By Scott Barancik, Editor

Here are your minor-league highlights from the week of June 11-17, 2018:

Lavarnway

Jewish Baseball News Hitter of the Week: Ryan Lavarnway*

C Ryan Lavarnway* (Pirates/AAA) hit .438 (7-for-16) last week with 2 HRs, 3 RBIs and a .526 on-base percentage. He has hit safely in 8 straight games.

Lazar

Jewish Baseball News Pitcher of the Week: Max Lazar

• P Max Lazar (Brewers/rookie), a 2017 draftee, had a marvelous season debut on June 15. The 19-year-old righty yielded one hit and one walk over 6 scoreless innings while striking out 5.

Mazel tov

• P Dean Kremer* (Dodgers/High-A) was named to the California League All-Star Game. A dual Israeli-American citizen who pitched for Team Israel in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, Kremer is 5-2 with a 3.39 ERA, a league-leading 99 strikeouts in 66.1 innings, and is holding opposing batters to a .234 average.
• P Matthew Gorst (Red Sox/High-A) was named to the Carolina League All-Star Game. The 2016 draftee is 1-2 with a 1.59 ERA, a perfect 8 saves in 8 chances, and is yielding just 0.95 walks/hits per inning.
• C Scott Manea (Mets/A) was named to the South Atlantic League All-Star Game. He is hitting .243 with 4 HRs, 17 RBIs, a .378 on-base percentage, and has thrown out an extraordinary 17 of 30 attempted base-stealers (56.7%).
• C Michael Barash (Angels/AA) was named to the  Southern League All-Star Game. He is hitting .213 with 3 HRs, 16 RBIs, and a .357 on-base percentage, and has tossed out 8 of 46 attempted base-stealers (17.4%).
• Jeff Urlaub, who had a stellar career as an Oakland Athletics prospect, is the new baseball coach at his alma mater, Horizon High School in Scottsdale, AZ. Urlaub helped Horizon win the 2005 state championship, and the coach he’s replacing is a legend, having served as coach there for the past 38 years.
• Tyger Pederson, brother of Joc Pederson and a former minor-leaguer in his own right, has been named a field manager for the Duluth Huskies, a summer collegiate-league team.
• Former minor leaguer Zach Kapstein is working as a coach in the Chicago White Sox farm system.

Draft update

• P Zack Leban, selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 12th round of the 2018 draft, has been identified as Jewish by Jewish Sports Review. A right-handed closer who had 12 saves for the University of Kansas in 2018, he is the 10th player in the 2018 draft to be identified as Jewish.
• SS Michael Wielansky, selected by the Houston Astros in the 18th round of the 2018 draft, made his professional debut with the franchise’s A-short-season club on June 16.
• P Simon Rosenblum-Larson, selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 19th round of the 2018 draft, made his professional debut with the franchise’s A-short-season club on June 17.

Other highlights

• 1B Rowdy Tellez (Blue Jays/AAA) hit .304 (7-for-23) with 2 HRs, 2 doubles, 5 RBIs, his 4th stolen base, and a .385 on-base percentage.
• LF Zach Borenstein* (Mets/AAA) hit .217 (5-for-23) with 2 HRs, a triple, 6 RBIs and a .357 on-base percentage. His 15 HRs are tied for #4 in the Pacific Coast League, and his 46 RBIs rank #6.
• C Mitchell Kranson (Twins/AA) hit .400 (4-for-10) with an RBI and a walk.
• SS Scotty Burcham* (Rockies/AA) hit .333 (3-for-9).
• RF Rhett Wiseman (Nationals/High-A) hit .320 (8-for-25) with a home run, 2 doubles, 5 RBIs and a .452 on-base percentage.
• 2B Adam Walton (Diamondbacks/High-A) hit .400 (6-for-15) with 4 RBIs and a .438 on-base percentage. He has hit safely in 9 straight games.
• C Jason Goldstein (Oakland/High-A) hit a grand-slam HR on June 13. It was his first home run of the season.
• C Andy Yerzy (Diamondbacks/A-short-season), rated Arizona’s #18 prospect, hit .500 (4-for-8) with 2 doubles, 3 RBIs, and a .556 on-base percentage in his first week of the 2018 season.
• SS Preston Grand Pre (Dodgers/rookie) hit .286 (2-for-7) with 2 doubles in his first week of the 2018 season.
• P Max Fried (Braves/AAA) was dominant in a June 13 win, yielding one earned run on 3 hits and zero walks over 7 innings while striking out a career-high 11 batters.
• P Jeremy Bleich (Athletics/AAA) pitched 3 scoreless innings across 2 games and earned his first save of the season. Bleich yielded one hit and zero walks while striking out 4.
• P Brad Goldberg (Diamondbacks/AA) pitched 2 hitless innings across 2 games, yielding just one walk while striking out 5 and earning his 2nd save in 2 chances.
• P Matthew Gorst (Red Sox)/High-A) pitched 3 hitless innings across 2 games, yielding just one walk while striking out 4 and earning his first win of the season.
• P Jake Fishman (Blue Jays/High-A) tossed 2 hitless innings across 2 games, yielding one walk and striking out 2.
• P Rob Kaminsky (Indians/High-A), making his first appearance since April 2017, pitched 2 scoreless innings across 2 games, yielding a hit and a walk while striking out one.
• P Sam Delaplane (Mariners/A) pitched 2 scoreless innings on June 14, yielding one hit and zero walks while striking out 3. The 2017 draftee is 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA, 3 saves in 4 chances, and 46 strikeouts in 30 innings.
• P Alex Katz* (Orioles/A) pitched a scoreless inning of relief on June 12, yielding one hit and zero walks.

Transactions

• P Rob Kaminsky (Indians/High-A), a 1st-round draft pick in 2013 who has been plagued by injuries in recent years, made his season debut.
• 2B Adam Walton (Diamondbacks/High-A) came off the disabled list on June 12.
• P Spencer Kulman (Padres/rookie) was assigned to San Diego’s rookie-league club.
• P Andy Rohloff (Giants/rookie) was assigned to San Francisco’s rookie-league club.
• SS Preston Grand Pre (Dodgers/rookie) was assigned to the Ogden Raptors, a rookie-league club.
• P Max Lazar (Brewers/rookie) made his season debut with the Helena Brewers, a rookie-league club.
• LF Adrian Spitz (Athletics/A-short-season) made his 2018 debut with Oakland’s short-season club.
• LF Tyler Benson (Padres/rookie) was assigned to the franchise’s rookie-league club.

Free agents

• Former major- and minor-leaguers believed to be seeking employment include Scott Feldman, Elliott Barzilli, Dalton Blumenfeld, Mike Meyers*, Troy Neiman* 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

• 1B Cody Decker (Diamondbacks/AAA, since June 8.
• P Ryan Sherriff (Cardinals/AAA), since May 18. Out for season with Tommy John surgery.
• P Craig Breslow (Blue Jays/AA), since May 2.
• P Zack Weiss (Reds/AAA), since early May.
• P Mitchell Osnowitz (Cardinals/High-A), since April 9.
• P R C Orlan* (Indians/AA).

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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