By DZ. Filed May 11, 2026.
Italy’s Sam Aldegheri pitched in the big leagues for the second time this season; Spain’s Omar Hernández (a catcher) is hitting .295 and playing regularly in Double-A; and recent Netherlands draftee Tyriq Kemp (a middle infielder) is hitting .288. Meanwhile, Italian lefty Nicolo Pinazzi is already making the most of his return to affiliated baseball, jumping two levels to Triple-A for a successful appearance, Swiss lefty Dominic Scheffler is finding his groove, and Netherlands’ catcher Keegan Pieternella has been promoted to the USA. Finally, we bid farewell to Dutchman Kay-Lan Nicasia, who was released.
As a quick reminder, this series is not a list of national team representation or of country-by-birth — we are trying to highlight players whose baseball development happened in Europe. If you know someone who spent time in youth baseball in Europe who is not listed here, please let us know.
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).
Triple-A (4)
Sam Aldegheri (24), Los Angeles Angels. Italy. BA: 15; FG: 17; MLB: 16.Aldegheri had his second short stint in the big leagues this year, making a four-inning spot start last week before being optioned back to Salt Lake the next day. Across six starts and seven games, the LHP has a big-league ERA of 4.76 and a minor league ERA of 7.77. He has tallied 30 innings between Triple-A and MLB with 25 strikeouts and 16 walks.
Adam Macko (25), Toronto Blue Jays. Slovakia/Ireland. Buffalo Bisons. BA: 25; FG: 17; MLB: 21.
Macko remains in relief and has allowed runs in three of his four appearances over the last two-plus weeks. In those 4.2 innings, he has walked four and struck out six, allowing five hits and five runs. He is 2-2 with a 5.17 ERA for the year.
Ernesto Martínez Jr. (27), New York Yankees. France. Scranton Wilkes-Barre Railriders.
Martinez has a couple of home runs and a double over the last two weeks, though he is hitting .188 thus far in May. The first baseman has a .257 average, .325 on base percentage, and .505 slugging percentage for the year.
Sem Robberse (24), St Louis Cardinals. Netherlands. Memphis Redbirds. BA: NR; FG: 22; MLB: NR.
The right-handed pitcher is on the 60-day injured list.
Double-A (3)
Alessandro Ercolani (22), Pittsburgh Pirates. San Marino/Italy. Altoona Curve.
The San Marinese righty started the year on the IL with shoulder problems, but he has now returned. Ercolani had two appearances on rehab assignment with Pittsburgh’s Single-A club, pitching 4.1 innings with one run allowed, walking three and striking out five. He had a quick one-inning return to Double-A, with no hits and one strikeout. His second outing was 1.2 innings, with two walks and a hit batter, two hits, and five runs scored; he also had 2 strikeouts.
Omar Hernández (24), Kansas City Royals. Spain. NW Arkansas Naturals.
After a hot start, Hernandez has three hits in his last 17 at bats with one walk and six strikeouts. He has stolen a couple more bases, with six in seven attempts. Despite the short slump, the catcher retains a .295 batting average for the year.
Kay-Lan Nicasia (26), Milwaukee Brewers. Netherlands. Biloxi Shuckers.
Nicasia was released last week after starting 3-for-36 with 19 strikeouts (and five stolen bases), cutting his sixth season with the Brewers and of his career short. The infielder wraps up his time in the minors with a .197/.317/.345 triple-slash line with 22 home runs and 56 stolen bases in 268 games.
High-A (1)
Tyriq Kemp (23), Kansas City Royals. Netherlands. Quad Cities River Bandits.
Kemp is hitting .288 with nine stolen bases and is alternating time between shortstop and second base as a regular starter. He has an on-base percentage of .408. He has been limited to one extra base hit thus far in May, but his four home runs in April are already on the books, leaving him with a slugging percentage of .475. He has walked 14 times and struck out at the same rate, for a strong 18 percent rate in each.
Single-A (6)
Ettore Giulianelli (23), Cleveland Guardians. Italy. Hill City Howlers.
Giulianelli has given up one run in his last three appearances. In those 4.1 innings, there have been four hits, three walks, and three strikeouts. He has a 4.50 ERA for the season, with one win and one hold.
Brandon Herbold (22), Kansas City Royals. Netherlands. Columbia Fireflies.
Herbold has pitched in four more games since we last checked (when he still had an ERA of 0.00), giving up four runs across two appearances in late April but putting up zeros in his last two. He has a 3.60 ERA with seven walks plus hit batters and 16 strikeouts. The southpaw has struck out 31.4 percent of batters faced this year, with his lowest walk rate (11.8 percent) since 2023.
Mathias LaCombe (24), Chicago White Sox. France. Kannapolis Cannon Ballers. BA: 11; FG: 29; MLB: 17.
LaCombe just pitched his first inning of the 2026 season on a rehab assignment in the Arizona Complex League. He gave up one hit and struck out one.
Nicolo Pinazzi (26), Los Angeles Angels. Italy. Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.
Pinazzi’s story was already pretty wild [see last month’s update: link], but playing in the Angels’ minor league system adds another potential level of madness. That became true last week when the lefty was swiftly called up from Single-A to Triple-A, where he pitched two hitless innings (walking two and striking out two) to earn the win, before returning to the Single-A California League. Pinazzi is old for the level at Single-A, but he is doing what he should in that case, striking out 17 in 10.2 innings with only three runs allowed. He has a 2.31 ERA and 1.54 WHIP with one hold and two saves for the Quakes.
Dominic Scheffler (22), Cincinnati Reds. Switzerland. Daytona Tortugas.
Scheffler has had two strong appearances since our last look, totaling four shutout innings with only one hit and one hit batter while striking out two and recording a save. His season ERA sits at 8.00, and he has not pitched since April 28.
Yannic Walther (22), Milwaukee Brewers. Germany. Wilson Warbirds.
Walther has played in 20 games already this season, all of them as the catcher. He has a homer and a double amongst his nine hits, and he has walked 10 times. His slash line is .138/.250/.200.
Rookie League, U.S. Complex Leagues (6)
The U.S. rookie season just began on May 2, so the results thus far are limited.
Peter Bonilla (21), Los Angeles Dodgers. Spain. ACL Dodgers.
The Barcelona lefty begins his fifth season in the Dodgers’ organization. He has pitched twice, covering three innings, earning a win while allowing only two hits and striking out three. However, Bonilla has walked five players, helping lead to six runs allowed.
Tijn Fredrikze (19), New York Yankees. Netherlands. FCL Yankees.
The Neptunus lefty has yet to debut, and he has been placed on the injured list to open the season.
Giaconino Lasaracina (22), Toronto Blue Jays. Italy. FCL Blue Jays.
After suffering an injury on the last day of Italy’s World Baseball Classic training camp, the catcher begins the season on the injured list and has yet to debut.
Keegan Pieternella (18), Toronto Blue Jays. Netherlands. FCL Blue Jays.
Rotterdam’s Pieternella was recently promoted to the U.S. complex league after one season in the DSL. He has played catcher, second base, third base, and outfield since the start of 2025, hitting .189, but getting on base at a .347 clip. He is hitless in five at bats in his first two games at the new level.
Giacomo Taschin (19), Toronto Blue Jays. Italy. FCL Blue Jays.
The Italian left-hander made his pro debut on May 4 with four shutout innings. He allowed one hit and two walks while striking out three.
Gijs van den Brink (21), Kansas City Royals. Netherlands. ACL Royals.
Gijs made just one appearance last season, dealing with a shoulder injury. He is on the 60-day injured list to start 2026.
Rookie League, Dominican Complex Leagues (7)
The Dominican Summer League spring training is underway, and official games will begin June 1.
Tom Apfelbaum (17), Los Angeles Dodgers. Germany.
A left-handed pitcher from Köln signed in January of this year.
Paul Hoff (19), Milwaukee Brewers. Germany. DSL Brewers Gold.
Hoff pitched 29.2 innings to the tune of a 3.64 ERA in his first pro season in 2024, but missed the entire 2025 season due to injury. He will return to the DSL to begin 2026.
Juan Diego Holmann (17), Minnesota Twins. Germany.
The Nicaragua native who lived from ages 10–15 in Regensburg, Germany, signed this winter with the Twins and is listed as a shortstop.
Celwin Hurkmans (18), Toronto Blue Jays. Netherlands.
Hurkmans came to agreement with Toronto this winter https://www.mister-baseball.com/europeans-in-the-majors-minors-may-2026-update/ and is likely to debut in 2026.
Jordan Ouanyou (18), Cincinnati Reds. France. DSL Rojos.
The French first baseman got his feet wet after signing in 2025, appearing in 15 games and hitting .196 with two doubles. He will start 2026 at the same level.
Ricardo Pulles (17), Los Angeles Dodgers. Russia/Spain.
Pulles was recently based in Tenerife and is likely to debut with the Dodgers this summer.
Filippo Sabatini (19), Philadelphia Phillies. Italy. DSL Phillies White.
The righty signed in January 2025 but injured his arm before making his pro debut. His recovery timeline for 2026 remains an open question.
Articles in This Year’s Series
April https://www.mister-baseball.com/europeans-in-the-majors-minors-may-2026-update/.