Juan Carlos Sulbaran (born November 9, 1989 in

Willemstad Willemstad ( , ; ; en, William I of the Netherlands, William Town, italic=yes) is the capital city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that forms a Countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, constituent country of the Kingdo ...

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...

) is a Dutch

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player for

L&D Amsterdam Amsterdam Pirates is a Dutch baseball and softball organization based in Amsterdam. It was founded as an expansion of the football club SV Rap on 17 February 1959 by Loek Loevendie. In the first years it was known as the RAP Pirates, but after ...

of the Honkbal Hoofdklasse and who has played for the

Dutch national team Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

. He throws a changeup, curveball and fastball (which peaks at around 90 mph). He played for Team Netherlands in the

2019 European Baseball Championship The 2019 European Baseball Championship was an international baseball tournament organized by the Confederation of European Baseball. The 2019 Championship was held September 7–15, 2019, in Bonn and Solingen, Germany. The tournament contributed ...

, at the Africa/Europe 2020 Olympic Qualification tournament, in Italy in September 2019.

Career

Sulbaran was voted the best pitcher in the 2004 Latin American Youth Baseball Tournament while playing for the

Netherlands Antilles nl, In vrijheid verenigd"Unified by freedom" , national_anthem = , common_languages = Dutch English Papiamento , demonym = Netherlands Antillean , capital = Willemstad , year_start = 1954 , year_end = 2010 , date_start = 15 December , ...

. He came to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 2006 to play high school baseball. He missed most of 2007 because of an injury, though he struck out 24 in 12 innings. In 2008, he went 11-0 with a 1.40 ERA, striking out 88 in 67 innings and allowing 31 hits to help his team to a state championship. The

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

chose Sulbaran in the 30th round of the 2008 amateur draft (he was drafted late due to his commitment to the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

) and was signed to a deal with the Reds on August 14, 2008, with a $500,000 signing bonus which was a record for the 30th round. Sulbaran joined the Netherlands Antilles national baseball team for the 2008

Haarlem Baseball Week The Haarlem Baseball Week ( nl, Honkbalweek Haarlem, before 2016 known as ) is an international invitation baseball tournament at the in Haarlem, Netherlands. It was first held in and has been held every other year in even-numbered years sinc ...

and got a no-decision against the

Cuban national team Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a perso ...

. He allowed one hit and one run in 7 innings and struck out 6 but walked 7. The only run was a steal of home by Giorvis Duvergel. The performance earned him a spot on the Dutch squad for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. He was the only player on the team who had never appeared for the "Orange" before.Dutch Olympic Baseball squad 2008
, knbsb.nl, ret: Aug 5, 2008 Sulbaran was traded from the

to the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

with

Donnie Joseph Don Atley Joseph (born November 1, 1987) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) in 2013 and 2014 for the Kansas City Royals. Early life Joseph graduated from Hays High School, where he playe ...

for Jonathan Broxton. He played for Team Netherlands in the

, at the Africa/Europe 2020 Olympic Qualification tournament in Italy in September 2019, and at the

2019 WBSC Premier12 The 2019 WBSC Premier12 was an international baseball championship featuring the 12 highest-ranked national teams in the world, held by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). It was the second WBSC Premier12 event. The championship ...

References

External links

Sulbaran's profile at honkbalsite.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sulbaran, J. C. 1989 births 2009 World Baseball Classic players 2015 WBSC Premier12 players 2017 World Baseball Classic players 2019 European Baseball Championship players Bakersfield Blaze players Baseball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Curaçao baseball players Curaçao expatriate baseball players in Canada Curaçao expatriate baseball players in the United States Dayton Dragons players Living people Memphis Redbirds players Northwest Arkansas Naturals players Olympic baseball players of the Netherlands Dutch baseball players Omaha Storm Chasers players Pensacola Blue Wahoos players People from Willemstad Springfield Cardinals players Surprise Saguaros players Wilmington Blue Rocks players Tiburones de La Guaira players Curaçao expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Winnipeg Goldeyes players