Brasschaat Braves – Dutch Baseball Hangout
Ten days ago, the transaction period in Belgium ended, so it is time to sum up the new players and leaving players for each Division 1 team. We continue with the number four of last year, Brasschaat Braves.
First of all, the Brasschaat Braves welcome a new coach. After Kevin Peeters, who was at the helm of the flagship team for several years, decided to step down at the area of traing sessions for private reasons, the Braves had to look for a new coach/trainer. They found one in Kris Beeckmans, who was at the helm of the Merchtem Cats. During games, the coaching staff will discuss the situation but if needed, Kevin Peeters will remain the main responsible.
There is only one player that left for greener pastures. Zeb Cappaert decided to join the Borgerhout Squirrels.
The Braves added three new players to their roster. The first one may come as a surprise, since he spent his entire career with the Borgerhout Squirrels: Steven De Lannoy. Last season, Steven played at every position in the outfield. He batted a very respectable .418 with ten doubles, one triple, and three home runs, as he drove in nineteen runs.
In thirty-two games, Steven committed only one error, leading to a fielding percentage of .979.
The second addition for the 2024 season is Tom Beeckmans. Also coming from the Merchtem Cats, the young utility player had fifteen starts in which he posted a 4-4 record with a 7.02 ERA. Next to pitching, he played every infield position and posted an .882 fielding percentage. In one-hundred-thirteen at-bats, Tom collected forty hits, leading to a .354 batting average.
The third addition is Matthew Joossens, who spent several years at the farm team of Oosterhout Twins in the Netherlands. He had four at-bats in the Dutch hoofdklasse but didn’t manage to get a hit. Since the KNBSB (Dutch baseball and softball federation) doesn’t publish the box scores and stats of any league lower than the Dutch hoofdklasse, no stats of Matthew in the Eerste Klasse (second-tier league) are available.
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