Rudy van Heydoorn

Rudy van Heydoorn

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 204 lb.

• Born April 17, 1989 in Santo Domingo D.R.

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Rudy van Heydoorn played in the minors for several years.

Van Heydoorn signed with the Seattle Mariners in July 2006; the scouts were Patrick Guerrero and Frank Taveras Jr. He debuted with the 2007 DSL Mariners, hitting .194/.288/.313 with 43 strikeouts in 134 at-bats; he fielded .935 at third base. He made big gains in 2008 with the same club, posting a .266/.460/.435 line with 7 homers, 43 walks, 37 runs and 35 RBI in 53 games. He was named the team MVP. He tied for 9th in the Dominican Summer League in home runs and was 9th in walks.

In 2009, Rudy was with the AZL Mariners (.129/.205/.224, 41 K in 116 AB) and Pulaski Mariners (1 for 14, 6 K, BB) in a rocky US debut. He returned to the DSL Mariners for 2010 and hit .305/.439/.508 with 15 doubles, 7 home runs, 42 walks and 31 runs as a 1B-C. He tied for third in the DSL in dingers, 4th in OBP, 3rd in slugging (behind Yeicok Calderon and Ravel Santana) and 3rd in OPS (again trailing Calderon and Santana).

Van Heydoorn got a second crack at the US in 2011, going 5 for 31 with 4 doubles for the Everett AquaSox and hitting .241/.293/.407 in 19 games for the High Desert Mavericks, while missing time with an elbow injury. Let go by the Mariners, he signed with the AamigoO ADO Lakers in the Netherlands for 2012. He had a Dutch passport, meaning he did not count under foreign player rules. He made his Hoofdklasse debut on April 12, hitting 5th and playing right field. He was the lead performer in a 16-2 romp over Sparta/Feyenoord, going 2 for 4 with a double, homer, walk, time hit by pitch, 3 runs and 4 RBI. He hit .271/.366/.481 with 26 RBI in 38 games in the 2012 Hoofdklasse. He was 9th in slugging (between Kody Hightower and Quintin de Cuba), tied Percy Isenia for 9th in doubles (10), was third in home runs (5, trailing Wesley Connor and Bryan Engelhardt), tied Roelie Henrique for third in strikeouts (36) and tied Ramiro Balentina for the most passed balls (10). He went 6 for 18 with three doubles, a homer and a team-high six RBI for the Dutch national team in the 2012 Haarlem Baseball Week. He also played for them in the 2012 European Championship, splitting catching with de Cuba. He was only 2 for 14 with a triple, two walks, a run and two RBI and struggled defensively with two errors. In the Gold Medal game, he was 0 for 3 in a loss to the Italian national team and made a passed ball.

In the 2013 Hoofdklasse, he moved to DOOR Neptunus and hit .252/.357/.395 with 25 runs in 34 games; he tied for 4th in the league with three homers but did not figure on as many leaderboards as in 2012. In the 2013 Holland Series, he was 2 for 5 as a backup to Rafaël Jozefa at 1B as Neptunus swept the Vaessen Pioniers. He was 1 for 8 for the Netherlands in the 2013 World Port Tournament and was left off their team for the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

Van Heydoorn signed with Collecchio in the Italian minor leagues for 2014.

Sources

• 2012 Mariners Media Guide
• Article by Marco Stoovelaar
• Hoofdklasse stats
• 2012 Haarlem Baseball Week
• 2012 European Championship
• Article on Van Heydoorn playing in Italy