If you weren’t swept up in “Honkbal” fever during the 2013 World Baseball Classic, you’re officially behind the curve. Team Netherlands made a surprise run through the early rounds of the tournament to the semifinals in San Francisco and proved they can become an international baseball power.
Maybe their success shouldn’t have been such a surprise. The Kingdom of the Netherlands encompasses the Netherlands, Curacao, Aruba and other islands of the Netherlands Antilles, and some of baseball’s best young talent calls those places home.
The trend began with legendary pitcher Bert Blyleven and then was carried on by Curacao’s Hensley Meulens and Randall Simon, as well as Aruba’s Sidney Ponson. But now, more than ever, we see the Dutch infiltrating Major League Baseball and making their mark among the best players in the game.
From Andrelton Simmons’ brilliant defense for the Atlanta Braves to Roger Bernadina’s blazing speed for the Philadelphia Phillies, and a handful of promising prospects in the minor leagues, the future belongs to the Netherlands and its young stars.
Here, we rank the 10 best current players from the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Major League Baseball.
All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.