By Scott Barancik, Editor
Have you ever gotten so busy that you didn’t have time to write an intro to an article? Well, that’s where we find ourselves today. So, without further ado…
Play ball!
MLB
RHP Dean Kremer, a member of the Orioles franchise since 2018, was traded to Minnesota on August 1 in exchange for Jhomnardo Reyes, a promising Dominican teen Baseball America called “arguably one of the top hitters across any complex league circuit this summer.” Kremer recently returned to Baltimore’s starting rotation after more than two months on the injured list. He is due to make his Twins debut in an August 5 start against the Royals (8/4/2026)
RHP Jake Bird (AAA) learned in unusual fashion that the Yankees were dealing him to the Nationals: he was on the mound in front of fans and teammates during an August 2 relief appearance (see video). The 30-year-old veteran was dealt along with prospects Yovanny Cruz, Jack Cebert, and Ben Grable in exchange for 1B Luis Garcia Jr., who made his MLB debut in 2020 (8/4/2026)
Mazel tov to RHP Robert Stock (Mets), who got the call-up from Triple-A on August 2 and dominated the Marlins that same afternoon in a five-inning start. Stock held Miami to one earned run on three hits and no walks while striking out four, using an arsenal that included a 98 mph fastball. Not bad for a 36-year-old veteran making just his fourth career start and coming off thoracic outlet syndrome surgery that delayed his season debut until June 19. Since being drafted in 2012, Stock has played for seven franchises, spent a season in Korea, played part of another in indy ball, and represented Team Israel in the 2023 WBC and a 2026 WBC exhibition game (8/4/2026)
LHP Max Fried (Yankees) had a tough 1st inning in an August 1 loss to the Cubs, giving up one run on a walk and two wild pitches, but boy did he make up for it. Fried yielded only two more baserunners over his remaining 4.1 innings—including a single by 3B Alex Bregman—and ended the day with seven strikeouts (8/4/2026)
1B Spencer Horwitz is even tougher than we thought. Last week, you may recall, Horwitz was struck in the face by an 88 mph four-seam fastball, stayed in the game, and stroked a towering, game-tying home run on the first pitch of his very next at-bat. What no one knew until later was that Horwitz had suffered a concussion in the beaning. But you can’t keep a good man down: the fourth-year Major Leaguer returned to Pittsburgh’s lineup on August 2 and had punched a three-run double the following day (8/4/2026)
The Giants are mighty angry at Harrison Bader. The center fielder reportedly was riding a scooter at around 1:50am on July 26 when he crashed it, aggravating the foot injury that has kept him on the injured list since May 29—and all but ending his already slim chances of returning in 2026. His punishment? San Francisco took the unusual step of suspending Bader’s pay, though it has not publicly disclosed which contractual clause the 32-year-old allegedly violated. ESPN said this was not Bader’s first scooter injury. In 2014, police reported finding the college student unresponsive and smelling of alcohol after a crash that led the University of Florida baseball team to suspend him for 19 games (8/4/2026)
The Rangers suffered an 11-2 loss to the first-place Astros on July 31, but Joc Pederson’s 399-foot- home run in the 6th inning made sure Texas dodged a shutout. Pederson is one of 16 AL hitters with at least 20 HRs this season, and his AB/HR ratio of 14.65 ranks fifth among that cohort (8/4/2026)
CF Cole Carrigg (Rockies), who has Jewish lineage but identifies as Christian, recently was ranked No. 20 among MLB rookies by Baseball America. Through August 2, the 24-year-old switch hitter was hitting .305 (43-for-141) with 5 HRs, 27 RBIs, a .389 OBP, and a .914 OPS. Carrigg played shortstop for Team Israel in the 2026 World Baseball Classic (8/4/2026)
A reminder to JBN readers: if you find yourself wondering whether a certain ballplayer is Jewish, be sure to check our Not a Jew page. While not exhaustive, the page includes players with Jewish ancestry who don’t identify exclusively as Jewish, players rumored to be Jewish who aren’t, and players with “Jewish-sounding” names who aren’t members of the tribe. This came up recently when a reader asked us whether Nationals CF Jacob Young is Jewish. Young, who is listed on the Not a Jew page, does indeed have a Jewish parent but identifies as Christian (8/4/2026)
Minors
3B Jake Gelof (Dodgers/AA) stroked three HRs in a 6-2 win over the Royals affiliate on July 29, just three days after Cardinals prospect Zach Levenson (AA) smashed his own trio. Through August 2, the younger brother of 2B Zack Gelof (Athletics) ranked seventh in the Texas League with 21 round-trippers. He also was posting career bests in HRs, batting average, OBP, and slugging percentage (8/4/2026)
On July 31, for the second start in a row, RHP Levi Sterling (Pirates/Single-A) limited opposing batters to one earned run over five innings. The outing capped an excellent month for the 19-year-old, who went 0-1 with a 3.33 ERA, a .188 opponent batting average, and a 1.07 WHIP. Sterling’s 98 strikeouts ranked fifth in the Florida State League through August 2 (8/4/2026)
RHP Eric Reyzelman (AAA) struck out four batters over two perfect innings in a 4-3 win over the Cubs affiliate on July 29. The 25-year-old struck out 39.5% of the batters he faced through August 2, tying him for No. 17 among all minor-league pitchers with at least 30 innings thrown (8/4/2026)
Other News
Maggie Foxx (Los Angeles Queens), a Jewish pitcher and left fielder from New Hampshire, made history August 1 when she stroked a two-run single in the debut of the new Women’s Pro Baseball League, making her the first player in league history to get a hit and tally RBIs. Foxx—who also pitched two innings—finished the day 2-for-2 with a walk en route to a 10-8 win over the New York Heights, (Readers with ESPN subscriptions can watch the game here.) The WPBL was co-founded by two Jews: WPBL Commissioner Justine Siegal, whose pioneering accomplishments include becoming the first woman to throw batting practice for an MLB team, and CEO Keith Stein, a lawyer and entrepreneur from Toronto. Thank you to Zack R. for the tip (8/4/2026)
And thank you, too, to Jack Ziegler for the cartoon he drew 42 years ago for the New Yorker (8/4/2026)
— Da End —
