Johannes Schäffler

Johannes Schäffler

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Born July 5, 1987

Johannes Schäffler has played in the Bundesliga.

In 2003, he debuted in the Bundesliga even though he only turned 16 that summer; he was 1 for 3 with a walk and handled 7 chances in the infield without an error. The next year, he hit .229/.362/.250 for the Heidenheim Heideköpfe with 20 whiffs in 48 at-bats. He pitched one inning, allowing an unearned run, and fielded .871, primarily being used at third base. He was also named the best junior pitcher in Germany. During 2005, he was 4 for 22 with 6 walks, a double and 8 strikeouts, while he fielded .857 in a utility role. In the 2005 European Junior Championship, Johannes tossed one scoreless inning (hitting two batters, though) and was 3 for 6 at the plate.

Schäffler fell to .158/.294/.263 in 2006 while fielding .868; he moved to left field as his main position that year. In '07, he went just 2 for 26 with 3 walks and 7 strikeouts while allowing four hits and three walks in one inning. Johannes was Heidenheim's main left fielder in 2008 and improved to .340/.382/.440. In 2009, he spent most of the year in Bundesliga-2 (the minors), going 8 for 26 with 3 walks and a double. He was Heidenheim's starting right fielder in the playoffs, though, as they would win the title; he was 8 for 32 with a double, homer, five walks and six steals in six tries in the postseason. With Heidenheim down 2 games to 1 in the best-of-5 finals, Schäffler hit a solo homer and scored three runs in game four to help his club tie the series. In the finale, his bases-loaded walk from René Franke scored the second run in a 3-1 win that gave Heidenheim the title.

In 2010, Johannes batted .263/.345/.313 in the regular season and .308/.386/.410 in the postseason, while starting in right for the Heideköpfe. His club again went a full five games in the championship series, but lost to the Buchbinder Legionaere Regensburg. In the 2010 European Cup, he was 8 for 27 with 3 walks, 2 home runs, 7 runs and 7 RBI as Heidenheim finished in second place, the best finish by a German team in a European Cup to that point.

During the 2011 European Cup, he hit .263/.364/.316 with 5 runs and 2 errors in 5 games.

Sources

• Bundesliga stats
• CEB