Jewish Baseball News

JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Here are your Players of the Day for Friday, Aug. 13, 2010.

It was a memorable day for Jewish pitchers in the minor leagues. Three had lengthy stints in which they gave up one or no runs and racked up multiple strikeouts without giving up a single walk:

• SP David Kopp of the “AA” Springfield Cardinals (St. Louis Cardinals) struck out six and walked none in a 6-1 win over the Corpus Christi Hooks. A 24-year-old out of Clemson, Kopp got roughed-up during a mid-season stint in “AAA”, where he went 0-5 with an 8.63 ERA. He has fared far better with the “AA” Cardinals, going 10-3 with a 3.14 ERA.
• SP Dylan Axelrod of the “A-Advanced” Winston-Salem Dash (Chicago White Sox) gave up just four hits and one earned run over 7 innings, but the Dash gave up three runs in the 8th en route to a 4-3 loss to the Frederick Keys. Axelrod struck out nine batters while walking none. Since being promoted to “AA” earlier this season, Axelrod is 6-2 with a 2.20 ERA and a phenomenal strikeout-to-walk ratio of 68-10.
• RP Jason Markovitz of the “A” Clinton LumberKings (Seattle Mariners) pitched 3 innings of one-hit ball in a 15-4 loss to the Burlington Bees, striking out four and walking none. A 21-year-old who was drafted in the 13th round of the 2010 amateur draft, Markovitz was promoted to the LumberKings after just 11 games with the “A-short season” Everett AquaSox.

Two minor-leaguers hit home runs:

• 2B Jason Kipnis of the “AA” Akron Aeros (Cleveland Indians) went 2/5 with a HR and 2 RBIs in an 11-7 win over the New Britain Rock Cats. A second-round pick in the 2009 amateur draft, Kipnis is batting .333 with 8 HRs and 31 since being promoted to the Aeros mid-season. For the entire season, he is batting .318 with 14 HRs and 62 RBIs.
• 1B Nate Freiman of the “A” Fort Wayne TinCaps (San Diego Padres) hit a three-run HR, accounting for all the TinCaps’ runs in a 3-2 victory over the Lake County Captains. A 6’7″ native of Wellesley, Mass., Freiman has four HRs in his past 10 games and is batting .301 with 14 HRs, 32 doubles and 73 RBIs.

Beset by injuries, Jewish major leaguers have not had much to report lately. But on Friday:

• 3B Danny Valencia of the Minnesota Twins went 2/4 with a ground-rule double and 2 RBIs in a 4-3 win over the Oakland A’s. The 25-year-old rookie is batting .318 but has been in a slump, hitting just .171 over his last 10 games.

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JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Here are your Players of the Day for Thursday, Aug. 12, 2010:

• 2B Jason Kipnis of the “AA” Akron Aeros (Cleveland Indians) scored the winning run in the bottom of the 9th inning for a 3-2 win over the Reading Phillies. A second-round pick in the 2009 amateur draft, Kipnis went 3/5 with a triple and one RBI. His .332 average is high enough to lead the league, but Kipnis — who was promoted to “AA” mid-season — lacks enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting crown.
• C Ryan Lavarnway of the “AA” Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox) went 2/4 with a double and a walk in a 9-2 victory over the Bowie Baysox. In 104 games this season with Portland and the “A-Advanced” Salem Red Sox, Lavarnway is batting a combined .279 with 16 HRs, 84 RBIs, a .378 on-base percentage, and a .460 slugging percentage. As this article points out, the 23-year-old Yale alum has cooled off a bit since a red-hot start in “AA” ball.

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JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Here are your Players of the Day for Tuesday, August 3, 2010:

• A day after going 4/7 in a doubleheader, 2B Jason Kipnis of the “AA” Akron Aeros (Cleveland Indians) went 2/4 with a triple and HR in a 5-1 loss to the Altoona Curve. A 23-year-old out of Arizona State, Kipnis raised his batting average to .337, which would be second-highest in the Eastern League if he had enough at-bats. (He began the 2010 season with the “A+” Kinston Indians.)
• 1B Nate Freiman of the “A” Fort Wayne TinCaps (San Diego Padres) went 3/4 with a double and a walk in a 5-0 win over the Lansing Lugnuts. Freiman, a 6’7″ recruit out of Duke University, is batting .302 with 11 HRs and 65 RBIs in his second minor-league season.
• RP Jeff Urlaub of the rookie-league AZL Athletics (Oakland Athletics) pitched 3 perfect innings and struck out four in a 9-1 loss to the AZL Brewers. A 30th-round pick in the 2010 amateur draft, Urlaub has a 2.84 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 19 innings and just 3 walks.

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JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Here are your Players of the Day for Tuesday, August 3, 2010:

• A day after going 5-for 7 with 2 RBIs, LF Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers smacked three hits and walked once in a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs. Braun’s two-day barrage has lifted his season batting average 12 points to .286.
• 2B Jason Kipnis of the “AA” Akron Aeros (Cleveland Indians) went 2-for-3 and 2-for-4 in double-header losses to the Altoona Curve. Kipnis, a 23-year-old out of Arizona State, drove in two runs and scored and walked once apiece. Since being promoted to “AA” ball earlier this season, he’s batting a sizzling .333 with 6 HRs and 23 RBIs in 180 at-bats. Kipnis leads the Aeros in on-base percentage (.412) and OPS (.940) and is third in slugging percentage (.528).
• Playing as designated hitter, C Charlie Cutler of the “A+” Palm Beach Cardinals (St. Louis Cardinals) went 3-for-3 with 1 RBI and 3 runs scored in a 7-2 win over the Clearwater Thrashers. Since being demoted from “AA” ball earlier this season, the 24-year-old San Francisco native is batting .295 with 1 HR and 17 RBIs in 146 at-bats.

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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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