Welcome to the International Beat newsletter. I'm MLB.com's Michael Clair and I'm glad you're here. |
|
|
The MLB Draft is over, the All-Star Game is behind us, and all that’s left is three glorious (and steaming hot) months as we fly toward the World Series and next year’s World Baseball Classic. While we have the future on the brain, let’s look at nine notable international players who were selected at the MLB Draft. Usually, players born outside the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada are signed as amateur players, often as young as 16 years old – hence the international signing deadline every January. However, with many federations and programs looking to high school and college as a way for their players to both develop on the field, pick up high-end baseball skills and knowledge, and get an education, there are plenty of ballplayers from all over the world to be found in the MLB Draft. Now, we won’t be doing any detective work, trying to figure out which players may have backgrounds from outside the U.S. or might be eligible for World Baseball Classic teams. Instead, we’ll simply be looking at birthplace. With that longwinded preamble out of the way, here’s our list: 1. Charles Davalan - Canada Pick 41, Los Angeles Dodgers Entering his senior year of high school, Davalan’s family made the best choice for the young ballplayer’s career: They packed up their things from Montreal, Canada, and moved down to Florida so Davalan could focus on baseball.
The decision paid off: The 5-foot-9 infielder-turned-outfielder’s senior high school season attracted scouts and earned him a spot at FGCU. He then transferred to Arkansas where he hit .346/.433/.561 as a do-it-all top-of-the-lineup threat. I spoke to Davalan before the Draft, where he compared his game to Corbin Carroll’s. He also noted that while he has never represented Canada internationally before, it’s something he’s interested in the future.
|
|
|
Charles Davalan runs the bases. Image courtesy Arkansas Athletics |
|
|
2. Brent Iredale - Australia Pick 203, Pittsburgh Pirates Hailing from New South Wales in Australia, Iredale could be the next big Aussie star after Travis Bazzana went first overall last year. Iredale first broke out at New Mexico Junior College before making a star turn at Arkansas alongside Davalan this past season. Blessed with some of the highest exit velos in the Draft, Iredale’s bat would look mighty nice in a big league lineup one day. Iredale wasn’t the only Australian selected: Kailen Hamson, out of the University of the Cumberlands, was taken by the Orioles in the eighth round. 3. Gustavo Melendez - Puerto Rico Pick 113, Pittsburgh Pirates Puerto Rico is famed for its shortstops, with Francisco Lindor, Carlos Correa and -- until he moved to center field and picked up a 2025 All-Star selection -- Javier Báez all lining up at the six for big league clubs. The pipeline has dried up recently, but as reported by MLB Pipeline, Melendez might change that, with the “chance to be the best shortstop to come from the island since [Edwin] Arroyo was selected by the Mariners in Round 2 of the 2021 Draft.” 4. Tyriq Kemp - Netherlands Pick 188, Kansas City Royals After playing for two seasons at Western Oklahoma State College, Kemp transferred to Baylor for the past two years. He finished his senior season with a .358 average and seven home runs, earning All-Big 12 First Team and the 2025 ABCA/Rawlings All-Central Region First Team honors. He’s already appeared at the U-18 and U-23 level for the Netherlands, while his older brother, Dwayne, has been a mainstay on the Netherlands national team and in Holland’s Honkbal Hoofdklasse. |
|
|
Tyriq Kemp makes the throw to first. |
5. Wallace Clark - Great Britain Pick 273, Arizona Diamondbacks Born in London, Clark could be Team GB’s shortstop of the future. After a strong showing in the Cape Cod League in 2024, Clark took a step forward at Duke in his senior season. The infielder slashed .307/.478/.507 with nine home runs. Clark has already represented Great Britain in international play, too, hitting .280 with four RBIs and three doubles at the U-23 Baseball World Cup in ‘24. 6. Ryan Wideman - Spain Pick 99, San Diego Padres Only one player on Spain’s 2025 World Baseball Classic Qualifier roster – pitcher Jorge Balboa – was born in Spain. Perhaps outfielder Ryan Wideman could double that number next time. The son of former Clemson basketball center Tom Wideman, Ryan was born in Spain while his father was playing basketball professionally overseas. The Conference USA player of the year, Wideman is considered “one of the toolsiest and more physical college players” taken in the Draft. 7. Micah Bucknam - New Zealand / Canada Pick 112, Toronto Blue Jays Bucknam now joins Phillies prospects Kyle Glogoski and Nikau Pouaka-Grego as the only New Zealand-born players in affiliated baseball. But Bucknam is an interesting case: While he was born in New Zealand, he grew up in British Columbia, Canada. Drafted by the Blue Jays as a 16th-round pick in 2022, the team snagged him again in the fourth round this time around. A hard-throwing power pitcher, Bucknam’s best pitch is a slider that sits 85-88 mph, but can reach 91. 8. Will Hynes - Canada Pick 70, Cleveland Guardians It was a strong Draft for Canadians as Will Hynes becomes the latest Ontario-native plucked out of high school. He performed well for the Junior National Team in April before a strong senior high school season elevated him in the Draft. He throws his fastball 94-95 mph and his “high-spin slider will register 2,700 rpm and elicits good swing-and-miss.” 9. Itsuki Takemoto Pick 560, Athletics Takemoto was listed as a pitcher when he was selected, but was a two-way player throughout his career at the University of Hawaii. Takemoto posted a 5.15 ERA across two seasons in Hawaii, striking out nearly a batter per inning along the way, while slashing .263/.311/.343 at the plate. He’s already found a fair amount of success in Japan: Takemoto’s high school team won the famous Summer Koshien – arguably the biggest sporting event in Japan – in 2021. |
Itsuki Takemoto takes a hack. |
|
|
Last year, I put together an All-World roster, which we’ll do again when the season is over! At the halfway point of the season, let’s take a quick peek at who could be manning spots on the team at the end of the year. The rules remain the same: The player must have been born outside the United States (As Puerto Rico has its own World Baseball Classic team, we are counting P.R., too). One more wrinkle: Each country/territory can only be represented once. Here’s the midseason All-World All-Stars: C: Miguel Amaya - Panama 1B: Jonathan Aranda - Mexico 2B: Jazz Chisholm Jr. - Bahamas SS: Francisco Lindor - Puerto Rico 3B: José Ramírez - Dominican Republic LF: Sal Frelick - Italy CF: Ceddanne Rafaela - Curaçao RF: Ronald Acuña Jr. - Venezuela SP: Nick Pivetta - Canada RP: Aroldis Chapman - Cuba DH: Shohei Ohtani - Japan |
|
|
WORLDWIDE FUN Bobbleheads are going worldwide! The Paderborn Untouchables of the Deutsche Baseball Liga (formerly the Baseball Bundesliga) will soon be dropping a bobblehead for team legend Octavio Medina. It’s the second bobblehead given out by the team – a sight rarely seen outside of Major and Minor League Baseball. Baseball-Reference credits Medina with a .453/.545/.701 slash across 17 seasons. |
Octavio Medina poses with his bobblehead. Photo courtesy Sascha Hermann. |
PLAYER OF THE MONTH: MAREK CHLUP Some great (and depressing) news for the Czech Republic this month: You may remember when star outfielder Marek Chlup, who doubled against Roki Sasaki in the World Baseball Classic last year, signed a development deal with the NPB’s Yomiuri Giants. After showcasing good power, speed, and defense for the farm club, he was called up by the Giants last week to make his NPB debut, becoming the first European-developed position player to reach the NPB. Unfortunately, after going hitless in two games, it was found that Chlup had a broken hamate bone which will require surgery. This could mean the end of his NPB season, though he should hopefully be healthy in time for the World Baseball Classic. In some brighter news, fellow Czechia national teammate Martin Červenka, who nearly became the first Czech-born player to reach the Major Leagues, smashed four home runs against Italy during Prague Baseball Week. Not just that, but he pulled off the home run cycle, too. Click here to see the video.
|
Marek Chlup at the 2023 World Baseball Classic. |
|
|
FORWARDED FROM A FRIEND? SUBSCRIBE NOW |
|
|
To subscribe to International Beat, visit this page and mark "International Beat" from our newsletter list. For tips, hints, or just to talk about international baseball, find me @michaelsclair on X/Twitter and IG or email me at Michael.Clair@MLB.com. |
|
|
© 2025 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. MLB trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com. Any other marks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners.
Please review our Privacy Policy.
You (michaelsclair@gmail.com) received this message because you registered to receive commercial email messages or purchased a ticket from MLB.
Please add info@marketing.mlbemail.com to your address book to ensure our messages reach your inbox. If you no longer wish to receive commercial email messages from MLB.com, please unsubscribe or log in and manage your email subscriptions.
Postal Address: MLB.com, c/o MLB Advanced Media, L.P., 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
|
|
|
|
