Baseball from a Dutch point of view since 2014
Still with the Ni-Gun team of the Yakult Swallows, Rick van den Hurk is slowly warming up. With Wladimir Balentien, it is quite the opposite. Until today, Rick had pitched in three games, allowed six earned runs and struck out seven. Today, against the DeNa BayStars, Rick pitched four innings in relief. He was very …
Continue reading "Rick van den Hurk is warming up, Wladimir Balentien not so much"
For the second time after being presented by the Yakult Swallows, last Monday, Rick van den Hurk took the mound in a Ni-Gun (minor league) game. The Tokyo Yakult Swallows lost to Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 5-4. Two of these runs were given up by Dutch Rick van den Hurk. After pitching three scoreless innings, …
It was a perfect day to present some new players. With no games on Monday, the Yakult Swallows had all the time to present their newest (foreign) acquisitions. Next to Dutchie Rick van den Hurk, the club presented pitcher Cy Sneed, outfielder Domingo Santana and infielder José Osuna. Four foreign players presented by the Yakult …
Continue reading "Yakult Swallows Present Rick van den Hurk"
Last week you could read here about the Yakult Swallows chasing Dutch pitcher Rick van den Hurk to bolster their rotation. Today the news was released that the 35-year old was signed by the "other" team from Tokyo. Rick van den Hurk in a SoftBank Hawks uniform The Swallows signed Van den Hurk for 79 …
Continue reading "It’s official: Rick van den Hurk is a Swallow"
It appears that Rick van den Hurk is to stay in Japan for the 2021 season. According to a Japanese news website, the Dutch hurler is about to be signed by the Yakult Swallows. After forty-three victories for the SoftBank Hawks, Rick appears not to be re-signed by the team from Fukuoka. But luckily the …
Continue reading "Rick van den Hurk likely to stay in Japan"
As all the baseball fans of the Dutch Kingdom (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, St. Eustace, St. Martin and The Netherlands) will know, there are two players (Wladimir Balentien and Rick van den Hurk) from the Dutch Kingdom playing in Japan for a couple of years now. For the first time, they are playing on one …
Most of you will know by now that I would regret the contraction of 42 minor league teams by Major League Baseball, especially for the (IMO) made-up reasons. So I thought "What's better to have a former minor leaguer have his say about the minors to (perhaps) cast some new light on the issue?" And …
Continue reading "Rick van den Hurk’s take on Minor League Baseball"
In a tweet and on his own website, Rick van den Hurk announced that he will have a weekly auction, to raise money for the Ronald McDonald Foundation. https://twitter.com/rickvandenhurk/status/1263451862633549824 The Dutch-born pitcher from Eindhoven will donate game-used baseball items and equipment from teams he played for. Since his MLB debut with the Florida Marlins in …
After three players of the Hanshin Tigers have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, the NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball) has decided to cancel all practice games of the Japanese major league clubs. At least, according to a Tweet by Dutch pitcher Rick van den Hurk, all practice games are cancelled but the Ni-Gun (minor league) games …
The Softbank Hawks and Dutchie Rick van den Hurk agreed on a one-year contract extension. It was rumored Rick was looking for opportunities in the MLB but he decided to stay with the Japanese champion. Van den Hurk's contract expired after the 2019 season, which was rather injury-riddled. Rick appeared in only three games of …
A few days ago, pitcher Rick van den Hurk of the Softbank Hawks pitched another game for the Ni-gun (minor league) team of the Hawks. The 34-year old Dutchman lasted five innings in a game vs the farm team of the Hanshin Tigers. In a Western League matchup, Rick gave up two runs and struck …
Continue reading "Van den Hurk extends number of pitches in rehab start"
In game six of the Nippon Series between the Hiroshima Toyo Carp and the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks, Dutch starter Rick van den Hurk and a very good outing. Thanks to his strong game, the Hawks earned the NPB championship by beating the Toyo Carp 2-0. Rick van den Hurk was masterful through six innings in …
Continue reading "Formidable outing by Van den Hurk leads Softbank Hawks to NPB title"
The Hiroshima Toyo Carp (Central League) and the Softbank Hawks (Pacific League) will face each other in the 2018 Nippon Series. The Carp swept the Yomiuri Giants 4-0 to advance and today, the Hawks clinched a Nippon Series spot by beating the Seibu Lions 6-5. As usual, the winner of the regular season in each …
Continue reading "Softbank Hawks advance to Nippon Series to face the Hiroshima Toyo Carp"
Dutchie Rick van den Hurk was simply lights out today as he clinched his tenth victory of the season. Van den Hurk lasted seven innings and got just enough run support to earn the win as the Softbank Hawks defeated the Orix Buffaloes 1-0. In a real pitching matchup between Van den Hurk and Yushi …
In this edition of Dutchies around the World, we pay attention to Didi Gregorius, Juremi Profar, Chris Pieters, Isranel Wilson, Kalian Sams, Rick van den Hurk, and Gilmer Lampe. After a hot start in which Didi Gregorius hit well above .300 his numbers have declined significantly. In his last 22 games, he hit a sub-par …
After his previous poor outing, Rick van den Hurk earned the win today for the Softbank Hawks in the game vs the Chiba Lotte Marines that was won 8-3. In his previous outing, Rick was highly ineffective as he gave up ten earned runs in just five-plus innings and was tabbed with the loss. Today, Rick …
In today's 12-6 loss, Rick van den Hurk had an enormous off day. The tall Dutch pitcher was responsible for a big chunk of the runs the Seibu Lions scored. After Rick worked his way through the first two innings without giving up a run, things went wrong in the third frame as he gave …
In this week's edition of Dutchies around the World 2018, we pay attention to Xander Bogaerts, Chadwick Tromp, Tom de Blok, Eugene Helder and Rick van den Hurk. MLB Before getting on the 10-day DL, Xander Bogaerts was red hot. In nine games he hit a whopping .368 with seven doubles and two home runs. …
Baseball from a Dutch point of view since 2014
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