By Scott Barancik, Editor
The St. Louis Cardinals called up 27-year-old southpaw Ryan Sherriff today for the first time in his 7-year professional career. The Triple-A reliever will fill in a roster opening left by Trevor Rosenthal, who was placed on the 60-day disabled list. (For those wondering: Rosenthal is not Jewish.)
A 28th-round pick in the 2011 amateur draft, Sherriff — who played for Team Israel in the 2017 World Baseball Classic and is the grandson of Holocaust survivors — has had a stellar season so far with the Cardinals’ Triple-A club, going 5-1 with a 3.19 ERA and 6 saves in 7 chances. The Culver City native has given up an average of 0.99 walks and hits per innings, the 4th lowest among Pacific Coast League pitchers with 50+ innings.
“Thank you for the opportunity!” Sherriff wrote on Twitter today. “Its been one hell of a journey for me and i know my dad is watching over me.”
Sherriff will be the third Jewish prospect to make his Major League debut so far in 2017, after Chicago White Sox reliever Brad Goldberg and Atlanta Braves reliever Max Fried. By unhappy coincidence, Goldberg was optioned back to Triple-A yesterday, and Fried — who came to Atlanta straight from Double-A earlier this month — reportedly is being sent to Triple-A today.
The Cardinals (63-62) play the San Diego Padres tonight at 8:15pm ET.
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