NORTH PORT (DA) — Chadwick Tromp, a catcher in the Atlanta Braves organization, said during a media scrum that the World Baseball Classic brings a rare clubhouse feel of home for the Netherlands team, with Ozzie Albies joining the group in Miami.
“It’s going to be very fun,” Tromp said, calling this his third time with the Netherlands team. He said 2017 was his first year, and in 2023 the team went to Taiwan.
Tromp said the shared language makes the experience different.
“Because you speak the same language,” Tromp said. “It’s like the one time that you get to get 30 guys in the clubhouse. We all speak Papiamentu. It’s almost like being on the islands.”
Tromp said Andruw Jones will manage the team and Jair Jurrjens, a former Braves player, will serve as bullpen coach.
He also said the opener draws attention because the Netherlands will face Ronald Acuña. Tromp said Acuña has been “chirping” during batting practice, and he joked about how he plans to handle it.
“I told him, I said, I’m going to give him four intentional walks,” Tromp said. “He’s not going to swing the bat. He will not swing the bat. I’m just kidding.”
Tromp said he expects a tough tournament and added the Netherlands carries an underdog mindset into every game.
“We kind of always had the underdog label,” Tromp said. “So we carry that every day.”
For Tromp, the pride also comes from what the roster represents back home. He said Aruba has “like 100,000” people, Curaçao has “like 130,000,” and combining them into one team means “you’re competing against the best in the world.”
Tromp said he hopes kids back home see what’s possible, and that it helps make the baseball program better.