Jewish Baseball News

JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Here are the latest developments among Jewish professional baseball players:

MLB

• Boston Red Sox 1B Kevin Youkilis is having a remarkable season. After 68 games, the “Greek god of walks” is hitting home runs and RBIs at the same pace he did last year, walking more, and striking out less. Far less. Consider this: in 136 games last season, Youk struck out 62 percent more often than he walked (125 strikeouts vs. 77 walks). In 2010, he has walked more times (47) than he has struck out (41). “It’s freakish,” Red Sox first-base coach Ron Johnson told the Providence Journal. “It’s really fun to watch. Where he’s come from and where he is now, to lower his strikeout totals and still have the power and drive in the runs and hit over .300, he’s up there with those superstar guys.” Alas, Youkilis probably won’t appear in next month’s All-Star Game. In fan voting through today, he is ranked a distant 4th among American League shortstops.
• Since inserting rookie 1B Ike Davis into the cleanup spot on May 19, the New York Mets have gone 20-9 after a 19-21 start.
• After serving as the ace of the Texas Rangers’ pitching squad in 2009, SP Scott Feldman got off to a disappointing start this season. But he’s begun to right himself lately. In his past four starts, Feldman has won three games, amassed a 3.70 ERA, struck out 19 in 26.67 innings and walked just nine. Feldman pitches tonight (6/21/2010) against the Houston Astros.
• Los Angeles Dodgers C Brad Ausmus, 41, had only four at-bats this season before suffering a back injury that required surgery. But Ausmus — who had never before been on the disabled list — has begun taking batting practice with his teammates and recently caught his first bullpen session.
• Tampa Bay Rays RF Gabe Kapler went on the disabled list June 12 after straining his right hip flexor.
• For the third time this season, the Milwaukee Brewers called OF Adam Stern up from the AAA Nashville Sounds and then sent him back down. The 30-year-old’s initial call-up was a major accomplishment, given that he hadn’t had a major-league at-bat in four years. But Stern went hitless in eight at-bats during his stints with the Brewers this season.

Minors

• The San Diego Padres promoted SP Aaron Poreda to the Portland Beavers, the franchise’s AAA squad. Since arriving, Poreda has pitched 7.33 scoreless innings in four appearances and struck out seven batters. The 23-year-old spent part of last season in the majors, pitching for both the Chicago White Sox and the Padres.
  
• Springfield Cardinals SP David Kopp (AA/St. Louis Cardinals) has been named a Texas League All-Star. Kopp, 24, leads the league with an 8-1 record and has an 3.08 ERA. According to the Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader:

For Kopp, the selection culminates a terrific first half in which he has re-claimed his prospect tag. Kopp underwent a pair of shoulder surgeries in 2008 and 2009, and reached Double-A late last season with little hype. He walked 11 and struck out six in five starts. This year, his line features 45 strikeouts in 69 innings as the right-hander has gone on the attack with a low-90s fastball. The pitch shields his sharp, tight slider from over-use, and managers and scouts are beginning to think of Kopp not in terms of a Double-A pitcher but one with the stuff to reach the majors.

• Reading Phillies RP Michael Schwimer (AA/Philadelphia Phillies) is 5-3 this season and has struck out an impressive 47 batters in 34.67 innings, more than triple the number of batters he has walked (14). “He has good stuff, but he has been a little inconsistent,” Philadelphia Phillies assistant general manager Chuck Lamar told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “He may get a shot by the end of the year to move up to triple-A.”
• The New York Mets recently promoted 2B Joshua Satin to the AA Binghamton Mets. Since arriving, the 25-year-old has hit .320 in six games.
  
• Likewise, the Cleveland Indians moved 2B Jason Kipnis up to its AA squad, the Akron Aeros. Kipnis wasted no time making his mark. After eight games with the Aeros, he is batting .355 with two home runs, three doubles, and an OPS of 1.090.
• Corpus Christi Hooks C Jonathan Fixler (AA/Houston Astros) didn’t take it easy on Frisco RoughRiders SP (and fellow Jew) Richard Bleier this weekend. Fixler, 24, went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs during a 7-1 thrashing of the RoughRiders on Sunday (6/20/2010). Bleier gave up 7 runs and 13 hits in seven innings, and his record fell to 3-6.
  
• The St. Louis Cardinals demoted C Charlie Cutler to its A-advanced farm team, the Palm Beach Cardinals. Cutler had batted just .205 with six RBIs for the AA Springfield Cardinals. But he’s batting .350 after six games with Palm Beach.
• OF Ben Guez took an even bigger fall recently. The Detroit Tigers franchise sent him down from AAA Toledo, where he hit .273 with five RBIs in 66 at-bats, to the Lakeland Flying Tigers (A-advanced).

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JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — If the 2010 MLB All-Star Game were held today, Milwaukee Brewers LF Ryan Braun would once again appear in the National League’s starting lineup.

Braun, a 26-year-old in his fourth MLB season, had the third-highest vote tally among all NL players in 2009 and the most among NL outfielders, more than 4.1-million. He went 0-for-2 in a 4-3 loss to the American League.

As of Wednesday (6/2/2010), Braun again was the leading NL outfielder with 604,675 votes. The 2010 MLB game will be held on Sun., July 13 in Anaheim, Calif.

Unlike last year, however, when three Jews were named All-Stars — Boston Red Sox 1B Kevin Youkilis and SP Jason Marquis, then with the Colorado Rockies, were the other two — Braun may end up being the lone Hebe on the field. That’s because as of Wednesday, Youkilis was ranked fourth among AL first basemen and Texas Rangers 2B Ian Kinsler was ranked 3rd at his position.

No doubt, many rankings will be shuffled in the final weeks of voting. Last year, for example, Kinsler led all AL second baseman in fan votes until the final week, when Boston Red Sox 2B Dustin Pedroia overtook him. Pedroia’s last-minute surge thwarted those who had hoped 2009’s All-Star Game would become the first ever to feature four Jews.

The biggest strike this year against Kinsler — besides missing the first 22 games of the season with an ankle injury and posting mediocre numbers since returning — is that he’s not a New York Yankee. As of Wednesday, Yankee players were ranked first at three positions (1B, 2B, SS) and second at two (3B, C). Moreover, Yankee manager Joe Girardi will have some say in who plays because he will be managing the AL squad.

Want to get out the vote for your favorite Jewish position players? MLB allows each fan to submit as many as 25 times, so click here t0 cast your ballots.

Pitchers are not selected by fans. The Jews you can vote for are:

American League

• 1B Kevin Youkilis
• 2B Ian Kinsler
• OF Gabe Kapler, Tampa Bay Rays (write-in only)

National League

• OF Ryan Braun
• 1B Ike Davis, New York Mets (write-in only)
• C Brad Ausmus, Los Angeles dodgers (write-in only)

Voting 25 times doesn’t take that long. MLB retains your personal info and votes from the previous ballot, so you can do all 25 in about 10 minutes. Fan voting ends on just before midnight on July 1.

— Scott Barancik

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JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Jason Marquis, whose debut with the Washington Nationals this season has marked a low point in his 11-year pitching career, has been placed on the disabled list due to bone chips in his right elbow.

Marquis, a right-handed starter, was put on the team’s 15-day disabled list but may be out as long as six weeks. He is 0-and-3 this season with a bloated 20.52 ERA.

No word on whether the bone chips might have affected his pitching.

Marquis is Jew No. 3 on the disabled list this season. He joins Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Brad Ausmus, who earlier this month went on the list for the first time in his 18-year career, and Texas Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler, who has been on the disabled list since Opening Day.

Kinsler’s recovery took a step forward Monday (Apr. 26) when he played his first game for the AA Frisco RoughRiders, going 0-for-3 with a walk. He’s expected to rejoin the Rangers’ active roster on Friday.

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