21. The lefty enters the offseason and 2026 spring training with the hope that performance earns him a chance in full-season baseball. He’s pitched 75.1 pro innings, striking out 79 with a 1.42 WHIP and 3-3 record.
Tyriq Kemp (22), Kansas City Royals. Netherlands. ACL Royals.
The Rotterdam infielder, who spent the last two seasons with Baylor University in Texas, was drafted by the Royals in the sixth round last month [link] and assigned to the Arizona Complex League team. Their season has now finished, and Kemp is presumably taking part in instructional league training and games that we cannot see. Unless he receives a late call-up to a full-season team, he will make his professional debut in 2026.
Connor Prins (21), Seattle Mariners. Netherlands. ACL Mariners.
The Haarlem native did not appear in this, his third pro season, spending the entirety of it on the injured list. He was released at the end of the Arizona Complex League season. He concludes his career (for now) with a 3-3 record and 4.42 ERA across 18 games and 38.2 innings.
Dominic Scheffler (21), Cincinnati Reds. Switzerland. ACL Reds.
Scheffler had only two more appearances since our last update before the ACL season finished. In those games, he pitched an additional 2.2 innings, walking one and striking out two while allowing eight hits. He finished the month of July with a 13.97 ERA for the month, raising his season ACL ERA from 4.91 to 6.15 in his final two-thirds of an inning (demonstrating how fickle even full-season stats are in such limited periods).
Giacomo Taschin (18), Toronto Blue Jays. Italy. FCL Blue Jays.
Taschin signed with Toronto and it seems he will wait until 2026 to make his official debut.
Gijs van den Brink (20), Kansas City Royals. Netherlands. ACL Royals.
Van den Brink made a single appearance of 2 scoreless innings on May 6. He has since been placed on the 60-day injured list. This was his second season after pitching 22.1 innings in 10 games in Arizona in 2024.
Williams Wong (19), Texas Rangers. Italy. ACL Rangers.
Wong played the entire season in the Arizona Complex League, which wrapped up in late July, and he is currently playing with Italy at the U23 European Championships in Třebíč, Czech Republic. Wong finished his third pro season with a .214/.314/.291 slash line, playing 33 games. He had four extra base hits and two stolen bases, walking 15 times and striking out in 33 at bats.
Rookie League, Dominican Complex Leagues (5)
Paul Hoff (18), Milwaukee Brewers. Germany. DSL Brewers Gold.
The northern German native is on the injured list and has yet to pitch in 2025. He debuted last season with a 3.64 ERA in 29.2 innings.
Matteo Marelli (19), New York Mets. Italy. DSL Mets Orange.
Marelli has now pitched in four games. He walked six and hit a batter in his most recent appearance despite allowing only one hit. He has pitched a total of 10.2 innings, allowing 10 hits and 14 walks (hitting five more) while striking out 9.
Jordan Ouanyou (17), Cincinnati Reds. France. DSL Rojos.
The lefty slugger out of the Pole Academy in Toulouse has now played in seven games since signing after finishing his school year. He has four hits in 22 at bats, walking once, and striking out 7 times.
Keegan Pieternella (17), Toronto Blue Jays. Netherlands. DSL Blue Jays Red.
Pieternella is walking more than he is striking out, hitting .235 with an impressive .409 on base percentage thanks to 16 hits and 18 walks. He has now played in 27 games in his debut season, scoring 19 runs and knocking in six runs, hitting two doubles.
Filippo Sabatini (18), Philadelphia Phillies. Italy. DSL Phillies White.
Sabatini reportedly underwent elbow surgery; his debut will be delayed until at least 2026.
Previous Articles in This Year’s Series:
May [link].
June [link].
July [link].