By Scott Barancik, Editor
With the first official pitch of Opening Day just hours away, we’re taking a look back at Spring Training to see which Jewish athletes played at the MLB level, and how they performed.
Below is an abbreviated table showing the 13 Jews who took MLB swings this Spring. Click here for more complete batting stats.
2016 final MLB spring training stats: Batting
| First | Last | Team | HR | RBI | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan | Braun | MIL | 2 | 5 | .438 | .500 | .875 | 1.375 |
| 2 | Sam | Fuld | OAK | 1 | 6 | .417 | .517 | .625 | 1.142 |
| 3 | Ian | Kinsler | DET | 5 | 18 | .288 | .350 | .654 | 1.004 |
| 4 | Joc | Pederson | LAD | 2 | 6 | .288 | .354 | .441 | .795 |
| 5 | Kevin | Pillar | TOR | 1 | 4 | .263 | .288 | .404 | .692 |
| 6 | Danny | Valencia | OAK | 5 | 13 | .291 | .328 | .636 | .964 |
| 7 | Ike | Davis | TEX | 0 | 1 | .500 | .556 | .500 | 1.056 |
| 8 | Cody | Decker | KC | 3 | 7 | .250 | .346 | .523 | .869 |
| 9 | Nate | Freiman* | ATL | 1 | 3 | .120 | .267 | .240 | .507 |
| 10 | Ryan | Kalish | CHC | 0 | 1 | .182 | .231 | .182 | .413 |
| 11 | Ryan | Lavarnway | ATL | 1 | 4 | .214 | .241 | .357 | .599 |
| 12 | Zach | Borenstein | ARI | 0 | 4 | .303 | .410 | .485 | .895 |
| 13 | Alex | Bregman | HOU | 0 | 1 | .087 | .192 | .087 | .279 |
| Totals | 21 | 73 | .271 | NA | .483 | NA | |||
| * Traded to Nationals |
Highlights:
- Jewish batters hit .271 with 21 HRS and 73 RBIs in 435 at-bats.
- Ian Kinsler and Danny Valencia tied for 11th among all MLB players with 5 HRs apiece.
- Ian Kinsler tied Mike Trout with 18 RBIs, 5th in the Majors.
- Sam Fuld hit .417 before being knocked out by an injury.
- Cody Decker belted 3 HRs and added 3 doubles for a .250 average.
- Zach Borenstein shined in his first full MLB Spring Training, delivering two doubles and two triples while hitting .310 with a .410 on-base percentage.
Next is an abbreviated table showing the 6 Jews who tossed MLB pitches this Spring. Click here for more complete pitching stats.
2016 final MLB spring training stats: Pitching
| First | Last | Team | W | L | ERA | IP | WHIP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scott | Feldman | HOU | 2 | 0 | 4.26 | 12.2 | 1.18 |
| 2 | Jon | Moscot | CIN | 1 | 2 | 8.31 | 8.2 | 1.50 |
| 3 | Craig | Breslow | MIA | 0 | 0 | 2.45 | 7.1 | 0.55 |
| 4 | Josh | Zeid | LAA | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 2.0 | 3.00 |
| 5 | Richard | Bleier | NYY | 0 | 0 | 2.25 | 4.0 | 0.75 |
| 6 | Zack | Weiss | CIN | 0 | 0 | 6.00 | 3.0 | 2.00 |
| Totals | 3 | 2 | 4.78 | 37.2 | 1.25 | |||
| WHIP = Walks and hits per inning pitched |
Highlights:
- Craig Breslow earned a spot on the Miami Marlins’ opening-day roster with a strong Spring performance, giving up no walks and just 4 hits over 7 short appearances.
- Richard Bleier pitched his way onto the New York Yankees’ 40-man roster by delivering a 2.25 ERA with 4 strikeouts and no walks.
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