A short note on Wladimir Balentien and the Premier 12 tournament

I was informed by Jim Allen, a US baseball journalist who resides in Japan,that Wladimir Balentien told him that his team, the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, only allows him to participate in the Premier 12 tournament as a DH.

This may cause a problem for team Kingdom of the Netherlands as Hensley Meulens may use Andruw Jones as a DH as well.

Wladimir Balentien missed the biggest part of the 2015 season thanks to several injuries. Balentien started the season on the disabled list as he recoverd from a correctional surgery to his left Achilles tendon. He returned to the Swallows on April 24 in a game in which he drew a walk and scored a run. In the fifth inning of that game he re-injured himself after chasing a fly ball. He finished the inning but was pulled right away. He was diagnosed as having a strained rectus femoris muscle, one of the four muscles that make up the quadriceps, in his left leg.

Since Balentien has some history with leg injuries, the Swallows do not want to take a risk with their slugger.

During the 2013 WBC, Andruw Jones was used as DH too. During the presentation of the roster, Jones was mentioned as an infielder. Since Jones’ agent, Scott Boras, stated earlier this year that his client was eyeing a part time role as first baseman/outfielder, it is very likely that he will be used as first baseman, the positon that he played in the first practice game vs a Curacao All Star team last Friday.