Donny Breek

Donny Breek

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 205 lb.

• Born November 8, 1999 in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Netherlands

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Biographical Information

Donny Breek has pitched in the US and the Netherlands and for the Dutch national team. His father Jerry Breek has coached in the Hoofdklasse.

Breek threw two scoreless innings in the 2013 U15 European Championship. In the 2015 European Junior Championship, he allowed one hit, two walks and one unearned run in five innings, fanning five and getting a win. He was 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA and 15 K in 13 IP when the Netherlands won the 2016 European Junior Championship. He was 8th in the event in ERA, tied for 2nd in innings and tied for 2nd in K (8 behind Anton Kuznetsov).

He made his Hoofdklasse debut in 2016, posting a 2-8, 7.51 record and walking 44 in 50 1/3 innings for DSS. He was third in the league in losses and fourth in walks. He won the Roel de Mon Award. He was 1-3 with a 7.95 ERA for DSS in '17 and his 39 walks were third in the loop. In the 2017 U-18 Baseball World Cup, he allowed one unearned run in one inning against the champion US and pitched 2/3 of a shutout inning against Cuba. He lost to Japan but turned in a strong start (4 H, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 ER, 7 K in 7 IP). He then beat Italy, a long-time Dutch rival, 2-1, with 8 fine innings (3 H, 3 BB, 9 K, 1 R, 1 ER). He led the event in IP (2 1/3 ahead of Mohamed Alaoui) and tied Been Gwak for 5th in strikeouts (18). He repeated as Roel de Mon winner, the first player to do so since Kevin Miner a decade prior. He was signed by Minnesota Twins scout Glenn Godwin.

The Amsterdam native split 2018 between the GCL Twins (2-1, 2.89, 41 K in 37 1/3 IP, .197 opponent average) and DSS (0 R in 2 IP). In 2019, he was superb for the GCL Twins (1-2, 0.74 ERA, .165 opponent average, 38 K in 36 1/3 IP) but did not pitch quite enough to make the Gulf Coast League leaderboards for ERA and opponent average. That earned him a spot on the Netherlands main national team for the first time, at the 2019 European Championship. Nor did he ride the pine. He got the start against Sweden and began by striking out Pontus Byström. Joel Johnson singled and Alex Rubanowitz drew a walk but he allowed only one more hit over the next 5 2/3 IP, fanning nine more before Diegomar Markwell relieved. He got the win over Jakob Claesson. He tied Lowuin Sacramento and Borna Strelec for 9th in strikeouts through the first two rounds. He then got the start in the Gold Medal Game against Italy. He retired the first eight batters and allowed only two hits (one an Alberto Mineo homer) and walk in 4 2/3 IP, including getting former major leaguers John Andreoli and Chris Colabello all four times he faced them. Tom Stuifbergen relieved with a 5-1 lead and Breek just missed getting the win by 1/3 of an inning.

Breek stayed with the Netherlands for the 2019 Europe/Africa Olympic Qualifier and got the start against South Africa. He struck out Anthony Phillips to open it, then Kyle Botha singled. He retired Jonathan Phillips and got Brandon Bouillon looking. After the Netherlands scored twice, he ran into control issues in the second by walking Hein Robb and Brett Willemburg and plunking Rowan Ebersohn. He recovered to fan Kyron Bibis then Benjamin Smith hit a sacrifice fly and Anthony Phillips flew out. Mike Bolsenbroek relieved in the third. The Netherlands finished second, missing a spot in the 2020 Olympics but staying alive for the final Olympic qualifier.

When the minor league season was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic (also delaying the Olympics and final Olympic qualifier), he returned to Europe to play for the Amsterdam Pirates. He allowed three hits and three runs (one earned) in eight innings, fanning nine, but walking eight and throwing three wild pitches. In the 2020 Holland Series, he relieved former major leaguer Shairon Martis to open the 10th inning of Game 2, tied at 3 with Neptunus. He got John Polonius on strikes, walked Dashenko Ricardo and retired Shaldimar Daantji. Control problems continued as he walked Coco Johnson and Gregory Muller before Nick Veltkamp relieved to escape the jam. While Amsterdam won the game (and the opener), the Series was canceled due to COVID-19 mitigation laws from the Dutch government and Amsterdam was not awarded the title (which went unclaimed).