Tom de Blok

From BR Bullpen

Tom Robin de Blok

  • Bats Right, Throws Right
  • Height 6' 4", Weight 195 lb.

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Biographical Information[edit]

Tom de Blok pitched in the minor leagues, in the Netherlands and in Mexico. He has been a regular on the Dutch national team, winning multiple European titles.

He participated in the MLB European Academy in 2013. In the 2013 European Junior Championship, he had the worst ERA on the Netherlands (4 R in 2 2/3 IP; 2 H, 2 BB, 5 K). The Seattle Mariners signed him that August; the scouts were Wayne Norton and Peter van Dalen. They already had two Dutch pitchers under contract in Lars Huijer and Scott Ronnenbergh. He attended extended spring training in 2014 but returned to the Netherlands after a couple of weeks, voluntarily retiring, saying baseball in America was a job and not fun like in the Netherlands.

He played for the L&D Amsterdam Pirates in the 2015 European Cup, allowing three runs in two innings. He was 4-0 with 3 saves and a 1.54 ERA in the 2015 Hoofdklasse, finishing among the league leaders in ERA (5th, between Kevin Heijstek and Tom Stuifbergen), opponent average (.195, 4th, between Heijstek and Jim Ploeger) and saves (7th). He won the Roel de Mon Award. He was a big part of the Pirates' win in the 2016 European Champions Cup, saving Heijstek's win over host Rimini and Kyle Ward's win over rival Neptunus. He tied Carlos Teran for the event lead in saves. In the finale, he relieved Daan Hendrix and worked the final 2 2/3 to get the win over Rimini (1 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 UER) in a 10-inning contest. He came up big for the Netherlands in the 2016 Haarlem Baseball Week finale, relieving Berry van Driel in the 6th with the bases loaded and two outs in a scoreless battle with Japan. He bailed out van Driel and worked a scoreless 7th as the Dutch took the lead, then Loek van Mil closed out the win for the Dutch.

In the 2016 Hoofdklasse, he was 5-0 with a save and a 0.88 ERA for Amsterdam. He was 2nd in the league in ERA (.26 behind Kenny Vandenbranden), allowed the lowest average (.153, .019 less than Vandenbranden), tied Reggie Bomberg for 3rd in saves and was 4th with 26 games pitched. He won games 1 and 4 of the 2016 Holland Series against Neptunus, both in extra innings, but lost game 6 (he had the only Amsterdam wins of the Series) as Neptunus wrapped it up. His 0.84 ERA was 3rd in the Series after Hendrix and van Driel and tied Orlando Yntema for the most wins. He then made the Dutch team for the 2016 European Championship. In his debut for the Netherlands in a major tournament, he relieved van Mil in the 8th inning of a 10-2 win over Germany. He walked Philip Schulz in a 10-pitch at-bat then caught Jendrick Speer's liner and threw to first for the double play. Marcel Jimenez flew out, and Kevin Kelly relieved in the 9th. He pitched four games in the 2016 Euros for the champion Netherlands, with one run in four innings (2 H, 2 BB, 4 K). He tied Rhiner Cruz, van Mil and Andy Orfanakos for the most games pitched (excluding the final day, which does not count for leaderboard purposes).

After the few years back in the Netherlands, de Blok participated in the 2017 World Baseball Classic as a member of the Netherlands national baseball team. He threw two scoreless innings during the tournament, allowing a single hit and striking out two. That strong performance saw the Detroit Tigers reach out to him with a contract offer, one he inked the month following the tournament.

He began his career in organized baseball in 2017, splitting the season between the Connecticut Tigers and the West Michigan Whitecaps, going a combined 4-2, 2.74 in 24 games and 82 innings. In 2018, he started the year at West Michigan and later pitched for the Lakeland Flying Tigers of the Florida State League. In 19 starts, he was 5-6, 4.71 in 101 1/3 innings. He then had a dreadful season with Lakeland in 2019 - at least in terms of his win/loss record, as he finished at 2-13 in 21 games. But his other stats were not bad, with a 4.04 ERA in 111 1/3 innings, 98 hits allowed and 85 strikeouts.

De Blok was 1-1 with a 2.89 ERA when the Netherlands won the 2019 European Championship, losing the opener to Marek Minařík, a fellow former minor leaguer, and the Czech national team. He defeated Lowuin Sacramento and Spain, though, with five shutout innings; J.C. Sulbaran saved the 1-0 victory. His .171 opponent average was 6th in the tourney, between Sascha Koch and Jose Diaz. He won his second European Championship title. The Netherlands advanced to the 2019 Europe/Africa Olympic Qualifier. Relieving Diegomar Markwell, he threw 3 1/3 shutout innings against Israel, but Israel wound up beating them 8-1 that day, earning a spot in the 2020 Olympics instead of the Dutch. The Netherlands did move on to the 2020 Final Olympic Qualifier.

Before that could be held, though, the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out international baseball events for 2020. The minor league season was cancelled as well and de Blok did not get to pitch in the minors, though the Tigers kept him in their organization all year (many minor leaguers were let go during this period). He was 1-0 with a 2.00 ERA back with the Amsterdam Pirates in the 2020 Hoofdklasse. In the 2020 Holland Series, he took over for Mike Groen in the 8th with a 3-2 lead in Game 2 against Neptunus. He walked Dashenko Ricardo then Shaldimar Daantji bunted into an error and de Blok made a pick-off throwing error and a wild pitch to tie it; Shairon Martis took over. The Pirates won to take a 2-0 lead in the Series but the rest of the Series was cancelled due to COVID-19, with neither team being declared the champ.

De Blok threw the 4th perfect game in the 99 years of Hoofdklasse annals in 2021, following Craig McGinnis, Eelco Jansen and Misja Harcksen. He turned in his masterpiece against Kinheim. He then appeared in the Olympic Qualifier that had been delayed a year, blanking the Dominican national team for five innings in a duel with Osvaldo Bidò before fading, allowing a two-run homer to Johan Mieses before giving way to Groen; he got a no-decision and the Netherlands dropped that one in a close 4-3 battle. He split the summer between the Pirates (3-2, 1.59) and the Pericos de Puebla (0-1, 3.60) of Mexico. He did not appear in the 2021 Holland Series, which Amsterdam won, as he battled elbow injuries, which also sidelined him for 2022.

The Amstelveen native matched up against Cuba's Yariel Rodríguez in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, battling to a 1-1 score after 3 and allowing only one hit (to Yadil Mujica) before Derek West took over. Moving to Neptunus, he had a 8-0, 1.62 record in the 2023 Hoofdklasse (counting the postseason). He tied Takuya Fukuda and Kaj Timmermans for 6th in the league in wins (every pitcher with 8 or more had a loss except for de Blok), was 3rd with 105 K (behind Dennis Burgersdijk and Kevin Kelly and was 7th in ERA (between Aaron de Groot and Timmermans). Neptunus dropped the 2023 Holland Series to his old Amsterdam mates, with de Blok not getting any decisions. He then suited up for the Netherlands for the second time that year, in the 2023 European Championship. He started the semifinal against Spain and allowed one run in five to outduel Anderson de León; he left with a 6-1 cushion but Franklin Van Gurp and the rest of the bullpen couldn't hold on, allowing 6 runs in the final 4 as the Netherlands won Bronze, their worst finish ever in a European Championship.

He dominated the US in the 2024 Haarlem Baseball Week, allowing four hits in 11 shutout innings, fanning 14 and getting a win. He was one K behind leader Hayato Takagi and trailed Martis and Takagi in ERA as they were also at 0.00 but in more innings. In the 2024 Hoofdklasse, he was 4-1 with a 1.05 ERA in the regular season, tying Jasper Elfrink for 4th with 42 K and finishing 3rd in ERA, behind Sulbaran and Huijer. He was 2-0 with a 1.06 ERA when Neptunus beat HCAW in the 2024 Holland Series, beating Timmermans in the opener and Huijer in the clincher. He led the Series in wins and his 14 K were second, two behind Huijer. He was with the Netherlands for the 2024 Premier 12. He beat Puerto Rico's Agnel Miranda and finished at 1-0, 5.40.

The right-hander was 11-0 with a 0.78 ERA in the 2025 Hoofdklasse, leading in ERA (.18 ahead of teammate Drew Janssen), tying Wyatt Lankford for 4th in IP (81), placing 10th in K (57) and being second in wins (one shy of Martis). He was 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA in the 2025 Holland Series, twice outdueling HCAW's Huijer, including in the clinching Game 6, in which he allowed one run on three hits. He was named Series MVP.

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