Todd Van Steensel

From BR Bullpen

Todd Bertram Van Steensel

  • Bats Right, Throws Right
  • Height 6' 1", Weight 190 lb.

BR minors page

Biographical Information[edit]

Todd Van Steensel has pitched in the US, Australia, the Netherlands, Mexico and Venezuela.

Van Steensel's parents were both born in India but he was born and raised in Australia. He was signed by Philadelphia Phillies scout Kevin Hooker in January 2008. He was 2-1 with a 5.83 ERA for the 2009 GCL Phillies. He was 1-0 with a 6.48 ERA for New South Wales in the Claxton Shield. Released the next spring, he worked out more in Australia, then signed with the Minnesota Twins. The scout was Howard Norsetter. He was 0-1 with a 7.94 ERA and .348 opponent average for the Sydney Blue Sox in the 2010-2011 Australian Baseball League. He was 5-2 with a 5.68 ERA for the 2011 Elizabethton Twins. He tied for fifth in the Appalachian League in wins and tied for 9th with 58 strikeouts.

Todd was the youngest member of the Australian national team in the 2011 Baseball World Cup. He was also their least-used player, only appearing once in the team's 12 games. Used to close out a blowout 14-0 loss to Cuba, he surrendered four runs in 1 1/3 IP, allowing four hits in seven at-bats. He had a 3.32 ERA in 11 games for the 2011-2012 Blue Sox, fanning 25 in 21 2/3 IP. Released by Minnesota, he signed with Corendon Kinheim in the Netherlands. He allowed 3 runs in 9 2/3 IP, giving up 10 hits and a walk while striking out nine. His season was cut short when he dislocated his shoulder playing basketball with Luke Wilkins, a Sydney teammate who was playing in Belgium that summer and visiting the Netherlands at the time.

In 2012-2013, he was 2-3 with a 3.50 ERA for Sydney, striking out 23 in 18 innings. He put up nearly identical numbers in 2013-2014 with another 3.50 ERA and 18 innings, striking out one fewer. He was 0-1 with a save. The Twins signed him, giving him his third shot in the minors. This time, he did much better: 8 Sv, 1.30 ERA, .92 WHIP and 45 K in 34 2/3 IP for the Cedar Rapids Kernels and 1-0, Sv, 1.52, 26 K in 23 2/3 IP for the Fort Myers Miracle.

Van Steensel saw limited work for Sydney in 2014-2015 (2 Sv, 2 R, 10 K in 8 UP). With Fort Myers in 2015, he was 2-4 with 13 saves and a 2.32 ERA, striking out 81 in 66 innings, though his control was worse than 2014 (32 BB). He tied Akeel Morris and Montana DuRapau for 5th in the Florida State League in saves and tied Ulises Joaquin and Evan Mitchell for 3rd with 46 games pitched. Among Twins farmhands, he was 5th in saves and second in pitching appearances (two shy of J.T. Chargois). With the Blue Sox in 2015-2016, he struggled (5 Sv, 6.35 ERA, 8 BB, but 17 K in 11 1/3 IP). He tied fellow Hoofdklasse veteran Loek van Mil for 6th in the loop in saves.

Despite his struggles in the winter, he was picked for Australia in the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. He was one of seven Twins farmhands in the Sydney qualifier; no other MLB team had more than two representatives (the other Twins were fellow Aussies James Beresford, Sam Gibbons, Logan Wade and Aaron Whitefield and South Africans Rowan Ebersohn and Callan Pearce). In his lone outing, he relieved Ryan Rowland-Smith in the 7th against South Africa with a 4-1 lead. He struck out Brandon Bouillon, got Rowan Ebersohn on a grounder and K'd Allan Randall. In the 8th, he retired Gift Ngoepe, Anthony Phillips and Jonathan Phillips in order. Ryan Searle relieved in the 9th. He was 0-1 with 3 saves and a 1.42 ERA for Sydney in 2016-2017. In the 2017 World Baseball Classic, he made one appearance. Relieving Dushan Ruzic with a 7-0 lead in the 7th against China, he retired Weiqiang Meng then Joey Wong singled, as did Ning Li. Van Steensel recovered to whiff Xiaolei Du and got Zhenhong Lu on a grounder before giving way to Tom Bailey.

With the Chattanooga Lookouts that summer, he was excellent at 5-3 with a 1.38 ERA in 36 relief appearances, but never got the call to AAA. He had a rough winter (0-1, Sv, 12.15 ERA in 6 G) for Sydney. Back with the Lookouts in 2018, he was again solid (5-1, 4 Sv, 3.07 in 25 G, 49 K in 44 IP) but again did not move up to AAA and that ended his time in the Twins chain. He was 1-2 with ten saves and a 4.50 ERA for Sydney in the 2018-2019 ABL and led in saves, four ahead of Ryan Chaffee and Tomoya Mikami. He was 3-2 with 16 saves and a 4.33 ERA for the independent St. Paul Saints in 2019. He ranked 6th in the American Association in saves, between Myles Smith and Kyle Halbohn.

In the 2019 Premier 12, he allowed one run in four innings for the Aussies, but walked five. He tied Hyeon-jong Yang and Penn Murfee for second in walks, one behind Yi Chang. He was 4-1 despite a 6.28 ERA for Sydney in the 2019-2020 ABL, striking out 40 in 28 2/3 IP. He tied for 4th in wins, led in appearances (23) and led full-time relievers in strikeouts. He was 1-0 with fives and a 2.31 ERA in the 2020-2021 ABL, now pitching for the Adelaide Giants. He was second to Drew Anderson in saves, two off the pace. In the summer of '21, he was 1-1 with a save and a 4.88 ERA in 26 games for the Mexican League's Mariachis de Guadalajara. He allowed one run in two innings for the Tigres de Aragua that winter in the Venezuelan League when the ABL season was cancelled due to COVID-19.

After not pitching in the summer of 2022, he was 1-2 with five saves and a 4.24 ERA for Adelaide, which won their first title. He tied Daniel McGrath and Connor Higgins for second in saves, six behind James Meeker. He pitched three shutout innings, fanning three, in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. In 2023, he was 1-2 with a 6.48 ERA for the independent Gastonia Honey Hunters. He was 0-1 with ten saves and a 1.72 ERA for Adelaide in the 2023-2024 ABL, leading in saves (two ahead of Carter Hope). He then pitched three shutout innings in the finals, fanning five as Adelaide beat the Perth Heat to defend their title. He was named finals MVP.

Sources[edit]

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