By Scott Barancik, Editor
Here are your minor-league highlights from the week of May 22-28, 2017. Members of Team Israel’s 2017 squad are marked with an asterisk:
Jewish Baseball News Hitter of the Week: Nate Freiman*
1B Nate Freiman*, a former Major Leaguer playing for Pericos de Puebla of the Mexican League, hit .471 (8-for-17) with 2 HRs, a double, triple, 5 RBIs, 7 walks and only one strikeout. Freiman is hitting .316 for the season and ranks second on Pericos with a 1.033 OPS.
Jewish Baseball News Pitcher of the Week: Kenny Rosenberg
- P Kenny Rosenberg (Rays/A) was dominant in a May 26 shutout, yielding just 3 hits and a walk while striking out 7 for his first win of the season. Rosenberg’s ERA (4.21) is its lowest since his first appearance of the season.
Other highlights
- C Ryan Lavarnway* (Athletics/AAA) had a memorable day on May 28. In the first game of a doubleheader, the former Major Leaguer threw his first professional pitches, coming on with the bases loaded and two outs in the 7th and inducing an inning-ending groundout on 2 pitches. In game 2, Lavarnway returned to the catcher’s role and stroked a walk-off hit (see video).
- C Michael Barash (Angels/High-A) hit .381 (8-for-21) with 4 doubles, a HR, 6 RBIs and 2 walks. Barash leads the Inland Empire 66ers with 11 doubles.
- CF Braden Bishop (Mariners/High-A) hit .412 (7-for-17) with a triple, one RBI, and five walks. The 2015 draft pick leads the Modesto Nuts in average (.320), on-base percentage (.423) and OPS (.857).
- LF Mike Meyers* (Red Sox/High-A) hit .444 (8-for-18) with a HR, 2 doubles, 5 RBIs, 2 walks and a stolen base.
- 1B Rowdy Tellez (Blue Jays/AAA) hit .429 (9-for-21) with 3 doubles, a triple, 6 RBIs, a walk and a stolen base. After hitting .194 in April, Tellez is hitting .278 in May with 14 RBIs and a .352 on-base percentage.
- LF Jake Thomas (Blue Jays/A) hit just .227 (5-for-22), but that doesn’t tell the whole story. The 2015 draft pick also drove in 5 runs, drew 6 walks, and stole 4 bases in 5 tries.
- P Ryan Sherriff* (Cardinals/AAA) was perfect in 2 relief appearances, yielding no hits or walks across 3 combined innings while striking out 3. Sherriff’s ERA in May is 2.03, versus 6.52 in April. For the season, he is giving up just 1.13 walks and hits per inning.
- P Brandon Gold (Rockies/A) has given up a lot of hits this season (59 in 43 innings), but he’s stingy with walks, yielding just 6 while fanning 42 batters.
- P Brad Goldberg* (White Sox/AAA) trimmed his season ERA to 2.08 with two scoreless appearances, yielding 3 hits and a walk across 3 combined innings while striking out 4.
- P Matthew Gorst (Red Sox/A) pitched 3.1 scoreless innings across 2 outings, yielding 2 hits and no walks while fanning 3.
- P Jared Lakind* (Pittsburgh/AA) pitched 5 scoreless innings across 2 games, giving up 4 hits and no walks while striking out 4 and notching his first win of the season.
- P Joey Wagman* (Oakland/High-A) pitched 3.1 scoreless innings across 2 appearances, yielding 2 hits and a walk while striking out 3.
Transactions
- P Gabe Cramer* (Royals/High-A) was placed on the disabled list.
- P Robert Stock (Reds/AA) was promoted to Double-A.
- 1B Ike Davis* (Dodgers/AAA) was placed on the disabled list.
Free agents
- Players believed to be seeking employment include former major leaguer Sam Fuld* and minor leaguers Michael Fagan, Alec Grosser, Henry Hirsch, Raul Jacobson, Kenny Koplove and Zack Thornton*.
Disabled list
- P Gabe Cramer* (Royals/High-A).
- 1B Ike Davis* (Dodgers/AAA).
- C Adam Sonabend (Giants/AA)
- P Jon Moscot (Reds/AAA). Elbow.
- P Zack Weiss (Reds/AA). Elbow.
- P Jake Drossner (Brewers/A).
- P Rob Kaminsky (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.
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