Hein Robb

Hein Christopher Robb

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 185 lb.

• Born May 12, 1992 in Brakpan, Gauteng South Africa

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Hein Robb was signed out of the European Baseball Academy in 2008 by the Minnesota Twins. The scout was Howard Norsetter. He was on the South African roster for the 2009 World Baseball Classic. He was the country's worst hurler in the 2009 WBC, giving up 4 runs in 1/3 of an inning for 108.00 ERA. Coming in to face Mexico in the 9th inning, he retired Freddy Sandoval on a fly. He then walked Jerry Hairston Jr. on four pitches. Oscar Robles hit a 2-run homer and Agustin Murillo drew a 4-pitch walk. Jorge Cantu homered. Dylan Lindsay relieved Robb.

Robb also pitched in the 2009 Baseball World Cup, allowing six runs in two innings. He gave up three runs in one inning against both Spain and Puerto Rico.

He made his pro debut with the 2010 GCL Twins, throwing a scoreless inning June 24 against the GCL Rays, walking one. He was 0-1 on the year with 18 hits, 7 walks and 13 runs in 9 1/3 innings. With the same club in 2011, he improved to 0-2, 3.82. In 2012, he posted a 2-4, 3.73 record for the Elizabethton Twins. In the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, he tossed 5 1/3 shutout innings (3 H, 1 BB, 4 K), coming up big in South Africa's extra-inning win over France. He pitched the most scoreless frames for South Africa in the tournament.

Robb split 2013 between Elizabethton (4-4, 2.71, 13 BB in 63 IP) and the Cedar Rapids Kernels (11 H, 9 BB, 10 R, 9 ER in 10 2/3 IP) to end his time in the Twins chain at 6-11, 4.12 in 47 G (33 starts). He was 9th in the '13 Appalachian League in ERA (between Dailyn Martinez and Yorman Landa) and tied for 8th in wins. He struggled with the independent Windy City ThunderBolts in 2014 (0-2, 13.14, 18 H, 16 BB in 12 1/3 IP).

After not pitching in the US in 2015, he was back with the South African national team for the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers but did not appear in a game. By the 2019 Africa Cup Baseball Championship, he had moved to first base, hitting .438/.438/.688 with 5 runs and 5 RBI in 4 games as South Africa won the title. They advanced to the 2019 Europe/Africa Olympic Qualifier. He hit .167/.333/.167 with one run and two RBI in five games, again serving as the primary first baseman (he handled 27 chances error-free there). His two-run single off Italy's Alessandro Maestri helped give South Africa an early 3-0 lead. He tied Brandon Bouillon for the team lead with 3 walks.