By Scott Barancik/Jewish Baseball News
Spring Training 2012 is in its second week, and a number of Jewish players are in the mix.
Fifteen Jews — including 6 pitchers and 9 position players — were invited to participate in Major League Baseball’s annual rite this year. They include all 13 who played MLB ball in 2011, plus former major league OF Ryan Kalish (Boston Red Sox) and current minor league P Brett Lorin (Arizona Diamondbacks). Fourteen of the 15 are on their teams’ 40-man roster. P John Grabow, who recently signed a minor-league contract with the Los Angeles dodgers, is the lone non-roster invitee.
The Boston Red Sox have the highest Jewish population of any team at Spring Training, with three players, followed by the Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Mets, and Texas Rangers, each with two.
Through games played March 10, Jewish batters were hitting a combined .253, with 2 HRs and 10 RBIs in 75 at-bats (see table below). New York Mets 1B Ike Davis led the group with a .400 average and .500 on-base percentage. Minnesota Twins 3B Danny Valencia showed some power with a HR, two doubles, and a .357 average. National League MVP Ryan Braun was off to a slow start, with four strikeouts and just one hit in his first 8 at-bats, a home run.
Boston’s Kalish, who had off-season surgery on his neck and left shoulder, isn’t expected to play until June.
Jewish pitchers were playing admirably well. Five of the six hadn’t yielded a single run through March 10. Texas Rangers starter Scott Feldman, for example, gave up just two hits and a walk over five total innings while striking out three. Jason Marquis, a newly-minted Minnesota Twin, was the sole disappointment. He blew his first start by giving up 4 earned runs and 3 walks to the Red Sox before being removed in the 2nd inning. His second start, against the St. Louis Cardinals, was modestly better: Marquis gave up 1 earned run on 3 hits and 2 walks over 3 innings.
Following are player stats through games played March 10:
| Batter | Team | Pos | AB | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | |
| 1 | Ike Davis | NYM | 1B | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .400 | .500 | .500 |
| 2 | Danny Valencia | MIN | 3B | 14 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | .357 | .357 | .714 |
| 3 | Josh Satin | NYM | 2B | 12 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | .250 | .308 | .250 |
| 4 | Kevin Youkilis | BOS | 3B | 9 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | .222 | .364 | .333 |
| 5 | Ian Kinsler | TEX | 2B | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .214 | .214 | .214 |
| 6 | Ryan Lavarnway | BOS | C | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | .200 | .286 | .200 |
| 7 | Ryan Braun | MIL | LF | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | .125 | .222 | .500 |
| 8 | Sam Fuld | TB | OF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| 9 | Ryan Kalish | BOS | OF | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| TOTALS | 75 | 19 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 20 | .253 | – | – |
| Player | Team | W | L | ERA | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | |
| 1 | Scott Feldman | TEX | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Craig Breslow | ARI | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Brett Lorin | ARI | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Michael Schwimer | PHI | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 | Jason Marquis | MIN | 0 | 1 | 9.64 | 4.2 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| 6 | John Grabow | LAD | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| TOTALS | 1 | 1 | – | 16.3 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 12 |
To track the performance of Jewish players during Spring Training, check the Jewish Box Score on our home page every day.
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