By DZ. Filed June 11, 2026.
Slovakia and Ireland’s Adam Macko made his MLB debut, then pitched in 11 more games with a 1.50 ERA leading to this update. Whereas last month this list started at Triple-A, there were two European big leaguers in May and early June, with a third soon to come.
Germany’s Max Kepler will return to the next iteration of this list, as he agreed to a major league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks, set to begin when his 80-game drug suspension is complete. He is able to appear in the minors for the month leading up to that date, and has made his debut in the Arizona Complex League. The veteran of 10 full MLB seasons, as a condition of the suspension, will not be eligible for the playoffs should Arizona qualify.
Finally, the DSL group below is a list of (almost) exclusively professional debuts. We specifically want to highlight the debut of Italian Patrick Silva — his signing was one that we had not been able to independently confirm until now, so we had not included him in our list since our initial announcement https://www.mister-baseball.com/europeans-in-the-majors-minors-june-2026-update/. Welcome to the club, Patrick!
Key
Name (age*), organization, country, team.
*Age is as of Sept 1, 2026 (playing age this season).
Team Prospect Rankings: BA (Baseball America): #; FG (Fangraphs): #; MLB (MLB.com): #.
“NR” denotes not ranked (only included for players listed in other rankings).
MLB (2)
Sam Aldegheri (24), Los Angeles Angels. Italy. Salt Lake Bees. BA: 15; FG: 17; MLB: 16.The southpaw is bouncing between the big league and Triple-A roster, and remains on the Angels roster. Three of his four appearances in MLB this season have been in relief. His last two appearances have been for the big club, including 5.1 shutout innings on June 2.Aldegheri has a 2.25 ERA and 1-1 record with the Angels, and a 7.24 ERA and 3-4 record with the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees. Aldegheri had seldom pitched in the highest minor league level until this year, likely to shield him from the extreme hitter-friendly nature of the Pacific Coast League (which has a collective 5.46 ERA).
Adam Macko (25), Toronto Blue Jays. Slovakia/Ireland. Buffalo Bisons. BA: 25; FG: 17; MLB: 21.
Macko got his first call to the major leagues right after publication of the last list, and he pitched in 12 games for the Blue Jays since. Like Aldegheri, he pitched as good or better in the majors than he had in Triple A – in 12 innings, he has a 1.50 ERA and 12 strikeouts, recording a win in two of those games. He returned to Triple-A Buffalo on June 9th. You can read more on his call-up https://www.mister-baseball.com/europeans-in-the-majors-minors-june-2026-update/ and debut https://www.mister-baseball.com/europeans-in-the-majors-minors-june-2026-update/.
Triple-A (2)
Ernesto Martinez Jr. (27), New York Yankees. France. Scranton Wilkes-Barre Railriders.
The French-Cuban first baseman has three homeruns over the last two weeks. Since June 1, he is hitting .214 with 11 strikeouts and two walks. Martínez is at .238/.304/.481 for the season with 11 home runs and four stolen bases.
Sem Robberse (24), St Louis Cardinals. Netherlands. Memphis Redbirds. BA: NR; FG: 22; MLB: NR.
The RHP is on the 60-day injured list and has yet to pitch this season.Double-A (2)
Alessandro Ercolani (22), Pittsburgh Pirates. San Marino/Italy. Altoona Curve.
In 14 games thus far, Ercolani has four wins against a single loss, with a 7.58 ERA (skewed by back-to-back relief outings where he allowed nine runs in 1.1 innings). He has not pitched more than two innings in an outing since April, and is settling into a relief role coming off spring shoulder trouble. Ercolani pitched all of the 2025 season in Altoona in the starting rotation.
Omar Hernández (24), Kansas City Royals. Spain. NW Arkansas Naturals.
Hernandez is having the best offensive season of his career, raising his batting average to .320 with a .382 OBP. He has walked twice, struck out three times, stolen two bases, and scored five runs since June 1. It has been over one month since his batting average has been below .300, all the while catching about half of his team’s games. High-A (2)
Tyriq Kemp (23), Kansas City Royals. Netherlands. Quad Cities River Bandits.
Kemp hit .308 with four home runs in April, but he has cooled off to .203 with one home run and four other extra base hits through May and June. Overall, Kemp has walked 31 times vs. 41 strikeouts to maintain a strong .362 OBP, despite his batting average sinking to .235. The shortstop has 14 stolen bases and has been caught six times.
Mathias LaCombe (24), Chicago White Sox. France. Winston-Salem Dash. BA: 11; FG: 29; MLB: 17.
The left-hander and rising prospect had a great showing over the past few weeks to earn his promotion, failing to give up a run in the month of May. In LaCombe’s 14.2 innings this season, he has a 1-0 record, 1.84 ERA, and a whopping 25 strikeouts versus six free passes.
Single-A (5)
Ettore Giulianelli (23), Cleveland Guardians. Italy. Hill City Howlers.
Giulianelli continues his career arc of limiting contact but struggling to throw strikes. Since May 1, he has pitched 7.1 innings across seven games, allowing an equal number of hits. In that same time, the right-hander has struck out 10, but walked 14. He has a 3.60 ERA and 2.41 WHIP.
Brandon Herbold (23), Kansas City Royals. Netherlands. Columbia Fireflies.
Herbold has pitched four consecutive relief outings without allowing a hit, dropping his ERA to 4.96. In his last 8 innings, he has 11 strikeouts and seven walks, with six hits and six runs allowed. After three years in the rookie leagues, the left-handed reliever is holding his own in the full season bullpen.
Nicolo Pinazzi (25), Los Angeles Angels. Italy. Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.
The lefty Pinazzi continues to excel this season in his return to affiliated baseball. He has allowed only five earned runs in 27.1 innings for a 1.65 ERA and 3-0 record. He has 44 strikeouts versus 14 free passes. While Pinazzi is older than most of his competition in Single-A, he is doing exactly what he should to advance (again, as he already pitched once at Triple-A earlier this spring).
Dominic Scheffler (22), Cincinnati Reds. Switzerland. Daytona Tortugas.
Scheffler returned to game action May 14 after a two-plus week hiatus, and he has pitched 6.2 innings in five games since then, walking 10, striking out six, and allowing six hits. In that time, he took a loss and recorded his second save. For the year, Scheffler has a 7.47 ERA and a 2.11 WHIP in 15.2 innings pitched.
Yannic Walther (22), Milwaukee Brewers. Germany. Wilson Warbirds.
Walther is in his fourth season as a Brewer, and his second with the Warbirds. He had a two-hit game on May 2, but has logged only four hits since then, although one was a home run. He has six walks and nine strikeouts in the same period. For the year, the backstop is slashing .148/.276/.227. Rookie League, U.S. Complex Leagues (6)
Peter Bonilla (21), Los Angeles Dodgers. Spain. ACL Dodgers.
Bonilla is 3-0 over 12 games and 17 innings pitched. He has recorded 28 strikeouts while walking 17, allowing only 11 hits. This is his fifth season of rookie ball and his second in the US.
Tijn Fredrikze (19), New York Yankees. Netherlands. FCL Yankees.
The Neptunus lefty has yet to debut, as he is on the injured list.
Max Kepler (33), Arizona Diamondbacks. Germany. ACL Diamondbacks.
The long-time big leaguer had his first three plate appearances of the year on June 10 in the Arizona Complex League, going oh-for-one with two walks and a run scored. Across 1,199 career MLB games, more than 1,000 of which came with the Twins, Kepler accumulated 20.6 WAR (2.8 WAR per 162 games) and a .235/.316/.425 line (101 OPS+) with 38 stolen bases and strong defensive numbers in right field (.992 fielding average, 13 Fielding Runs Above Average per year, and 7 Defensive Runs Saved per season).
Kepler has not played regularly in the minors since the 2016 season, when he was 23. In 2021 and 2024, he had brief minor league rehab assignments. Overall, in the minors, he is a .281/.364/.445 hitter.
Giaconino Lasaracina (22), Toronto Blue Jays. Italy. FCL Blue Jays.
The catcher has six games under his belt since coming off the injured list, stemming from an exhibition game just before the World Baseball Classic. Lasaracina has recorded a hit in each of his last four games and, in the first 21 at bats of his pro career, he is hitting .238 with a home run.
Keegan Pieternella (18), Toronto Blue Jays. Netherlands. FCL Blue Jays.
The Dutch utility player has 18 at bats since moving from the Dominican to the U.S. rookie league. He is continuing the trend he set last season, with walks juicing his OBP to .364 (matching his career number) while recording four hits, including a triple.
Giacomo Taschin (19), Toronto Blue Jays. Italy. FCL Blue Jays.
The Italian LHP opened his pro career in the United States, and he has hit the ground running. In his 18.2 innings, he has struck out 25, walked six, and allowed 13 hits for a 0.96 ERA and 1.02 WHIP. Over his last two times out, he has struck out 10, walked none, and given up just three hits in six frames.
Gijs van den Brink (21), Kansas City Royals. Netherlands. ACL Royals.
The southpaw made just one appearance last season, as he has been dealing with a shoulder injury. Van den Brink is on the 60-day injured list to start 2026.
Rookie League, Dominican Complex Leagues (8)
The league is in its second week, so all numbers are small-sample skewed. However, it is still fun to see the debuts!
Tom Apfelbaum (17), Los Angeles Dodgers. Germany. DSL LAD Bautista.
The lefty from Cologne has pitched his first four professional innings, striking out three and walking one while allowing six hits.
Paul Hoff (19), Milwaukee Brewers. Germany. DSL Brewers Gold.
The right-hander missed all of the 2025 season, so he returns to the DSL for his third year. Hoff has appeared twice, totaling 7.1 innings, striking out six, walking three, and giving up nine hits.
Juan Diego Holmann (17), Minnesota Twins. Germany. DSL Twins.
The shortstop, who spent a few years in Regensburg, has his first pro home run and three stolen bases in six games played. Holmann is hitting .353 with an eye-popping .607 OBP.
Celwin Hurkmans (18), Toronto Blue Jays. Netherlands. DSL Blue Jays Blue.
The DSS lefty has yet to debut.
Jordan Ouanyou (18), Cincinnati Reds. France. DSL Rojos.
Ouanyou has two doubles and a single in his first three games; he has also walked five times and struck out twice. The first baseman played 15 games after signing last year, but this will be his first full year/season as a professional.
Ricardo Pulles (17), Los Angeles Dodgers. Russia/Spain. DSL LAD Bautista.
The Russian and Tenerife-based catcher played in his first four games, collceting his first hit, walking twice, and striking out twice.
Filippo Sabatini (19), Philadelphia Phillies. Italy. DSL Phillies.
The RHP is on the injured list and has yet to make his debut.
Patrick Silva (17), Philadelphia Phillies. Italy. DSL Phillies.
The corner infielder has officially debuted, playing in three games with a triple, a walk, and two strikeouts.
Articles in This Year’s Series
April https://www.mister-baseball.com/europeans-in-the-majors-minors-june-2026-update/.
May https://www.mister-baseball.com/europeans-in-the-majors-minors-june-2026-update/.