By Scott Barancik, Editor
Here are your minor-league highlights from the week of May 7-13, 2018:
Jewish Baseball News Hitter of the Week: Nick Rickles*
C Nick Rickles* (Phillies/AAA) hit .714 (5-for-7) last week with 2 HRs, 2 RBIs and a walk, with both home runs coming on May 9. He is hitting .314 this season and was the subject of two recent articles: one on his improved hitting, and another on his social-media prowess.
Jewish Baseball News Pitcher of the Week: Scott Effross
P Scott Effross (Cubs/AA) pitched 4 scoreless innings across 2 games, yielding 2 hits and no walks while striking out 7.
Other highlights
- C Garrett Stubbs (Astros/AAA) hit .444 (4-for-9) with a double, triple and 2 RBIs. He is hitting .358 this season and has thrown out 7 of 14 attempted base-stealers.
- C Ryan Lavarnway* (Indians/AAA) hit .571 (4-for-7) with 3 doubles and a walk. So far this season he has retired 3 of 4 attempted base-stealers.
- SS Scott Burcham* (Rockies/AA) went 3-for-4 on March 10 with a home run, double and 2 RBIs. Since making his Double-A debut on May 5, he is hitting .375 with a .474 on-base percentage and 1.161 OPS.
- 2B Adam Walton (Diamondbacks/A) hit .556 (5-for-9) with a double, 2 RBIs and 2 walks.
- C Scott Manea (Mets/A) hit .533 (8-for-15) with a home run, 2 doubles, 5 RBIs and a walk. He leads the Columbia Fireflies in batting average (.319), on-base percentage (.484) and slugging percentage (.528) and has thrown out 11 of 17 attempted base-stealers.
- RF Rhett Wiseman (Nationals/High-A) hit .286 (6-for-21) with 2 HRs, a double, 5 RBIs and 2 walks. Both home runs came on May 10.
- P Jeremy Bleich* (Athletics/AAA) pitched 3 scoreless innings across 2 games, yielding 3 hits and a walk while striking out one.
- P Sam Delaplane (Mariners/A) pitched 2 scoreless innings on May 10, yielding a hit and a walk while striking out 3.
- P Alex Katz* (Orioles/A) pitched 3.1 scoreless innings across 2 games, yielding one hit and 3 walks while striking out 6.
Transactions
- P Ryan Sheriff (Cardinals/AAA) was optioned to Triple-A.
Free agents
- Former major- and minor-leaguers believed to be seeking employment include Scott Feldman, Elliott Barzilli, Dalton Blumenfeld, Mike Meyers*, Troy Neiman*, Adam Sonabend, Maxx Tissenbaum and Jeremy Wolf.
- Ike Davis*, a former major leaguer who tried to reinvent himself as a pitcher in 2017, is rumored to have retired, but this is unconfirmed.
Disabled list
- P Craig Breslow (Blue Jays/AA), since May 2.
- C Mitchell Kranson (Twins/High-A), since April 15.
- P Mitchell Osnowitz (Cardinals/High-A), since April 9.
- P R C Orlan* (Indians/AA).
- P Rob Kaminsky (Indians/AA), since April 5.
Note to readers: Minor-League Monday does not include stats for all current Jewish minor-leaguers. Click here for a complete list of players, and then click on a player’s name to be taken to his stat page.
Members of Team Israel’s 2017 squad are marked with an asterisk.
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