What to expect from the Dutchies this year? Roger Bernadina

With Spring Training at full swing now, it is time to see how the players from the Kingdom of the Netherlands will do in the upcoming season. Of course there is no crystal ball and it is still up in the air, but in general you can make a decent prediction based on the performance of previous years.

Roger Bernadina signed with the Montreal Expos in 2001 as a nondrafted free agent. He played his first professional game in 2002 with the GCL Expos. He spent the next three seasons with the Savannah SandGnats in the A Full Season South Atlantic League. In 2006 Roger was promoted to A Advanced. In 2007 and 2008 he split time between AA and AAA before he was called up to the Nationals in 2008 to replace Lastings Milledge, who was on the DL. Bernadina played 26 games at Big League level in that year in which he batted .211.
Roger spent most of the 2009 season on the DL and he played a total of ten games at Rookie, AAA and MLB level.
In 2010 Roger started the season at AAA but after fourteen games he was called up again and played 134 games with the Nats in which he .246 with eighteen doubles, three triples and eleven homeruns.
Roger’s best season was in 2012 when he played 129 games in which he batted .291.
Depsite his good season, the Nationals signed Denard Span who took Roger’s place in CF and his uniform number. If this was the cause of his demise is not sure but in the 2013 season his batting average did not even reach the .200 mark. This resulted in his release by the Nats. Shortly after his release, the Phillies picked up his contract and he finished the season with Philadelphia.
In the 2013-2014 off season, Roger signed a minor league deal with the Cincinnati Reds. After a stellar Spring Training performance, the Reds added him to their opening day roster. But he never lived up to the expectations and was released at the end of June. Early July the Dodgers signed Roger and sent him to their AAA farm team in Albuquerque. Shortly before he was about to leave for the Netherlands to participate with the Dutch national team in the 2014 European Cup, he was called up by the Dodgers. He mainly served as pinch runner for the team. In nine games Roger hit .286 (2 for 7) with a single and a homerun.
In 2015 he played again for the Albuquerque Isotopes, but this time for the Rockies organization. He was awarded with the power hitter of the year award of the club when he hit fifteen homeruns.

In parts of seven MLB seasons, Roger played 548 games in which he hit .236 with 28 homeruns, 8 triples and 56 doubles.

What can we expect from the 31-year old outfielder from Curacao? He has signed a minor league deal with the Mets, who may likely place him at their AAA farm team in Las Vegas.

Of all outfielders on the Mets’ 40-men roster, Roger is the oldest. With Yoenis Cespedes , Alejandro De Aza and Curtis Granderson on the roster and a couple of players that are much younger than Roger, it will be hard for him to conquer a spot on the opening day roster. Unless someone of the Big League roster gets injured, I don’t expect Roger to receive a call up. Perhaps the dry Las Vegas desert air will help Roger to get multiple hit games and extra base hits as the ball travels further in the dry desert air.

Even though Roger is still a gifted ballplayer, his age, which is at the wrong side of thirty, may hinder him. Despite his age, Roger is still a speedy guy and a good defensive player. Perhaps a role as back up outfielder, who will be brought in in the final innings may be a possibility for him.

But for now I expect him to play in Las Vegas for the (biggest part of the) season.