Last night, MLB presented the rosters of the countries that participate in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Many of them are full with MLB players, some aren’t. The Dutch roster is a mix of players that currently play in the Bigs, players with MLB experience, and players from the Dutchhoofdklasse (mainly pitchers).
At an impossible time for working Europeans, the roster of team Kingdom of the Netherlands (name not used by MLB/WBC) was presented.
The thirty-man roster contains seven MLB players: Xander Bogaerts, Didi Gregorius, Jonathan Schoop, Jurickson Profar, Andrelton Simmons, Chadwick Tromp, and Richie Palacios.
Kenley Jansen and Pedro Strop are missing here. Jansen did not get permission by his new club Boston Red Sox to participate in the first round. Pedro Strop doesn’t participate due to private reasons but may join the team at a later stage.
Beside the aforementioned Major Leaguers, there are four players with MLB experience: Wladimir Balentien, Roger Bernadina and Shairon Martis (both currently playing in the Dutch hoofdklasse), and Josh Palacios.
Other players from the Dutch hoofdklasse and other European leagues are: Mike Bolsenbroek (German 1. Bundesliga), Tom de Blok, Ryan Huntington, Dylan Farley, and Kevin Kelly (all pitchers), Sicnarf Loopstok, Dashenko Ricardo (both catchers), and Sharlon Schoop (infield).
In the designated pitcher pool, a group of players that can be called up at a later stage are: Dennis Burgersdijk, Scott Prins, Aaron de Groot, Arij Fransen, Jiorgeny Casimiri, Jair Jurrjens, and Pedro Strop.
The complete roster is as follows:


The WBC will start on March 8. The schedule for the Dutch team is as follows:
March 8: Cuba vs Kingdom of the Netherlands
March 9: Panama vs Kingdom of the Netherlands
March 11: Kingdom of the Netherlands vs Taiwan
March 12: Kingdom of the Netherlands vs Italy
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