Baseball United to introduce 8 prospects at All-Star Showcase Series in Dubai

DUBAI: Dubai-based Baseball United, the first-ever professional baseball league focused on the Middle East and Indian Subcontinent, have announced the eight baseball prospects who will compete alongside the league’s top players at the Baseball United All-Star Showcase in Dubai this week.

The inaugural event will feature the Baseball United West All-Stars versus the East All-Stars in a two-game series at Dubai International Stadium on Friday, Nov. 24 and Saturday, Nov. 25.

These eight prospects include players from the Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Ugandan, and Palestinian baseball national teams. They are the first set of prospects announced by Baseball United and will be part of the league’s planned “Super 16” prospect group that will compete in league events next year.

The West All-Stars will include Saurabh Gaikwad (21 years old), right-handed pitcher out of Satara, India; Akshay More (19), right-handed pitcher out of Pune, India; and Akshay Mogal (22), infielder out of Nashik, India. Gaikwad and More are considered the nation’s best pitchers, with fastballs topping 90 MPH and several years of experience on the Indian national team, as well as at their university, Lovely Professional University in Punjab.

The West All-Star team will also include Palestinian national baseball team captain, Yunis Halim (26). Halim was the team’s Most Valuable Player at their recent second-place finish at the West Asia Cup in Islamabad, Pakistan, and also played two years of American college baseball at Chicago State University. Halim’s parents were born in Palestine and immigrated to Oak Lawn, Illinois just before he was born.

The East All-Stars will include Syed Mohammed Shah (20), infielder from Lahore, Pakistan; Wahid (19),