Silicon Storks makes surprising move

With the European Champions Cup going on, the news about Dutch hoofdklasse club Silicon Storks slipped through. Thanks to several injuries, the pitching staff of the club lacked players. To deal with this shortage, the club has signed former minor league pitcher Juan Carlos Sulbaran.

Sulbaran worked his way through all levels of minor league baseball with his peak at AAA with the Omaha Storm Chasers (Royals) and the Memphis Redbirds (Cardinals). But he was never able to make the final jump.

His best performance at AAA was in 2015, when he split the season between the StormChasers and the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (AA). With the StormChasers he had a 3-3 record but his ERA was on the high side with 6.17.

Next to being a minor league pitcher in various MLB organizations, Sulbaran was also

part of team Kingdom of the Netherlands. Of all the editions of the World Baseball Classic, Sulbaran participated in 2009 and 2017. Juan Carlos was also part of the Dutch team that became world champion in 2011.

With his vast experience at various levels of the minor league system, Sulbaran will be a welcome reinforcement for Silicon Storks. Even though the club is last in the standings, it has set a goal to have a good second half of the season to secure a spot in the hoofdklasse next year.