Axel Poesmans

Axel Poesmans

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 167 lb.

• School Mid-America Christian University, Globe Institute of Technology

• Born February 7, 1996 in Hasselt Belgium

Biographical Information

Axel Poesmans has caught in the First Division and for the Belgian national team. He is the twin brother of fellow Belgian national team player Yves Poesmans.

Poesmans debuted with the champion Brasschaat Braves in 2013 at age 17; he hit .204/.304/.245 but played good defense, making no errors in 106 chances and throwing out 21.7% of those who tried to steal. He played for Belgium in the 2013 U-18 European Championship, batting .130/.231/.217 and allowing 6 steals in 7 tries but also scoring 6 runs in 6 games. He was second on Belgium in runs, one behind Sam Buelens. He hit .213/.312/.238 for Brasschaat in 2014, but threw out 40.9% of those who tried to steal; his brother was a teammate that year. He had the best caught stealing percentage of any regular catcher in the league. He played in the Collegiate Baseball League Europe that year.

Despite his low offensive numbers, he made the Belgian team for the 2014 European Championship. He was their second-youngest player, one day older than Matthew De Permentier. He was a defensive substitute for Tim Veraghtert late in a rout of Sweden. In his other game, he started at catcher and hit 8th against France. He grounded out twice against Owen Ozanich before Sam Boermans batted for him. He had 10 putouts in the tournament and allowed 5 steals in 5 tries. He was 6 for 17 with a walk and 5 runs for Brasschaat in 2015, spending most of the season attending college in the US at Globe Institute of Technology. He played for the Green Bay Bullfrogs in the Northwoods League that summer as well, He went 3 for 14 with two walks, two runs and two RBI.

The Hasselt native hit .282/~.378/.295 for Brasschaat in 2016 and allowed 20 steals while catching two runners. He saw limited time in '17 (5 for 21, 2 BB, 5 R, 4 RBI) in Belgium. He spent most of the season with Mid-America Christian University, batting .308/.426/.442 as one of the school's top hitters and throwing out 34.3% on the bases.

He had a poor season with the 2018 Braves (.203/.276/.270, 25% CS). He again hit better in the US college ranks (.274/.343/.403 for Mid-America Christian), though his throwing was down (15.2% CS). For Brasschaat in the 2018 Federations Cup, he did better than in the regular Belgian season - .286/.294/.500, 3 2B, 6 RBI in 5 G, catching 3 of 5 attempted base-stealers. He tied for second in the event in doubles (4 behind Sandel Cuevas), tied for first with two sacrifice flies and was second in caught stealing by a catcher. He tied for 9th in RBI as well. He was on Belgium's roster in the 2018 Super6 but was their only player not used, as Veraghtert and Benjamin Goffaux did all the catching.