Gift Ngoepe signs minor league deal with Phillies

Cape Town - South Africa's Gift Ngoepe has signed a minor league contract with the Major League Baseball (MLB) club, the Philadelphia Phillies.

The 29-year-old from Randburg also received an invitation to attend the Phillies spring training as a non-roster invitee.

Spring training for the Philadelphia Phillies begin on February 22 with the MLB season set to get underway on March 28.

If Ngoepe impresses at spring training, he could return to the big leagues this season.

In 2017, Ngoepe made history by becoming the first ever African-born player to appear in a MLB game.

The South African infielder previously played for MLB outfits Pittsburgh Pirates and Toronto Blue Jays.

Last year, Ngoepe competed in the Australian Baseball League where he played in 30 games for the Sydney Blue Sox.

In his two-year MLB stint, Ngoepe has scored 6 RBIs (runs batted in), 13 hits and has failed to score a home run.

#Phillies have signed the following three players to minor league contracts with invitations to attend major league spring training as non-roster invitees:

Gift Ngoepe, INF
Edward Paredes, LHP
Andrew Romine, INF pic.twitter.com/o9szo1MO0j

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) January 12, 2019

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New team, same goals ??

A post shared by Gift Ngoepe (@mgngoepe) on Jan 12, 2019 at 7:15am PST