Here is your summary for the week of November 1-7, plus other news and stats from the 2021 season
World Series
- Max Fried (Braves) tossed 6 shutout innings on November 2, leading Atlanta to a 7-0 win over the Houston Astros — and the club’s first World Series championship since 1999. Fried yielded 4 hits and zero walks while striking out 6.
Mazel tov
- For the second season in a row, P Max Fried (Braves) has received the N.L. Gold Glove award, issued to the best-fielding player at each position. Click here to see a few examples of Fried’s glove work.
Stats to share: World Series
- With his Game 6 win, Max Fried (Braves) became the fourth Jewish pitcher in MLB history to win the deciding game in a World Series. According to historian Bob Wechsler, Fried is preceded by Ken Holtzman (Athletics, 1973), Sandy Koufax (Dodgers, 1963 and 1965), and Larry Sherry (Dodgers, 1959). Sherry, who pitched alongside Koufax in the 1959 World Series, went 2-0 with 2 saves and was named World Series MVP.
- Fried’s performance in Game 6 left him in rare company. According to JBN reader Dean R., Dodgers legend Sandy Koufax is the only other Jewish pitcher in MLB history to toss 6 or more shutout innings in a World Series game. Koufax tossed back-to-back, complete-game shutouts in the 1965 Series.
- The 2021 World Series was the first in MLB history to feature four Jewish players: RF Joc Pederson (Braves), P Max Fried (Braves), 3B Alex Bregman (Astros), and C Garrett Stubbs (Astros). Stubbs was a 9th-inning defensive replacement in Game 6.
- Three of the four Jewish players in the 2021 World Series came together on the same play in Game 6. In the bottom of the 2nd inning, Bregman (Astros) came to the plate to face Fried (Braves). On Fried’s second pitch, Bregman lofted a foul ball that was caught by right fielder Pederson (Braves).
- Pederson (Braves) is only the 9th player in MLB history to win back-to-back World Series with different teams (2020 Dodgers, 2021 Braves).
Other stats to share
- Since becoming a full-time starter in 2019, Fried leads all MLB pitchers with 16 defensive runs saved, according to MLB.com.
- P Richard Bleier (Marlins) yielded just 0.93 walks per 9 innings in 2021, best in the National League. Moreover, three of the 6 walks he yielded over 58 innings were intentional. That wasn’t Bleier’s only stellar stat among N.L. pitchers in 2021. According to JBN contributor Jack W., the 34-year-old reliever had the league’s highest ground-ball percentage (65.5%), lowest fly-ball percentage (14.9%), highest first-ball strike percentage (71.1%), and the second-best strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.33). Bleier also induced batters to swing at non-strike pitches 42.1% of the time, second-most in the National League.
Other news
- RF Joc Pederson (Braves), who was traded to Atlanta in July and played with the team in the 2021 World Series, is a free agent after declining a mutual option in his contract last week.
- CF Kevin Pillar (Mets), who joined New York as a free agent in 2021, is a free agent again after declining a mutual option in his contract. The 32-year-old journeyman has played for 5 franchises over the last 3 seasons.
- The Phillies claimed P Ryan Sherriff (Rays) off waivers. In 2020, Sherriff tossed 9.2 scoreless innings during the regular season and appeared in the World Series. He was 0-1 with a save and a 5.52 ERA in 2021.
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