European's playing Major League Baseball
Profiling European players in MLB
European players in Major League Baseball are rare.
Apart from the USA, the nations most represented in MLB are Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela.
There are several experienced MLB players who are qualified to represent European countries but were born outside of Europe, such as Nick Markakis (Greek and German descent but American born), Franscisco Cervelli (qualifies for Italy but Venezuelan born), Michael Conforto, Brandon Nimmo and Anthony Rizzo (all have Italian heritage but American born) and there are several players eligible to represent the Netherlands but actually born in Curacao or Aruba, so not born in the lower countries.
Here I profile 5 players who were born in European countries and are either currently with or have recently been with, MLB teams.
The fact that I am only profiling 5 players is not down to the fact that I like these five, or these are the five best, but, rather, these are the only five.
This underlines the limited impact that Europe has on MLB and, conversely, the impact (or lack of) that MLB has on Europe in generating the desire for people to pursue a career in the elite leagues, or have the opportunity to do so.
Before I continue, I must stress that baseball leagues do exist in Europe, seek out the Netherlands, Italy, Germany and Czech Republic for the best leagues, but these are amateur leagues where the opportunity to build a career and make meaningful money is zero.
To make it to the big time (MLB, Venezuelan Professional Baseball League, Nippon Professional Baseball, Korean Baseball Organisation, for example) you need to leave Europe, and probably do so at an early age.
So, to our five European-bred ballplayers:
Max Kepler
Born and schooled in Germany, the son of two professional ballet dancers, Kepler clearly had elite level sport in his genes as he was given a scholarship to attend the Steffi Graf Tennis Foundation in Berlin, and played baseball in the German league before he left for the USA.
He joined the Minnesota Twins in 2009 and played his first professional season in 2010 in the Gulf Coast League at age 17. He impressed at the lower Minor League levels and progressed to the Big League club by 2015 as a 22-year old.
A left-handed-hitting outfielder, primarily as a right-fielder, he has put up solid, if not unspectacular, numbers. Since 2016 he has become an everyday player, logging over 600 career MLB games, and is only 27. He will remain as the Twins right-fielder, who are an ambitious side and one who should have eyes on the postseason.
The Twins have invested in Kepler, giving him approximately $8 million a year for the next three years, which marks a significant portion of their payroll (about 10%). This is somewhat surprising given the Twins limited ability to spend money, and his numbers may need a little boost to justify this. Kepler averages .237 in his career, his OBP is .319, slugging .444 and his OPS is .763. All these numbers suggest a bang-average MLB player, but remember, a bang-average MLB standard player is hard to come by and is valuable, but the outlay by the Twins on him is somewhat surprising.
What these numbers do tell us is that he may not make contact as much as others (hence the low average), but when he does make contact he is hitting a lot of doubles and home runs, as suggested by his slugging %.
Interestingly, Kepler is only the second player ever in MLB history to hit a home run in his first two at-bats in the first two innings of a season. He also holds the MLB record for home runs hit by a German-born player - and he will further extend this record in the coming years. Kepler has represented Germany in World Baseball Classic (the premier baseball international tournament) qualifiers, but not yet at the finals.
Having said he is an average player, he will stay in The Show for a long time and I would predict that these numbers will only improve over the next 5-6 years as he comes into his prime.
Didi Gregorius
Putting Didi in the elite bracket of MLB shortstops is probably generous when you consider contemporaries such as Trea Turner, Corey Seager, Fernando Tatis Jnr, Trevor Story, Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor (this position is loaded with talent). But he’s not far off and I would certainly have him in the second tier of shortstops.
His athleticism in the field, the cannon and accuracy of his arm and his astute left-handed-hitting ability give him all the tools to be a very good MLB player, and, in my opinion, the best of these five players reviewed here. He is currently a free agent and should be sought after, commanding a multi-year deal, with an annual average of at least $10 million a year. The free agency market next year at shortstop is very deep, so he becomes available at a good time.
Watch as Didi Gregorius brings the house down with a booming grand slam to break the game open for the Yankees in Game 2 of the ALDS.
Mariekson Julius Gregorius (‘Sir Didi’ or ‘Sir MJG’) was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands in 1990 to an elite-level, national softball playing mother and Netherlands top division baseball-playing father, so he had a very good sporting start to life.
His baseballing stock also includes a grandfather who played in Curacao. Didi’s brother also spent some time in the Baltimore Orioles organisation but didn’t reach the Majors.
He was discovered in 2006 by the Cincinnati Reds and signed with them in 2007, aged 17. He made his MLB debut with the Reds in 2012 but was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks (2013) and then traded to the New York Yankees (2015) to replace the legendary Derek Jeter. Whilst that was a tall order, Gregorius became a fan favourite at Yankees Stadium and posted some good numbers.
He became a free agent after the 2019 season and signed a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Phillies, becoming a free agent again now.
Sir Didi plays with a smile on his face, appears to be a clubhouse leader and someone that people warm to. He is a good defender (far better than Yankees current shortstop Gleyber Torres) and has put up good numbers with an above-average career batting average of .265 and .315 OBP. His home run rate has increased as have his walks (but only slightly) and his strikeouts have slightly decreased, all trends a hitter would like to see.
He brings more to a club than just good performances and he is well worth the money that he will get in this round of free agency. Lots of clubs would do well to sign him, but if I had to guess now, I think he will resign with the Phillies.
Finally, on Didi, his Twitter account is well worth a look, he is an entertaining, upbeat guy. He speaks four languages and is a knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau, an award that all members of the Netherlands National team received after winning the 2011 (now-defunct) Baseball World Cup, beating Cuba in the final, which also means that the Netherlands will always be the holder of this title.
Dovydas Neverauskas
Born in 1993 in Vilnius, Lithuania, Neverauskas struggled in the Major Leagues and now pitches for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league.
He was encouraged to play by his father in a country where the game is not widely played, so he attended camps in Italy to improve his pitching skills. Neverauskas attended MLB camps in 2008 and 2009 and subsequently signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2009, debuting in the Major Leagues in 2017, pitching against the Cubs (2 innings, giving up one run and striking out one) making him the first Lithuanian born player to play in MLB, which will forever be his accomplishment.
Dovydas Neverauskas retires Jose Peraza on a groundout to finish a perfect 9th inning and seal the Pirates' 6-0 victory
His time in MLB didn’t pan out as he would have hoped and left with career figures of 6.81 ERA (an ERA over 5.50 is going to make it very tough for you to survive in MLB), 76 games (all for the Pirates) and 80.2 innings, in four seasons. He did strike out 77 but with his ERA being 8.00, 10.61 and 7.11 in the last three years, he was always going to struggle to hold down an MLB job. He will be hoping his numbers in Japan fare somewhat better.
Aaron Altherr
The second MLB exile on this list and also the second German. Now plying his trade in Korea (in the Korean Baseball Organisation [KBO]) for the NC Dinos where he had a decent season in 2020 hitting .278 for average and 31 home runs.
A big (6’ 5”, 215 lbs), powerful hitting right-hander who is also a base-stealing threat, defends in the outfield and turns 30 this month.
His MLB career was promising, mainly with the Philadelphia Phillies with whom he debuted in 2014. Altherr built his numbers steadily to his finest season in 2017 with a .340 On-Base Percentage (where .320 is average) in 107 games with 24 doubles and 19 home runs contributing to a .516 slugging % (where .550 is considered elite and .420 is league average).
This suggested quality and a player who may nail down a regular starting spot, at worst the fourth outfielder on the roster, but the wheels well and truly fell off, with his OBP dropping to .295 in 2018 (105 games) and a disastrous .136 in 2019 (49 games for three teams). If .136 was your average, you would expect to be dropping down to the Minors pretty quickly, if that is your OBP you are in real trouble. This left him with an MLB career stat line of .219 average, .307 OBP, .401 slugging with 37 home runs and 21 stolen bases in 359 big league games across six seasons.
Aaron Altherr talks about adapting to life and playing baseball in South Korea.
Altherr shared the outfield with Kepler in the World Baseball Classic qualifiers in 2012 (for the 2013 finals edition) but Germany failed to make it. Altherr was born in Landstuhl to an American mother and a professional football-playing father, having played for Kaiserslautern.
If Atherr resurrects his career in Korea, I would not be surprised to see him back in a Major League uniform in a year or two. He clearly has powerful hitting ability, but perhaps a little too inconsistent with contact to hold down a regular role. This may well change with some regular reps at the very good standard of the KBO.
PJ Conlon
Without wanting to disrespect Patrick Joshua Conlon, his inclusion in this list goes a long way to highlighting the lack of European talent in MLB. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland he is now 27, a left-arm pitcher he is currently a free agent.
PJ was drafted by the New York Mets in 2015 in the 13th round. He made 3 appearances in the Majors for the Mets in 2018 (two as a starter) but with unsuccessful consequences, 7.2 innings pitched with an 8.22 ERA, but he did strike out 5. It seems harsh to judge a player on such a small sample size, but that's all we have.
Conlon became the first Irish born player to play Major League Baseball since 1945 and when he debuted, he wore a glove with an Irish flag stitched into it. He has not pitched in MLB since 2018 but he is the kind of guy you root for to make it in The Show again. With a Minor League ERA of 3.57 over 105 games, his return is not out of the question.
Europeans in the Major Leagues… in conclusion
To conclude, I have discussed five players; two of which have solid MLB careers, consistent starters and have built very good portfolios of reference for themselves; the other three are no longer in MLB after displaying rather disappointing numbers. Europeans in MLB are rare and getting rarer, but perhaps you’ll keep an eye for these five to see how they get on.
The positive spin I would put on this is that there must be some untapped potential in Europe. MLB averages 52 scouts per team and I doubt many of them are posted in Europe.
If I were an MLB organisation, I would be spending money and trying to harness this potential in Europe. Set up some camps, get some scouts and coaches here and see what you can find. You only need to find one or two gems to get your money back, and the commercial opportunities available to you might be significant.
