Right-hander Rhiner Cruz pitched in 74 games, slugging infielder Alex Liddi (pictured above) appeared in 61 and outfielder Engel Beltre played 22. The reigning European champions, Spain, contribute eight players, the Netherlands have seven, Italy six, Czechia four and Germany three.
The WBSC revealed Team Europe’s 28-man roster for the Global Baseball Games against World No. 1 Japan. The games are scheduled for 6 and 7 March at the Kyocera Dome, the home of the Oryx Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in Osaka, Japan.
The roster represents five European programmes. The reigning European champions Spain contribute eight players, including reigning European Championship MVP Wander Encarnacion, followed by the Netherlands (seven), Italy (six), Czechia (four) and Germany (three).
As many as 23 of the 28 players have competed in professional baseball. Three of them have Major League Baseball (MLB) experience: Spanish veteran right-hander Rhiner Cruz (74 games with the Houston Astros 2012, 2013 and the Toronto Blue Jays 2018), Italian slugging third baseman Alex Liddi (61 games between 2011 and 2013 with the Seattle Mariners) and Spanish outfielder Engel Beltre (22 games with the 2013 Texas Rangers).
These are the 28 players selected by manager Marco Mazzieri.
PITCHERS (14) Daniel Alvarez, Fernando Baez, Rhiner Cruz (Spain); Matteo Bocchi, Tiago Da Silva, Luis Lugo (Italy); Tom De Blok, Lars Hujer, Kevin Kelly, Franklyn Van Gurp (Netherlands); Martin Schneider (Czechia); Sven Schueller, Marcus Solbach, Dalton Von Schamann (Germany).
CATCHERS (3) Martin Cervenka (Czechia), Gabriel Lino (Spain), Alberto Mineo (Italy).
INFIELDERS (7) Wander Ercanacion, Edison Valerio (Spain); Alex Liddi, Ricardo Paolini (Italy); Martin Muzik (Cechia); Juremi Profar, Sharlon Schoop (Netherlands).
OUTFIELDERS (3) Engel Beltre, Daniel Jimenez (Spain); Mareck Chlup (Czechia).
UTILITY (1) Delano Selassa (Netherlands).
