Press Release World Baseball Classic, Inc.
Baseball’s Consensus No. 1 Prospect to Join Dutch Team Thursday
Phoenix, AZ – Team Kingdom of the Netherlands announced today the addition of versatile infielder Jurickson Profar to its World Baseball Classic roster for play during the Championship Round at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California. Profar replaces injured infielder Yurendell De Caster, who has a strained left plantar fascia.
Profar, 20, was signed by the Texas Rangers as a non-drafted free agent on July 2, 2009. Ranked the top overall prospect by MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo, ESPN’s Keith Law and Baseball America, Profar split the 2012 season between Double-A Frisco and the Rangers. With Frisco, he batted .281 (135/480) with 14 home runs, 62 RBI and 16 stolen bases in 126 games. He had his contract purchased by the Rangers, Aug. 31, and made his Major League debut on Sept. 2 vs. Cleveland. In that game, the switch-hitter finished 2-for-4 and hit a home run in his first at-bat. Overall with the Rangers, he batted .176 (3/17) with a home run and two RBI in nine games.
A native of Willemstad, Curacao, Profar is expected to join Team Netherlands on Thursday (March 14). He is batting .222 (8/36) with five runs scored, a double, triple and five RBI thus far in Spring Training. Profar led Curacao to the 2004 and 2005 Little League World Series, including the 2004 title. A consensus 2012 All-Star by the Texas League, Topps, Baseball America and MiLB.com, he has been a participant in the last two SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game during MLB’s All-Star Week.