POTD: Valencia, Braun, Stern, Lavarnway, Kipnis, Satin, Lemmerman

August 28, 2010 (Saturday)

JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Here are your Players of the Day for Wednesday (8/25/2010):

No Jewish pitchers played in the majors or minors. Here’s how our batters did:

Rookie 3B Danny Valencia of the Minnesota Twins went 1/3 with a 2-run triple — his first MLB three-bagger — and a walk in a 6-3 defeat of the Seattle Mariners. A mid-season call-up from “AAA” ball, Valencia is batting .325, tops among AL rookies. He is third among rookie is on-base percentage (.371) and slugging percentage (.438).
LF Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers went 1/4 with a two-run double in a 7-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The double was his 34th of the season, 4th highest in the NL. Braun is batting .293 with 18 HRs and 77 RBIs.
LF Adam Stern of the “AAA” Nashville Sounds (Milwaukee Brewers) extended his hitting streak to 10 games, going 3/5 with 2 doubles and a run scored in a 10-3 loss to the New Orleans Zephyrs. According to this article, Stern is hitting a league-best.375 since July 1. He is batting .329 for the season.
C Ryan Lavarnway of the “AA” Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox) blasted a 3-run HR and walked twice in a 5-1 win over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. The home run was Lavarnway’s 4^th in the past 5 games. In a season split between Portland and the “A-Advanced” Salem Red Sox, Lavarnway is batting a combined .288 with 21 HRs, 92 RBIs, a .391 on-base percentage and .493 slugging percentage.
2B Jason Kipnis of the “AA” Akron Aeros (Cleveland Indians) singled and drew a bases-loaded walk in a 5-2 win over the Erie SeaWolves. A 2^nd-round pick in the 2009 amateur draft, Kipnis is batting .326 with 9 HRs and 38 RBIs since being promoted to the Aeros mid-season. He leads the team in on-base percentage (.405) and ranks 3^rd in slugging percentage (.516) and on-base plus slugging (.921).
2B Josh Satin of the “AA” Binghamton Mets (New York Mets) reached base three times (single, walk, hit-by-pitch) and drove in the Mets’ lone run in a 9-1 plundering by the Reading Phillies. In a season split between Binghamton and the “A+” St. Lucie Mets, Satin is batting a combined .322 with 11 HRs, 38 doubles, 73 RBIs and a .410 on-base percentage.
SS Jake Lemmerman of the rookie-league Ogden Raptors (Los Angeles Dodgers) went 3/5 with two runs scored in a 6-3 win over the Great Falls Voyagers, raising his batting average to .360, second-best in the league. The top Jewish pick in the 2010 draft (5^th round, 172^nd overall), Lemmerman has 7 HRs, 22 doubles, 35 RBIs and an OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) of .993 in 225 at-bats. He has scored a league-best 59 runs.