Dutch pitching prospects Stijn Van der Schaaf and Connor Prins signed contracts with Major League Baseball (MLB) organizations. They joined Brandon Herbold, making it three Dutch pitchers in the 2023 class of international signings.
Van der Schaaf, 18, played for HCAW Bussum in the Dutch Hoofdklasse (Major League) in 2022. He helped the Netherlands finish fifth in the XXX WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup, their best result ever. The right-hander pitched out of the bullpen in three games, earning the win against Mexico (pictured above).
"The Red Sox have been scouting me since 2019," Van der Schaaf told the Honkbalsoftball.nl website. "I had other offers, but I picked this one." He added that playing professional baseball "is all I ever wanted to do."
Prins, 19, who spent the 2022 season with the Amsterdam Pirates, agreed to terms with the Seattle Mariners.
Prins had imagined his future playing baseball at the collegiate level. "When the offer by the Pirates came," said the right-hander, "I sat with my family and discussed the offer. It didn't take much time to agree."
"He has a great future ahead," added the Mariners' scout Kenny Hart, who had first approached Prins during the summer.
