Europeans in the Majors & Minors: Mid-May 2024

By DZ. Filed May 17, 2024.

Several Europeans in the upper minors are performing well, while Dominic Scheffler of Switzerland and Gijs van den Brink from the Netherlands made their pro debuts. Germany’s Yannic Walther advanced from the Dominican Republic to the Arizona Complex League, while countryman Lou Helmig returns to Europe after two seasons with the Phillies. Meanwhile, Max Kepler has been scorching hot since returning from the injured list, well-timed product for his contract year.

Key
Name (age*), organization, country, team.
*Age is as of Sept 1, 2024 (playing age this season).
Team Prospect Rankings: BA (Baseball America): #; MLB (MLB.com): #.

MLB (1)
Max Kepler (31), Minnesota Twins. Germany.
Since coming off the injured list, Kepler has been on fire. He is hitting .354 in the month of May, with two homers and seven doubles, slugging .625. His 14-game hit streak was broken a couple days ago, but he is still slashing .304/.356/.500 this year.

Triple-A (1)
Sem Robberse (22), St Louis Cardinals. Netherlands. Memphis Redbirds. BA: 11; MLB: 12.
Robberse had one rough start May 8 (four hits and four walks, leading to six runs), but he has otherwise continued to impress with one or two runs allowed in each of his other seven starts. He has already logged 47.2 innings with a 4-2 record and 2.64 ERA, striking out 47 and walking 12. The righty’s performance is setting him up for a potential 2024 MLB debut.

Double-A (2)
Adam Macko (23), Toronto Blue Jays. Slovakia/Ireland. New Hampshire Fisher Cats. BA: 16; MLB: 9.
Macko has 41 strikeouts in 33 Double-A innings. In seven starts, he has a 4.36 ERA and a 1-2 record. He has pitched at least five innings in five of his last 6 starts, giving up more than two earned runs in only one of those appearances.  

Ernesto Wilson Martinez (25), Milwaukee Brewers. France. Biloxi Shuckers.
Martinez has a .390 batting average in May and has stolen six bases without being caught. His season line stands at .286/.354/.455, although he has not played since May 10. In addition to his regular 1B reps, Martinez has also played five games in center field.

High-A (4)
Samuel Aldegheri (22), Philadelphia Phillies. Italy. Jersey Shore BlueClaws.BA: Not listed; MLB: 24.The Italian right-handed pitcher continues his hot start to the year; he has a 3-1 record, 1.69 ERA, and 37 strikeouts through 32 innings. He hasn’t given up more than three hits in any start and the only thing holding him back at the moment is walks — he has had three starts with four or more free passes. After finishing April with 21 strikeouts and four walks in 15.1 innings, in May he is at 16 strikeouts vs. 12 walks in 16.2 innings. He has only allowed 13 hits in those 32 innings (six starts).

Alessandro Ercolani (20), Pittsburgh Pirates. San Marino/Italy. Greensboro Grasshoppers.
In a league with an average age of nearly 23, the just-turned-20 year old is more than holding his own. In seven appearances totalling 26 innings, Ercolani has allowed more than two runs just once. He has given up 20 hits, nine earned runs, and 10 walks, while striking out 29 for a 1-1 record and 3.12 ERA.

Arij Fransen (23), Cincinnati Reds. Netherlands. Dayton Dragons.Fransen has pitched in nine games, totaling 13.1 innings. His 7.43 ERA comes with 10 strikeouts, 14 walks, and 20 hits.

Omar Hernandez (22), Kansas City Royals. Spain. Quad Cities River Bandits.Through 17 games, Hernandez has 11 hits, including a home run, stealing six bases, walking four times and striking out in 12 at bats. The catcher has a .180/.242/.230 slash line.

Single-A (4)
Jiorgeny Casimiri (23), Baltimore Orioles. Netherlands. Delmarva Shorebirds.Casimiri has appeared in eight games in the young season, pitching 7.2 innings with 17 hits, 11 earned runs, 13 strikeouts and 11 walks and HBP.  

Ettore Giulianelli (21), St Louis Cardinals. Italy. Palm Beach Cardinals.
At our last update, Giulianelli had pitched 8.1 hitless innings to open the season, walking 10. He has added 3 innings since then, striking out seven more hitters (for a total of 19) along with six hits, four walks, and three runs. His season line stands at 2.38 ERA in eight games, with six hits, 14 walks, and 19 strikeouts in those 11.1 innings.

Frank Hernandez (22), Chicago Cubs. Spain. Myrtle Beach Pelicans.The career outfielder has logged all but one of his games this season as a catcher. He had a hit in every game he played in April, and in four of the six games he has played in May, leading to a .314 batting average. In the one game he did not catch, Hernández pitched one inning in his pro debut on the mound, allowing a hit and an unearned run.

Kay-Lan Nicasia (24), Milwaukee Brewers. Netherlands. Carolina Mudcats.In 28 games, the OF has 11 extra base hits and 10 stolen bases while hitting .232/.318/.442. He has 12 walks and 31 strikeouts, with only one caught stealing thus far.  

Rookie League, U.S. Complex Leagues (5)
Gijs van den Brink (19), Kansas City Royals. Netherlands. ACL Royals.
The Utrecht right-hander had a strong professional debut, pitching four shutout innings with seven strikeouts on May 7. He gave up three hits with one walk.

Connor Prins (21), Seattle Mariners. Netherlands. ACL Mariners.
Prins started his second professional season with 3.2 innings in 2 appearances, striking out five and walking three, with one earned run and three hits. He is repeating the Arizona Complex League, where he pitched 27.2 innings in 2023.

Stijn van der Schaaf (20), Boston Red Sox. Netherlands. FCL Red Sox.
Amersfoort’s van der Schaaf has one inning thus far in the Florida Complex League after starting his career there with 18 innings in 2023. In that inning, he struck out one, walked one, gave up two hits and one run.

Dominic Scheffler (20), Cincinnati Reds. Switzerland. ACL Reds.Switzerland’s only native professional player signed in January 2023, but missing all of last season with an elbow injury. The lefty debuted in Arizona earlier this month and has made two starts. Across a total of 2.2 innings, Scheffler has allowed six runs on two hits and seven free passes, notching three strikeouts.

Yannic Walther (20), Milwaukee Brewers. Germany. ACL Brewers.Walther made his U.S. debut this month, playing three games thus far, knocking two hits and drawing a walk in his first game. The national team catcher for Germany hit .235 with a .394 OBP last season in the Dominican Summer League.

Yet to Appear in 2024 (5)
Dominican Summer League opening day is June 3, so several of the following players will mark their season debuts in the coming weeks.

Peter Bonilla (19), Los Angeles Dodgers. Spain. DSL LAD Bautista.

Tim Fischer (20), Los Angeles Dodgers. Germany. DSL LAD Bautista.

Paul Hoff (18), Milwaukee Brewers. Germany. DSL Brewers 1.

Mathias LaCombe (22), Chicago White Sox. France. ACL White Sox.
After being drafted out of Cochise College last summer, LaCombe dealt with a minor injury, but was playing unofficial games during fall instructional league. He is on the active roster for the Arizona complex team this spring, but has yet to appear in a game.

Williams Wong (18), Texas Rangers. Italy. DSL Rangers Blue.

60-Day IL/Restricted List (3)
Shervyen Newton (25), Kansas City Royals. Netherlands. Northwest Arkansas Naturals.The first baseman has spent the entire season thus far on the injured list. He finished last season at High-A, though he is listed on K.C.’s Double-A roster.

Darnel Collins (20), Kansas City Royals. Netherlands. ACL Royals Gold.
Following an incident on a flight to the U.S. earlier this year, Collins was placed on the MLB restricted list. He’s currently playing in Rotterdam as his U.S. visa situation is resolved.

Boris Vecerka (21), Arizona Diamondbacks. Czechia. Visalia Rawhide.Officially on the Single-A injured list after elbow surgery, Brno native Vecerka has yet to make his pro debut.

Released Since Our Last Update (1)
Lou Helmig (21), Philadelphia Phillies. Germany. FCL Phillies.
Helmig was released as extended spring training ended in late April, before playing any official 2024 games, as the Florida Complex League regular season only began in the first week in May. Helmig spent some time at the Phillies’ Dominican complex across the 2022-23 seasons, but all his official games were with the complex team in Clearwater, Florida. He finishes with 49 games played, logging eight extra base hits and six stolen bases, hitting .179 and getting on base at a .313 clip. The 1B/OF is currently playing with the Regensburg Legionaere in the German Bundesliga.