CAPITALES ADD WBC PARTICIPANT JUREMI PROFAR
A few days ago, Patrick Scalabrini signed Juremi Profar, a player from Curaçao, an autonomous state in the Netherlands located in the Caribbean. If his name rings a bell, it's that Juremi is the younger brother of Jurickson Profar, who enjoyed a stellar nine-year major league career with the Texas Rangers, Oakland A's and San Francisco Padres. Diego. The latter had also made a name for himself by hitting a home run in his first appearance in major league baseball.
Juremi, 27, has evolved at all levels in the branches of the Texas Rangers. He had his best three seasons at the AA level with the Frisco RoughRiders of the Texas League. In 2019, after a less successful 23-game AAA stint in the Pacific Coast League with Nashville, Profar became a free agent. Then contracted by the Boston Red Sox, he was never able to play in the organization due to the pandemic. He was also part of the Netherlands national team in some international competitions and played in the Mexico league in the winter of 2022 for Bravos de Leon, where he was briefly a teammate of TJ White. Since then, he has been playing in various leagues in hot countries and has never stopped playing baseball.
Juremi will be part of Team Netherlands in the upcoming World Baseball Classic, sharing the dugout with more than a dozen current or former Major Leagures.
Capable of playing in any position in the infield, specializing as a third baseman but being tipped to cover first base this summer, he is above all an opportunistic hitter who is able to score a lot of runs, thanks to good discipline and a lot of patience at home plate. With a good RBI at the AA level, Profar could become an interesting hitter, according to Patrick Scalabrini. "All my sources tell me Profar is a real hitter. It doesn't matter where he plays, he hits the ball, he's a dangerous guy for the opponent. I expect him to be part of the core of our roster. He is an athlete, he can play in all positions in the infield, although he is not the fastest on the field.
It will be interesting to follow Profar's progress during training camp and the start of the season. It could become one of those beautiful surprises of which only Patrick Scalabrini has the secret.
