By Scott Barancik, editor
As baseball fans celebrate Opening Day, Jewish Baseball News is taking a look back at the 21 Jews who participated in MLB Spring Training this year.
Fifteen position players and six pitchers saw playing time, some as full-fledged team members, others as non-roster invitees, and several via short-term stints. Their stats are shown at the bottom; players who made their franchise’s Opening Day roster are shown in bold.
Following are some of the Spring’s top stories.
- It will take a lot more for him to earn back some fans’ trust and affection, but Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun — fresh from a 65-game suspension for taking performance-enhancing drugs — dazzled, hitting .417 with nine RBIs and eight extra-base hits in 36 at-bats.
- Ike Davis and Josh Satin both made the Mets’ Opening Day roster and will share First Base duties with Lucas Duda. But Davis — who squeaked by with a .241 average in Spring Training — is among the candidates to be sent down later this week to make room for Jon Niese.
- Nate Freiman‘s 11 RBIs ranked eighth on the A’s, but it wasn’t enough to make the team’s Opening Day roster. Meanwhile, teammate Sam Fuld wowed his way onto the roster with four triples, 7 RBIs and a .348 on-base percentage.
- With Boston’s Craig Breslow starting the season on the disabled list, Scott Feldman is the only Jewish pitcher to make an Opening Day roster. He also was the only Jewish starter during spring Training. As a group, Jewish pitchers went 1-and-5.
- After missing much of the past three seasons with surgeries and injuries, former Boston Red Sox OF Ryan Kalish earned a spot on the Cubs’ Opening Day roster. Kalish hit .304 with 3 RBIs, stole 6 of 7 bases, and reached base 38.5% of the time.
- Texas prospect Aaron Poreda earned some respect in his first MLB Spring Training since 2011. Poreda claimed one save in two chances, held opposing hitters to a .265 average, and walked just one batter over 8.1 innings.
- Ian Kinsler, traded by Texas during the off-season for Detroit’s Cecil Fielder, outperformed “Big Daddy” with 3 HRs, 9 extra-based hits, 9 RBIs, a perfect 4-for-4 in stolen bases, a .300 average, and a .382 on-base percentage. Fielder matched Kinsler’s power (3 HRs, 9 extra-base hits, 10 RBIs) but hit .246 while striking out 16 times and drawing only two walks.
- Ben Guez, a 27-year-old outfielder who spent part of the last four seasons with Detroit’s Triple-A club but has yet to be called up, made a brief but exciting splash in three Spring Training games. Against Toronto on 3/18/2014, Guez reached base all six times, going 3-for-3 with two doubles and three walks. His career MLB Spring Training average is a robust .529, along with a .692 on-base percentage.
MLB Spring Training hitting, 2014
| Team | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OBP | |
| Zach Borenstein | LAA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NA | 1.000 |
| Ryan Braun | MIL | 36 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 0 | .417 | .500 |
| Ike Davis | NYM | 29 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 | .241 | .313 |
| Cody Decker | SDP | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | .300 | .417 |
| Nate Freiman | OAK | 42 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 0 | .238 | .327 |
| Sam Fuld | OAK | 59 | 16 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 1-1 | .271 | .348 |
| Ben Guez | DET | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0-1 | .714 | .818 |
| Ryan Kalish | CHC | 46 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6-7 | .304 | .385 |
| Ian Kinsler | DET | 60 | 18 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 4-4 | .300 | .382 |
| Ryan Lavarnway | BOS | 38 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | .289 | .357 |
| Jake Lemmerman | SDP | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .500 |
| Joc Pederson | LAD | 38 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | .184 | .311 |
| Kevin Pillar | TOR | 33 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0-1 | .152 | .176 |
| Josh Satin | NYM | 50 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | .260 | .333 |
| Danny Valencia | KCR | 48 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1-1 | .229 | .327 |
Notes: Zach Borenstein walked in his only plate appearance
MLB Spring Training pitching, 2014
| Team | W | L | ERA | G | IP | H | BB | SO | AVG | WHIP | |
| Jeremy Bleich | NYY | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 1 | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .500 | 2.00 |
| Scott Feldman | HOU | 0 | 2 | 5.40 | 4 | 16.2 | 21 | 2 | 14 | .292 | 1.38 |
| Aaron Poreda | TEX | 0 | 1 | 3.24 | 8 | 8.1 | 9 | 1 | 8 | .265 | 1.20 |
| Danny Rosenbaum | WAS | 0 | 1 | 2.70 | 3 | 3.1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | .300 | 1.50 |
| Jeff Urlaub | OAK | 1 | 1 | 8.10 | 4 | 3.1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | .333 | 1.80 |
| Josh Zeid | HOU | 0 | 0 | 4.15 | 7 | 8.2 | 12 | 4 | 12 | .333 | 1.85 |
Notes: Aaron Poreda earned one save in two chances; Josh Zeid earned a save in his sole opportunity. Boston’s Craig Breslow did not play, due to injury
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