Jens Cornelsen

Jens Cornelsen

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 5", Weight 212 lb.

• Born October 24, 1983 in Radevormwald Germany

Jens Cornelsen has pitched for the German national team.

In the 2001 European Junior Championship, Cornelsen hit .333/.333/.400 and was 0-1 with a 13.50 ERA. In the 2002 Bundesliga, Jens had a 5-5, 4.07 record with one save and batted .234/.333/.273 for the Bonn Capitals. The promising youngster was 8th in the northern Bundesliga-1 in ERA, 5th in strikeouts (50) and had the lowest opponent average (.175, .28 better than runner-up Eugen Heilmann) while finishing third in WHIP. Unfortunately, he also led with 16 wild pitches.

In 2003, Cornelsen fell to 3-4, 7.02. He was third in the league with 31 walks (in only 33 1/3 IP) and allowed a .321 average, a far cry from his '02 campaign. During 2004, the 20-year-old improved a tad, going 1-1 with a league-best 3 saves and a 6.27 ERA.

Cornelsen turned in a solid 2005 with Bonn. He posted a record of 6-4, 2.81 with one save. He was 6th in ERA, tied Andre Hughes for 5th in strikeouts (62) and was 6th with a 1.20 WHIP. He made the German squad for the 2005 European Championship, going 0-1 with a 8.59 ERA after joining Martin Almstetter, Manuel Möller, Michael Otto and Hughes in the rotation.

In 2006, Jens pitched 3 shutout innings and was 3 for 8 with 3 walks for the Solingen Alligators. His limited action spoke to how much Hughes and Enorbel Marquez dominated the staff.

Cornelsen hit only .215/.333/.292 as Solingen's backup 1B in 2007. On the mound, he was 1-0 with two saves and a 1.98 ERA, only pitching six games (1 start) because of Hughes and Marquez.

Despite his limited pitching work in 2006-2007, Cornelsen made Germany's roster for the 2008 Final Olympic Qualification Tournament. He was atrocious in his lone outing on the mound, giving up 5 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks while retiring only one against the South Korean national team. Against Germany's other hurlers that game, Tim Henkenjohann and Benedikt Antwi, Korea scored a more reasonable 7 times in 5 2/3 IP. It left Cornelsen with a 135.00 ERA for the tournament; only a South African hurler (1 R, 0 IP) had a higher ERA in the event.

Cornelsen was 3-0 with a save and a 1.04 ERA in 2008, fanning 34 and allowing only 13 hits in 26 innings, again serving as a #3 hurler in a country with 2-man rotations.

Jens got a break in 2009, when Hughes left to play in the Netherlands. He began 2009 with a 6-1 record and made Germany's preliminary 40-man roster for the 2009 Baseball World Cup.

Sources

• German Baseball and Softball Federation
• Defunct IBAF site