Todd Van Steensel

Todd Bertram Van Steensel is an Australian professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent.

Todd Van Steensel
Free agent
Relief pitcher
Born: (1991-01-14) 14 January 1991
Sydney, Australia
Bats: Right Throws: Right

Career

Van Steensel was born on 14 January in 1991 in Sydney, Australia. Van Steensel has represented his native Australia on several occasions, most notably in the MLB opening series in 2013/14. He also plays for the Sydney Blue Sox in the Australian Baseball League where he garnered the nickname "Hop Scotch" after one his superstition of not stepping on the foul lines.[1]

Philadelphia Phillies

Van Steensel began his career for the GCL Phillies in the Philadelphia Phillies organization in 2009.

Van Steensel joined the Sydney Blue Sox of the Australian Baseball League for the 2010 season.

Minnesota Twins

Van Steensel signed a minor league with the Minnesota Twins on 6 June 2011.

Corendon Kinheim

2012 saw Van Steensel head to Europe to play for Corendon Kinheim in the Dutch National League. In his first trip to the mound (June 2012) he pitched 2.2 innings, giving up just 1 hit and no free passes whilst striking out 6 (six).

Corendon Kinheim went on to win the championship.[2]

In mid July Van Steensel returned to Australia, after an elbow injury sustained while playing basketball required surgery.

In 2013 he unsuccessfully attempted to stop a face off between Sydney Blue Sox catcher Daniel Arribas and Brisbane Bandits runner Patrick Leonard. The incident escalated rapidly after Josh Roberts charged from the Brisbane dugout and tried to remove Arribas' head. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nD1FW7y-klY[3]

Second stint with Minnesota Twins

Van Steensel rejoined the Minnesota Twins organization on 6 February 2014.

In late 2014 Van Steensel announced he would sit out the rest of the year after a long minor league season.

Van Steensel played for the Twins organization from the 2014 season to the 2018 season. He was released by the Twins on 7 August 2018.

He was named the reliever of the 2018–19 season.[4]

St. Paul Saints

Van Steensel joined the St. Paul Saints of the American Association for the 2019 season. He was released following the season on 10 January 2020.

On 3 February 2020, Van Steensel signed with the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks of the American Association. He was released prior to the season on 18 June 2020.

International career

He was a member of the Australia national baseball team in the Australian Challenge,[5] 2014 21U Baseball World Cup,[6] 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualification in 2016,[7] 2017 World Baseball Classic, 2018 exhibition games against Japan[8] and 2019 WBSC Premier12.[9]

References
  1. https://twitter.com/toddvs35/status/527039297912729600
  2. http://toddvs35.blogspot.com.au/search?updated-min=2012-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2013-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=38
  3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nD1FW7y-klY(Digital Sports)
  4. http://web.theabl.com.au/news/article.jsp?ymd=20190220&content_id=304286142&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_abl
  5. "AUSTRALIA RELEASES FINAL ROSTER TO FACE DODGERS AND DIAMONDBACKS". Baseball Australia. 4 March 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  6. "PROS ASSEMBLE FOR THE AUSTRALIAN 21U BASEBALL WORLD CUP TEAM". Baseball Australia. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  7. "Team Australia's Roster Announced for Sydney Qualifier". Baseball Australia. 6 January 2006. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  8. Baseball Australia Media (20 February 2018). "Team Australia Roster Announced". Baseball Australia Southern Thunder. Archived from the original on 8 December 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  9. DAVID PENROSE (8 October 2019). "BORAL TEAM AUSTRALIA'S PREMIER12 ROSTER ANNOUNCED". baseball.com.au. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
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