Van den Hurk, promoted to Fukuoka!!

It was a long wait, but with the numbers he put up in the Minor Leagues, the Hawks could no longer ignore him.

Rick van den Hurk has been called up by the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks.!!  

It is expected that Van den Hurk will pitch in the three game series vs the Hiroshima Toyo Carp.

After Van den Hurk signed a two year deal with the Hawks, he got injured during Spring Training. After his rehab was finished, the Hawks kept him in the minors, mainly because of the strong competition in the Hawks’ pitching staff.
In the Western League, Van den Hurk made ten appearances. He won five of them and lost one. He is leading the Western League in ERA (1.17) and strikeouts (71). In 61.2 innings he gave up eleven walks, fourty-two basehits (of which four homeruns) and eighteen runs (of which only eight earned).

NPB teams are allowed to have four foreigners on their roster. It is not clear yet who will be sent down to the minor leagues.