Joe Daru

Joseph Matthew Daru (นายโจเซฟ แมทธิวว์ ดารรู)

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 178 lb.

• School New York Institute of Technology, Sierra College

• Born December 1, 1992 in Bangkok Thailand

Biographical Information

Joe Daru played for the Thai national team in the 2011 Southeast Asian Games, as did his brother Jack Daru. Joseph hit cleanup and played center field in the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. He went 2 for 6 with two walks and two RBI in the tournament. In the opener against the Philippines, his first-inning single off Jon-Jon Robles drove in Nathan Lorentz and gave Thailand their lone lead of the tourney; they lost that game, 8-2. His other RBI came with Thailand down 10-1 against New Zealand, as he singled home Johnny Damon.

Daru hit .286/.545/.429 in the 2014 Asian Games, with 3 runs and 3 RBI in Thailand's only win, over Hong Kong. He batted .333/.400/.722 with 7 runs and 4 doubles in 4 games in the 2018 East Asian Baseball Cup. He joined Zidney Fahmidyan and Shi Feng Jeremy Yeo as the Cup's All-Star outfielders. He tied Wing-Sing Li for the event lead in runs and was second in doubles, one behind Adriane Ros Bernardo.

In the 2018 Asian Games, he was 4 for 10 with 3 triples and 4 runs in the opening round, leading the round in extra-base hits, triples (the only player with more than one). He tied Gniatou Nalor for 5th in slugging and tied for second in runs (one behind Amila Pushpa Kumara Galbokka Hewage). In the main round, his home off Muhammad Usman prevented Thailand from being shut out by Pakistan and he hit a two-run dinger off Chi-Kam Kenneth Chiu in a 5-4 loss to Hong Kong. He finished the main round at .412/.444/.765 with 4 runs and 4 RBI in five games. He tied Chi-hong An for 10th in average, tied Jung-hoo Lee and Matthew Holliday for 4th in homers (two of the players with more were ex-MLB players Jae-gyun Hwang and Byung-ho Park) and was 8th in slugging (between Takehiro Tsujino and Holliday). He led Thailand in average (his brother was second at .385), slugging, homers, hits and runs and was second in RBI (one behind Suratit Faengsup).