J. C. Sulbaran

Who is J. C. Sulbaran?

Juan Carlos Sulbaran is a Dutch baseball player who currently plays in the Kansas City Royals organization and the Dutch national team. He throws a changeup, curveball and fastball.

Sulbaran was voted the best pitcher in the 2004 Latin American Youth Baseball Tournament while playing for the Netherlands Antilles. He came to the United States in 2006 to play high school baseball. He missed most of 2007 because of an injury, though he struck out 24 in 12 innings. In 2008, he went 11-0 with a 1.40 ERA, striking out 88 in 67 innings and allowing 31 hits to help his team to a state championship. The Cincinnati Reds chose Sulbaran in the 30th round of the 2008 amateur draft and was signed to a deal with the Reds on August 14, 2008, with a $500,000 signing bonus which was a record for the 30th round. The deal was negotiated between the Reds and Sulbarans father Jorge Sulbaran.

Sulbaran joined the Netherlands Antilles national baseball team for the 2008 Haarlem Baseball Week and got a no-decision against the Cuban national team. He allowed one hit and one run in 7 innings and struck out 6 but walked 7. The only run was a steal of home by Giorvis Duvergel. The performance earned him a spot on the Dutch squad for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He was the only player on the team who had never appeared for the "Orange" before.