JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Baseball’s annual “Rising Stars” game will be broadcast on Saturday night (11/6/2010), and this year there’s even more reason than usual to watch.

The 50 minor-leaguers chosen to play in the showcase game include 19 former 1st-round draft picks, and as a group they are considered among the most likely to play MLB ball in 2011. More than half of the contestants in 2009’s Rising Stars game ended up in the Majors in 2010.

What’s more, this year’s squad includes 3 Jewish players:

• SP Josh Zeid. The Philadelphia Phillies prospect recently was named Best Reliever in Class A ball. Currently playing for the Mesa Solar Sox of the prestigious Arizona Fall League, the 6’5″ righty is 3-0 with a 3.86 ERA, 12 strikeouts and just one walk. See his blog here.
• C Ryan Lavarnway. The Boston Red Sox prospect led all Red Sox minor-leaguers with 102 RBIs in 2010. Currently playing for the AFL’s Peoria Javelinas, he is batting .264 with a .412 on-base percentage.
• 2B Jason Kipnis. The Cleveland Indians named him the franchise’s top minor-league player in 2010. Currently playing alongside Ryan Lavarnway on the Javelinas, he is batting .173 but has 3 HRs and 12 RBIs in just 52 at-bats. See his blog here.

OF Ben Guez was not selected to play. The Detroit Tigers prospect is currently batting .308 for the AFL’s Surprise Rafters and is ranked 7th among all AFL players in OPS (1.041), a statistic that combines a player’s on-base percentage and slugging percentage.

The Rising Stars game will be broadcast nationally at 9:00pm ET Saturday night on the MLB Network. It also will be shown online at MLB.com.

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