Finally the Minor League season has started. Normally, I tried to make an overview of where players from the Dutch Kingdom were about to play. But since I have the experience that the data before the start of the season isn’t always up to date, I have decided to create this overview after Opening Day. Today, I will pay attention to AAA and AA.
AAA
Carter Kieboom
Carter is an American born from a Dutch father, who played in the Netherlands for Oosterhout Twins and HCAW from Bussum. Carter is one of two players with Dutch roots at AAA. Last year, Carter was still playing with the Fresno Grizzlies but since that club has been put back to the Low A California League (former A-Advanced) and the Washington Nationals switched affiliations, Carter is now playing for the Rochester RedWings, the longtime affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.
Last year, Carter played thirty-three games with the Nationals but struggled mightily at the plate, hitting a subpar .202. Also this year he has played two games with the main squad but did not collect a hit. After the Nats sent him down to AAA, he has played last night’s game with the RedWings, had five at-bats, but didn’t get a hit.
Zander Wiel
Zander is the son of former Lakers’ assistant coach Larry Wiel, who is from Curaçao. Zander was born in Tennessee. Zander spent the 2019 season with the Rochester RedWings, where he played one hundred twenty-six games in which he batted .254.
Last night he made his debut for the Twins’ new AAA affiliate, the St. Paul Saints. In that game, a 9-3 loss against the Omaha StormChasers, Zander went 2 for 4 and struck out once.
AA
Sherten Apostel
The other day, yours truly wrote a blog post about Sherten Apostel already.
Isranel Wilson
Isranel or Izzy for short was placed on the AAA roster by the Angels at the end of the 2020 (MLB) season. In 2019 the Saint Maarten-born played for several teams. He started the season with the now defunct Florida FireFrogs but was released in June. His contract was picked up by the Tampa Bay Rays, who sent him to the Bowling Green Hotrods before he was sent to the Charlotte StoneCrabs, just like the FireFrogs of the Florida State League. After the end of the 2020 season, he elected free agency and signed with the Angels.
With the Charlotte StoneCrabs, Izzy hit a respectable .270. For 2021, he will start the season with the Rocket City Trash Pandas.
Dutch Baseball Hangout 