Hagen Rätz

Hagen Rätz

• Bats Right (formerly Both), Throws Right

• Born April 16, 1982 in Reutlingen Germany

Hagen Rätz is a Bundesliga player. He played every position except for first base during the 2002-2009 period.

Rätz allowed three runs in 1/3 of an inning for Germany in the 1999 European Junior Championship. He debuted in the Bundesliga in 2002, hitting .167/.282/.181 for the Herenberg Wanderers and fielded .800, primarily in the middle infield. He also pitched often, going 2-9 with a 5.37 ERA. He was 9th in the southern Bundesliga-1 in ERA, led in hit batsmen (20), was third in errors (16) and tied Michael Otto for 7th with 57 strikeouts.

After a year in the Bundesliga-2, he was 10 for 36 with 8 walks for Herenberg in 2004 and had a 3-2, 5.93 record. He moved on to the Bonn Capitals in 2005 and was much better with a 6-2, 2.21 mark while hitting .379/.486/.431, though he still fielded well under .900. He finished second in ERA behind only Eugen Heilmann in the Bundesliga-1 north and tied for fourth in wins.

In 2006, Hagen joined the Heidenheim Heideköpfe and went 2-4 with three saves and a 5.32 ERA, finishing second in saves. He fielded .884 and hit .316/.441/.395. The next year, Rätz fell to .247/.415/.315 but improved his fielding to .910. His moundwork resulted in a 4-2, 4.35 campaign. His 18 walks tied for 4th in the southern Bundesliga-1.

During 2008, the Reutlingen native was 2-3 with a 6.10 ERA while being used as a left fielder-pitcher mostly. He hit just .228/.370/.298. In '09, he batted .200/.315/.244; he allowed ten runs in five innings, going 1-0 somehow. He played primarily catcher and right field. He batted .267 in the postseason, during which he saw extensive action due to injury to Heidenheim star Simon Gühring. The club won its first pennant that year.

In the Brno phase of the 2010 European Cup, he hit .190/.370/.190 and fielded .842. He had the lowest average and slugging on Heidenheim but the most walks, 6. He was one shy of Pavel Budsky, Juan Pablo Angrisano and Quentin Becquey, the event co-leaders in walks.

Sources

• German Baseball and Softball Federation
• 2010 European Cup in Brno