Tom Robin de Blok (born May 8, 1996) is a Dutch professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He played for Team Netherlands in the 2019 European Baseball Championship, and at the Africa/Europe 2020 Olympic Qualification tournament in Italy in September 2019.
Tom de Blok | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Free agent | ||||||||||||||
Pitcher | ||||||||||||||
Born: (1996-05-08) 8 May 1996 (age 26) Amstelveen, Netherlands | ||||||||||||||
Bats: Right Throws: Right | ||||||||||||||
Medals
|
On August 26, 2013, de Blok signed a minor league contract with the Seattle Mariners organization. However, on April 17, 2014, de Blok retired from professional baseball without playing in a game for the organization.[1]
de Blok came out of retirement to join Mr. Cocker HCAW for the 2014 season, a team in the Honkbal Hoofdklasse, the top baseball league in the Netherlands, where he posted a 3.20 ERA in 17 appearances.
The following season, de Blok joined the Amsterdam Pirates, where he posted a 4-0 record and 1.54 ERA in 20 games with the team.[2] After the season, de Blok was offered a tryout with the Rakuten Golden Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), the top baseball league in Japan. After the tryout de Blok decided to return to the Pirates.[3] That season, he recorded a 5-0 record and 0.88 ERA with 43 strikeouts in 41.0 innings of work.
After a good performance in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, de Blok signed a four-year minor league deal with the Detroit Tigers organization on April 10, 2017.[4] He made his affiliated debut for the Low-A Connecticut Tigers, and after pitching 3.2 scoreless innings, was promoted to the Single-A West Michigan Whitecaps, where he spent the rest of the season, posting a 4-2 record and 2.87 ERA with a 1.02 WHIP in 82 innings pitched.[5] de Blok spent the 2019 season with Lakeland, recording a 2-13 record and 4.04 ERA in 21 games. de Blok did not play in a game for the Tigers organization in 2020 after the minor league season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[6] On November 2, 2020, he elected free agency.
de Blok returned to the Amsterdam Pirates following his stint with the Tigers organization after logging a 2.00 ERA in 5 games with the team in 2020. In 2021, de Blok posted a 3-2 record and 1.64 ERA in 6 games with the team. On May 14, 2021, de Blok threw the fourth perfect game in the history of the Dutch Major Leagues, defeating Corendon Kinheim 12-0 while striking out seven.[7]
On June 27, 2021, de Blok signed with the Pericos de Puebla of the Mexican League.[5] He made just one start before he was released on July 8, 2021.[5]
de Blok was a member of the Netherlands national baseball team in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.[8]
He played for Team Netherlands in the 2019 European Baseball Championship, at the Africa/Europe 2020 Olympic Qualification tournament in Italy in September 2019.
Netherlands roster – 2017 World Baseball Classic | |
---|---|
| |
|