Despite the will-they-or-won’t-they drama concerning the 2022 MLB season, a lot has happened during the offseason, and Spring Training has sprung. Jewish Baseball News wishes to welcome you back with abbreviated highlights.

Comings and goings

• OF Joc Pederson signed a one-year contract with the San Francisco Giants. He played for the Chicago Cubs and World Series champion Atlanta Braves in 2021.
• P Richard Bleier extended his Miami Marlins tenure with a 2-year, $6-million deal.
• CF Kevin Pillar, who has played for five franchises since leaving the Toronto Blue Jays after the 2018 season, signed a minor-league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
• C Ryan Lavarnway, who played for Israel in the 2020 Olympics, signed a minor-league contract with the Detroit Tigers. In a recent column penned for the Detroit News, Lavarnway chronicled his crazy love affair with baseball, during which he has “been sent down, traded or released 24 times.”
• P Ryan Sheriff was selected off waivers by the Philadelphia Phillies.
• C Garrett Stubbs joined the Philadelphia Phillies after a late-season trade.
• 2B Ty Kelly, who represented Israel in the 2020 Olympics and last played in the Majors in 2018, has unretired. The 33-year-old signed a minor-league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
• P Zack Weiss signed a minor-league contract with Los Angeles Angels. Weiss’s sole Major League appearance so far was a one-inning outing with the Cincinnati Reds in 2018.
• P Robert Stock, who pitched for four MLB teams from 2018 through 2021, signed a one-year deal with the Doosan Bears of South Korea’s KBO League.
• P Sam Delaplane, a rising star who was felled by Tommy John surgery in 2019, signed a free-agent deal with the San Francisco Giants.
• P Bubby Rossman, who pitched for Israel in the 2021 European Championships but last played minor-league ball in 2016, signed a minor-league deal with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Off-field news

• Brad Ausmus, who managed the Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Angels after completing an 18-year Major League career, is the new bench coach for the Oakland A’s.
• Brad Goldberg, who pitched for the Chicago White Sox in 2017, has joined his hometown Cleveland Guardians organization as a pitching coach.
• Blake Gailen, a former minor leaguer who played for Israel in the 2020 Olympics, was hired by the Los Angeles Dodgers as a rookie-league hitting coach.
• Alon Leichman, who played for Israel in the 2020 Olympics, joined the Seattle Mariners as a Double-A pitching coach.

Honors

• Gabe Kapler was named the National League’s 2022 Manager of the Year after leading the San Francisco Giants to a team-record 107 wins. He is the first Jewish manager to win that award.
• Max Fried, who helped the Atlanta Braves become World Series champs in 2021, became only the third Major League pitcher since 1980 to earn the Silver Slugger and Gold Glove awards in the same season.

New face

• IF Noah Mendlinger, an undrafted free agent who played Single-A ball for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2021, is the most recent addition to Jewish Baseball News’ player list.

College

• Denison University’s baseball team apparently is a magnet for Jewish athletes. Seven Jews are on the school’s Division III baseball team. A mother of one player says the seven teammates plan to make matzoh ball soup together for Passover.

Spring Training

At least 24 Jewish players had participated in Spring Training so far as of April 1. Some highlights:

• 3B Alex Bregman (Houston Astros) leads all Jewish players with a .278 average and 3 doubles.
• 1B Rowdy Tellez (Milwaukee Brewers) is hitting .250 with 2 HRs, a double, 5 RBIs, and a .321 on-base percentage.
• P Scott Effross, who made his MLB debut with the Chicago Cubs in 2021, has hurled 5 shutout innings over 5 games, yielding 2 hits, 2 walks, and a wild pitch while striking out 5.
• In a March 25 win over the Yankees, P Ryan Sherriff and C Garrett Stubbs were battery-mates for the Philadelphia Phillies.
• Among other players with Major-League experience, C Garrett Stubbs (Philadelphia Phillies, OF Joc Pederson (San Francisco Giants), OF Kevin Pillar (Los Angeles Dodgers), C Ryan Lavarnway (Detroit Tigers), P Richard Bleier (Miami Marlins), P Dean Kremer (Baltimore Orioles), P Max Fried (Atlanta Braves), and P Zack Weiss (Los Angeles Angels) all have struggled.
• Two prospects in the Colorado Rockies’ system have performed well. P Noah Davis has tossed 4 hitless innings over 2 games, yielding one walk while striking out 4. And Brandon Gold has thrown two scoreless innings, yielding one hit while striking out one and earning a win.
• Two players who were drafted in 2021 have made Spring Training appearances. 3B Zack Gelof (Oakland Athletics), a 2nd-round pick who was a standout in his first minor-league season, is 1-for-6 with a walk. 3B Noah Medlinger (St. Louis Cardinals), an undrafted free agent, is 1-for-1
• Click here to download an Excel spreadsheet that contains stats through Friday, April 1.

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