Diego Markwell

Diegomar Raymundo "Diego" Markwell (born August 8, 1980 in Willemstad, Curaçao) is a Curaçaoan former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched for the Netherlands national team in many tournaments. He played in Minor League Baseball for seven seasons and briefly played in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) for the Macoto Cobras in 2007. He also pitched in more than 200 games in the Honkbal Hoofklasse.

Diegomar Markwell
Pitcher
Born: (1980-08-08) August 8, 1980 (age 45) Willemstad, Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles
Batted: Left Threw: Left
CPBL debut
March 21, 2007, for the Macoto Cobras
Last CPBL appearance
2007, for the Macoto Cobras
CPBL statistics
Win–loss record	0–1
Earned run average	14.40
Strikeouts	3
Stats at Baseball Reference
Teams
Macoto Cobras (2007)
Medals Men's baseball Representing  Netherlands Baseball World Cup 2011 Panama City National team Intercontinental Cup 2006 Taichung National team 2010 Taichung National team European Baseball Championship 2005 Prague National team 2007 Montjuïc National team 2010 Stuttgart National team 2014 Brno National team 2016 Hoofddorp National team Haarlem Baseball Week 2016 Haarlem National team World Port Tournament 2013 Rotterdam National team 2015 Netherlands National team France International Baseball Tournament [fr] 2014 Sénart [fr] National team 2016 Sénart [fr] National team

Professional career

Markwell signed with the Toronto Blue Jays on August 8, 1996. He had played as an outfielder as an amateur before pitching professionally. He spent the 1997–2003 seasons in the Blue Jays' minor league system. In his time with Toronto, he appeared for the Low-A St. Catharines Stompers andQueens Kings, Single-A Hagerstown Suns and Charleston AlleyCats, High-A Dunedin Blue Jays, and Double-A Tennessee Smokies^[1] and New Haven Ravens. He signed with the St. Louis Cardinals after the 2003 season, but did not pitch in affiliated baseball again.^[2][3]

After ending his American career, Markwell pitched for Sparta/Feyenoord In the Honkbal Hoofklasse beginning in May 2004. He switched to another Rotterdam team, Neptunus, after that season.^[4] In 2007, Markwell pitched three games for the Macoto Cobras of the Chinese Professional Baseball League. Markwell contained to pitch for Neptunus through May 2023.^[2][5] He won the Hoofklasse's best pitcher award in 2006 and 2018.^[6] He was named the league's best left-handed pitcher in 2005 and 2007 by Honkbalsite.^[7]

International career

Markwell has pitched for the Netherlands national team in many international tournaments. He pitched in the 2004 Summer Olympics, where he and his team finished sixth. He was 0–1 with an 11.37 ERA, pitching in losses to Cuba and Japan.^[8] He also pitched in the 2008 Summer Olympics, with a 4.77 ERA in three games.^[9] He was also on the Dutch team for the Africa/Europe 2020 Olympic Qualification tournament in Italy in September 2019.

Markwell pitched in the first four World Baseball Classic tournaments, from 2006 to 2023, throwing the most combined innings during those tournaments.^[10]

Markwell was on the Dutch roster for the European Baseball Championship in 2005, 2007, 2010, 2014,^[11] 2016,^[12] and 2019, the 2006 and 2010 Intercontinental Cup, 2011 Baseball World Cup, 2013 and 2015 World Port Tournament, 2014 [fr] and 2016 France International Baseball Tournament [fr],^[13][14] 2015 WBSC Premier12,^[15] and 2016 Haarlem Baseball Week.^[16]

After retiring as a player, Markwell was the pitching coach for the Dutch team at the WBSC Premier12 2024.^[17]

Post-playing career

Markwell retired as a pitcher with Neptunus in May 2023. He became a pitching coach for Neptunus and the Netherlands national team.^[5]

Personal life

Markwell's cousin is Andruw Jones.^[1][4]