Matt den Dekker

Matt den Dekker

den Dekker with the Washington Nationals
Miami Marlins
Outfielder
Born: (1987-08-10) August 10, 1987
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Bats: Left Throws: Left
MLB debut
August 29, 2013, for the New York Mets
MLB statistics
(through June 9, 2016)
Batting average .236
Home runs 7
Runs batted in 29
Stolen bases 12
Teams

Matthew Gerrit den Dekker[1] (born August 10, 1987) is an American professional baseball outfielder in the Miami Marlins organization. He has played in MLB for the New York Mets and Washington Nationals.

Family and early life

Matt den Dekker was born to Gerrit and LouAnn den Dekker in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.[2][3] He was a high school teammate of Washington Nationals teammate Michael A. Taylor. He has an older brother, Brandon, and a younger sister, Jessica.[1] The den Dekker family traces its roots back to Indonesia, formerly a longtime host to Dutch colonies. Gerrit den Dekker was born in the Netherlands before emigrating by boat with his ten siblings to the United States.[2]

In 2014, Matt married Christine McNamara in Palm Coast, Florida.

Amateur career

Matt den Dekker
Medal record
Men's Baseball
Representing  United States
World University Championship
2008 Brno National team

After his freshman year of high school, den Dekker transferred from Coral Springs Christian Academy to Westminster Academy Christian School in Fort Lauderdale, in order to play outfield and pitch alongside his cousin, Westminster's ace pitcher, Kevin Chapman.[4] den Dekker also played with future Washington Nationals teammate Michael A. Taylor at Westminster when the former was a senior and the latter was a freshman.[5] As a junior, den Dekker finished with a .350 batting average and was named to the Miami Herald's All-Broward County First Team.[6] However, the few college recruiters who showed interest were mostly small schools that wanted him to pitch. Den Dekker's only Division I scholarship offer came from a University of Florida recruiter who had attended Westminster's practices and games only to scout Chapman.[3]

When Chapman signed on to play college baseball for the Florida Gators, den Dekker quickly followed suit.[4] As a freshman, he batted .234/~.324/.418. As a sophomore, den Dekker hit .333/~.413/.507 with 20 steals in 20 tries and 55 runs in 55 games. The center fielder was a first-team All-Southeastern Conference selection as an outfielder. Den Dekker was then chosen for Team USA's college edition. He batted .176/.375/.176 in the 2008 Haarlem Baseball Week; noted for his defense, he made one error and noted for his speed, he was thrown out in his lone attempt (gunned down by Cuban defensive legend Ariel Pestano in the Gold Medal game). Den Dekker batted .227/.292/.409 in the 2008 World University Baseball Championship and did not attempt a steal. In the Gold Medal game, he almost drove in the winner, singling in the 12th, but Tommy Mendonca was gunned down at home by Keijiro Matsumoto.

Den Dekker hit .296/.409/.412 as a junior with 17 steals in 18 tries. He was still rated 92nd overall by Baseball America among prospects entering the 2009 Major League Baseball draft – then was not selected until the 475th overall pick, when the Pittsburgh Pirates selected him in the 16th round. He returned to Florida for his senior year, hitting .358 with a team-leading 64 runs scored and a career-best 49 runs batted in as the Gators reached the 2010 College World Series.

Professional career

New York Mets

den Dekker with the Mets in 2014

After college, den Dekker was selected by the New York Mets in the fifth round of the 2010 Major League Baseball draft. He made his pro debut that summer with the Gulf Coast League Mets, hitting .278 with 5 RBI in 5 games before being promoted to the Savannah Sand Gnats. In 2011, den Dekker played for the St. Lucie Mets and Binghamton Mets. He was invited to spring training in 2012.

In 2013, den Dekker received his third invitation to the Mets Spring training camp. He played in a career high 19 games and posted a .205 batting average as he went 9 for 44 with one home run and seven runs batted in while striking out 16 times. On Sunday, March 24, den Dekker broke his right wrist attempting to make a play on a fly ball hit by Detroit Tigers outfielder Austin Jackson.

On August 27, 2013, the Mets promoted den Dekker to the major leagues.[7] He made his major league debut on August 29.[8] He hit his first MLB home run on September 1, 2013, off Ross Ohlendorf of the Washington Nationals.[9]

Washington Nationals

On March 30, 2015, the Mets traded den Dekker to the Washington Nationals for pitcher Jerry Blevins.[10] On June 26, 2015, den Dekker hit his first home run with the Washington Nationals and the second of his career.[11] He came up with a two-run homer in a tied game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 18, 2015, providing the winning runs for the Nationals.[12]

Den Dekker was optioned to the Syracuse Chiefs at the end of Spring Training on April 1, 2016. He was recalled on April 6 when Ben Revere was placed on the disabled list,[13] and hit a two-run double in his first at-bat of the season.[14] After the Nationals optioned him back to Syracuse later in the season, den Dekker hit just .208 before being taken off the 40-man roster and outrighted to the minors on September 3, 2016.[15]

Miami Marlins

On December 2, 2016, Den Dekker signed a minor league deal with the Miami Marlins.

References

  1. 1 2 "2007 Gator Baseball Newcomer Player Profiles" (PDF). GatorZone.com. Florida Athletics. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  2. 1 2 Arangure, Jr., Jorge (August 9, 2013). "The Mets, Brought to You in ...". New York Times. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  3. 1 2 Callovi, Bobby (February 20, 2009). "Taking Center Stage: After bleak outlook, junior center fielder could live up to major-league dreams". Independent Florida Alligator. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  4. 1 2 Copabianco, Tony (April 3, 2014). "Westminster cousins become professional baseball players". Miami Herald. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  5. ↑ Johnson, Chris (April 1, 2015). "New Nats den Dekker and Johnson have connections all over". Mid-Atlantic Sports Network. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  6. ↑ "Matt den Dekker – 2010 Gator Baseball Roster". GatorZone.com. Florida Athletics. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  7. ↑ "Mets select den Dekker, recall Recker & Carson". New York Mets. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Mets get first peek at den Dekker in MLB debut". New York Mets. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Matt den Dekker hits an upper decker for first career home run". NBCsports.com. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  10. ↑ "MASN News & Information: Nats acquire outfielder Matt den Dekker from Mets". MASNsports. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  11. ↑ Lempert, Jason (June 26, 2015). "Nationals' Matt den Dekker belts two-run home run on Friday". CBS Sports. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  12. ↑ Krest, Shawn (July 18, 2015). "Matt den Dekker hits pinch-hit game-winner for Nationals". CBS Sports. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Nationals put CF Ben Revere on DL; recall Matt den Dekker". Atlanta Journal Constitution. April 6, 2016. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
  14. ↑ Gulizia, Anthony (April 7, 2016). "Nationals outfielder Matt den Dekker comfortable hitting in a pinch". The Washington Times. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
  15. ↑ Wilmoth, Charlie (September 3, 2016). "Minor MLB Transactions: 9/3/16". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved September 5, 2016.

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