Jewish Baseball News

JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Scot Drucker has an MLB.com blog, a spirited Twitter feed, and a lot of personality.

But there’s one thing the 28-year-old Toledo Mud Hens (AAA) pitcher doesn’t have anymore: a job.

Drucker reported Monday (3/28/2011) that the Detroit Tigers, the Mud Hens’ parent team, had let him go. With spring training nearly over, the chances of him finding a new team anytime soon seem slim.

Writes Drucker:

Packing your bags in front of everyone is not a pleasant sight. Everyone feels awkward coming up to you apologizing or wishing you the best. You are speechless and don’t know what to really say back. I have played with many great players and friends within the Tigers organization and want to thank them for all the fun times.

In 2010, the Miami native had his worst season since his minor-league debut in 2005, going 4-5 with a 5.61 ERA and an opposing-team batting average of .310.

We hope Scot gets picked up soon. Please tweet him your best wishes.

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JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Here are your Players of the Day for Sunday (8/15/2010):

There are six Jewish players named Jason in minor-league baseball today. Three of them shined yesterday:

• 2B Jason Kipnis of the “AA” Akron Aeros (Cleveland Indians) went 2/2 with a HR, a walk, 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored in a 7-0 drubbing of the New Britain Rock Cats. A second-round pick in the 2009 amateur draft, Kipnis is batting .339 with 9 HRs and 34 RBIs since being promoted to the Aeros mid-season.
• RP Jason Markovitz of the “A” Clinton LumberKings (Seattle Mariners) pitched 2 innings of one-hit ball in a 6-3 win over the Beloit Snappers, striking out three and walking none. A 21-year-old who was drafted in the 13th round of the 2010 amateur draft, Markovitz has a 2.35 ERA over four games since being promoted to the LumberKings.
• SP Jason Knapp of the rookie-league AZL Indians (Cleveland Indians) pitched 4 innings of one-hit ball in a 1-0 heartbreaker to the AZL Rangers. A 19-year-old from Westwood, N.J., Knapp gave up one unearned run and got the loss while lowering his ERA to 1.46.

In other minor-league news:

• OF Ben Guez of the “AAA” Toledo Mud Hens (Detroit Tigers) went 1/3 with a home run, a walk and 3 RBIs in a 7-4 win over the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees. Guez, 23, is batting .261 with 8 HRs and 27 RBIs  since being promoted to “AAA” ball mid-season. He is a teammate of RP Scot Drucker, a fellow Hebe.

Finally, over in the MLB:

• B Danny Valencia of the Minnesota Twins went 3/4 with a double and turned a key double play in a 4-2 win over the Oakland A’s. The 25-year-old rookie boosted his batting average to .329.
• LF Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers continued his hot streak at the plate, going 3/5 with a double and run scored in a 6-5 loss to the Colorado Rockies. Braun has hit .382 in his past 10 games but driven in just 2 runs.

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JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Here are your Players of the Day for Saturday (8/14/2010):

• LF Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers went 3/5 with two doubles and scored the winning run in a 5-4 victory over the Colorado Rockies. A 26-year-old in his fourth major-league season, Braun has hit .394 in his last 10 games, boosting his average to .289.
• RP Scot Drucker of the “AAA” Toledo Mud Hens (Detroit Tigers) pitched two innings of one-hit ball in a 7-3 loss to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, striking out two and walking none. A 28-year-old in his fifth minor-league season, Drucker is 4-5 with a 5.69 ERA, 59 strikeouts and 26 walks.
• 2B Josh Satin of the Binghamton Mets (AA) hit his third home run in four games en route to an 11-9 win over the Reading Phillies. Since being promoted to “AA” mid-season, Satin is batting .325 with  a .417 on-base percentage and .485 slugging percentage. His recent home-run prowess is sudden: in his first 52 games with Binghamton this year, Satin had just one dinger.
• C Ryan Lavarnway of the “AA” Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox) went 3/5 with one RBI in a 6-5 victory over the Richmond Flying Squirrels. Lavarnway opened the 10th and final inning with a single; a teammate sent in to pinch-run for him scored the winning run. Since being promoted to “AA” ball, the 23-year-old Yale recruit is batting .271 with 2 HRs and 22 RBIs in 96 at-bats.
• SS Jake Lemmerman of the rookie-league Ogden Raptors (Los Angeles Dodgers) went 3/5 with a double and 1 RBI in a 7-5 victory over the Idaho Falls Chukars. A 21-year-old recruit from Duke University, Lemmerman is ranked 1st in the Rookie Pioneer League in doubles (19), 5th in on-base percentage (.413), and 6th in batting average (.351) and slugging percentage (.539).
• SP Joshua Zeid of the “A” Lakewood BlueClaws (Philadelphia Phillies) struck out 7 and walked none in a 6-2 win over the Delmarva Shorebirds. A 23-year-old in just his second year of minor-league ball, Zeid has struck out 91 batters in 88-and-2/3 innings but walked only 23. He has a 6-4 record and a 2.74 ERA. (PhuturePhillies.com has an interesting interview with Zeid.)

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JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — New York Mets 1B Ike Davis was the first Jewish player called up from AAA this season. Who will be the second?

You’d have to know a lot more about MLB depth charts than I do to make a truly educated guess. Being psychic helps, too; unexpected injuries often are the catalyst for calling up a player. (Mets 1B Daniel Murphy’s injury helped bring Ike Davis to Queens, for example.)

But player performance obviously matters, too. Here’s how AAA Jews are doing through Wednesday’s (5/5/2010) games:

• Scot Drucker, 27, relief pitcher with the Toledo Mud Hens (Detroit Tigers). Has a 2-and-1 record with 1 save, 9 walks, 13 strikeouts and a 1.83 ERA.
• Sam Fuld, 28, left fielder with the Iowa Cubs (Chicago Cubs). Batting .179 with 1 RBI and a .333 on-base percentage.
• Ben Guez, 23, center fielder with the Toledo Mud Hens (Detroit Tigers). Batting .128 with 2 RBIs and a .244 OBP.
• Jason Hirsh, 28, starting pitcher with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (New York Yankees). Has a 2-and-3 record with 12 walks, 17 strikeouts and a 3.06 ERA.
• Adam Stern, 30, left fielder with the Nashville Sounds (Milwaukee Brewers). Batting .227 with 1 RBI and a .292 OBP.
• Josh Whitesell, 28, first baseman with the Syracuse Chiefs (Washington Nationals). Batting .253 with four homers, 18 RBIs and a .377 OBP.

As a whole, Jews aren’t exactly tearing up AAA. The player closest to being on a hot streak these days is Hirsh, a former Houston Astro and Colorado Rockie who has pitched two consecutive one-hitters, including this near no-hitter.

I hadn’t noticed until today, but AAA is a little less Jewish these days. The Columbus Clippers (San Francisco Giants) released left fielder Brian Horwitz, 30, in late April.

— Scott Barancik