Benjamin Goffaux

Benjamin Goffaux

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Born July 24, 1998

Biographical Information

Benjamin Goffaux has played in the First Division and for the Belgian national team.

Goffaux debuted with the Namur Angels in 2013, the year he turned 15; he got into one game and did not bat. The next year, the youngster was starting at catcher for Namur, hitting .250/.361/.342, fielding .938 and allowing 30 steals in 34 tries. In 2015, he batted .259/.406/.286 with 26 runs and 17 steals in 18 tries over 30 games, putting him 6th in the First Division in steals. Moving to the Louvain-La Neuve Phoenix for 2016, he hit .293 and slugged .457 while fielding .977 and throwing out 26.4% of those who tried to steal.

He made the Belgian team for the 2016 European Championship; the teen saw fairly regular playing time, appearing in 5 of their 8 games and starting 3. His debut came after replacing Tim Veraghtert at catcher in the opener against eventual Silver Medalist Spain. In his lone at-bat, he whiffed against former major leaguer Rhiner Cruz. His first hit and first start came against Bronze Medal winner Italy, when he doubled off Carlos Richetti for one of four Belgian hits in a blowout loss. He finished the event 3-for-11 with the double, a walk, a run and a RBI while handling 13 putouts and 2 assists without an error.

In 2017, he continued to progress, producing at a .352/.429/.493 clip for the Phoenix, with 17 steals in 17 tries. He was 9th in the First Division in average, 8th in slugging, tied Robin Roevens for 7th in hits (50), tied for 5th in doubles (11), was second with 3 triples (one behind Lucas Rizzi), ranked 7th with 70 total bases and was 7th in steals. In 2018, he was better yet, though in limited time. He batted .403/.462/.545 with 21 runs in 20 games and had the best average of any player with over 50 at-bats. He then made the Belgian squad for the 2018 Super6.

Sources

• Belgian Baseball and Softball Federation
• European Baseball Federation