By Scott Barancik, Editor
Here are your minor-league highlights from the week of April 16-22, 2018:
Jewish Baseball News Hitter of the Week: Zach Borenstein
OF Zach Borenstein* (Mets/AAA) is making a strong case for a call-up this season. Last week, he hit .348 (8-for-23) with a home run, 5 doubles and 6 walks. For the season, he is hitting .323 with 4 HRs, 15 RBIs (tied for 7th in the Pacific Coast League) and a .440 on-base percentage.
Jewish Baseball News Pitcher of the Week: Sam Delaplane
- P Sam Delaplane (Mariners/A), a 2017 draftee, had a banner week, earning 2 saves in two appearances. The 23rd-round pick tossed a total of 1.2 perfect innings, yielding no hits or walks while striking out 4. Delaplane has 12 strikeouts over 5.2 innings this season and just one walk.
Other highlights
- 1B Cody Decker* (Diamondbacks/AAA) hit .333 (6-for-18) with 2 HRs, a double, 4 RBIs and 3 walks. His 6 home runs this season are tied for 3rd in the Pacific Coast League.
- C Scott Manea (Mets/A) hit .250 (4-for-16) with 2 home runs, 3 RBIs and 3 walks. The power surge was unexpected; since being signed as an undrafted free agent in 2016, Manea had hit only one home run.
- C Garrett Stubbs (Astros/AAA) hit .444 (8-for-18) with 3 doubles, 5 RBIs and a stolen base. His .370 season average is tied for 11th in the Pacific Coast League. MLB.com ranks him Houston’s #24 prospect, and so far this season, Stubbs has thrown out 4 of 7 attempted base-stealers.
- 2B Adam Walton (Diamondbacks/High-A) hit .286 (6-for-21) with a home run, 2 doubles, 6 RBIs, 3 walks and 2 stolen bases).
- C Nick Rickles* (Phillies/AAA), who normally squats behind the batter’s box, took the mound on April 17 for the first time as a pro. He pitched a scoreless 9th inning for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, allowing only one runner — a hit batsman — to reach base.
- P Brad Goldberg* (White Sox/AA) pitched 2 scoreless innings across 2 relief appearances, yielding a hit and a walk while striking out 2.
- P Alex Katz* (Orioles/A) pitched a total of 5 innings across 2 appearances, yielding one earned run on 4 hits and 4 walks while striking out 6 and earning a win. He is 1-0 with one save and a 1.80 ERA this season.
- P Dean Kremer* (Dodgers/High-A) was strong in an April 20 start, yielding one earned run on 5 hits and no walks over 5 innings while striking out 8.
- P Kenny Rosenberg (Rays/High-A) earned his first win of the season on April 19. The southpaw yielded 2 earned runs on 7 hits and a walk over 6 innings while striking out 5.
Transactions
- C Jason Goldstein (Oakland/High-A) was assigned to the Stockton Ports.
- P Spencer Kulman (Padres/A-short-season), an undrafted free agent signed by the Padres in 2017, was assigned to the Tri-City Devils.
- P Joey Wagman*, a former minor-leaguer, signed with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the independent Atlantic League.
- P Kenny Koplove, a former minor-leaguer, signed with the Sussex County Miners of the independent CanAm Association.
- P Cory Jones, a former minor-leaguer, signed with the Sussex County Miners of the independent CanAm Association.
- P Marc Huberman, a former minor-leaguer, signed with the Rockland Boulders of the independent CanAm Association.
- C Maxx Tissenbaum, a former minor-leaguer, was released by the Quebec Les Capitals of the independent CanAm Association.
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
- 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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