Fukuoka Softbank Hawks starting pitcher, Rick van den Hurk, 31, confirmed that he will pitch for the Kingdom of Netherlands in this 4th edition of the upcoming World Baseball Classic this March. This will be van den Hurk’s second time participating in the WBC, since the second edition back in year 2009, where they defeated the almighty Dominicans at Hiram Bithorn stadium (Puerto Rico) by a score of 2-1.

The former Major leaguer, Rick van den Hurk, will join a studded lineup filled with some well known MLB players in Jurickson Profar (Texas Rangers), Xander Bogaerts (Boston Red Sox), Kenley Jansen (Los Angeles Dodgers), Andrelton Simmons (Los Angeles Angels), Jonathan Schoop (Baltimore Orioles), and Didi Gregorious (New York Yankees) representing their home country in Baseball’s biggest international sporting event… 4x NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball) all-star, and single season holder in homeruns in Wladimir Balentien (Tokyo Yakult Swallows) will also be participating in the event… They will play in Pool A, facing against South Korea, Taiwan, and Israel at Gocheok Sky dome in South Korea.

Rick van den Hurk finished his 2016 regular season campaign with a record of 7-3, and an earned run average of 3.84 in 13 games played (82 innings pitched) last year with Fukuoka, his second season with the team.