Author: scott

By Scott Barancik, Editor   Here are your minor-league highlights from the week of June 11-17, 2018:   Jewish Baseball News Hitter of the Week: Ryan Lavarnway* C Ryan Lavarnway* (Pirates/AAA) hit .438 (7-for-16) last week with 2 HRs, 3 RBIs and a .526 on-base percentage. He has hit safely in 8 straight games.  …

By Ron Kaplan, contributor In the only MOT player action Thursday, Alex Bregman, batting in the leadoff spot, was 0-for-4 with a walk and a run scored as the Houston Astros (45-25) completed a three-game sweep of the host Oakland As with a 7-3 win. In fact, it was the eighth straight win for Houston….

By Ron Kaplan, contributor That’s just great. Richard Bleier was having a terrific season for the Baltimore Orioles (19-48), perhaps the one bright spot in a disappointing year for the O’s. But in yesterday’s 5-1 loss to the visiting Boston Red Sox, the lefty reliever left the game with an apparent lat injury after retiring the two batters he faced….

By Ron Kaplan, contributor Where have all the home runs gone? Long time asking. After Friday’s glut, only one. On Tuesday, Joc Pederson blasted his 7th home run in the month of June, 5th in his last seven games, and eighth overall.  This time it was a two-run, two-out job off the Ageless Wonder, Bartolo Colon,…

By Ron Kaplan, contributor Danny Valencia returned to action after missing Sunday’s game because of illness. His double (#6) in five at-bats was one of five hits for the Baltimore Orioles (19-46) in a 2-0, 12-inning loss to the visiting Boston Red Sox. Richard Bleier struck out two in a scoreless ninth to lower his ERA to…

By Ron Kaplan, contributor What is going on with all these home runs? Not that any JML fan will be complaining… I’ve consulted with my experts, and the consensus is that Friday accounted for the most home runs by different Jews on a single day. A total of five players homered that day, one of…

By Scott Barancik, Editor   Here are your minor-league highlights from the week of June 4-10, 2018:   Jewish Baseball News Hitter of the Week: Rowdy Tellez 1B Rowdy Tellez (Blue Jays/AAA) hit .389 (7-for-18) with a home run, 3 doubles, 3 RBIs and a .421 on-base percentage last week.   Jewish Baseball News Pitcher…

By Ron Kaplan, contributor Another home run-happy day for the Hebrews. Joc Pederson remains hot: He began the day with a home run leading off in the first and ended the day with another homer in the eighth as the LA Dodgers (31-31) used nine pitchers to beat the host Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-7. Pederson also had…

By Ron Kaplan, contributor Ian Kinsler‘s sixth home run of the year broke a 1-1 tie as the LA Angels (35-28) held off the visiting KC Royals, 4-3. The two-run shot came in the sixth inning to give the Halos a 3-1 advantage. Kinsler — who has 24 lifetime homers against the Royals — also…

By Ron Kaplan, contributor Joc Pederson is on one of those streaks. He hit his third homer in the last three games to help the LA Dodgers shut out the host Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-0. Pederson’s fourth dinger of the year came in the second inning with one man on and was his only hit in four…

By Ron Kaplan, contributor In the only Major League contest with Jewish participation, Ian Kinsler was 0-for-4 with a walk as the LA Angels (33-28) scored three runs in the eighth to break a 6-6 tie and beat the visiting KC Royals, 9-6. The game followed a week in which Kinsler hit .429 with 3 HRs…

By Ron Kaplan, contributor The Hebrews were homer happy over the last few days. Mazel of the weekend goes to Joc Pederson, who went 4-for-5 on Sunday with two solo home runs (three on the year) and a double in the LA Dodgers’ 12-4 win over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday, 12-4. He was unsuccessful…

By Scott Barancik, Editor   Here are your minor-league highlights from the week of May 28-June 3, 2018:   Jewish Baseball News Hitter of the Week: Zach Borenstein* LF Zach Borenstein* (Mets/AAA) hit .333 (8-for-24) with 3 HRs, a double, 7 RBIs, a stolen base and a .429 on-base percentage. He leads the Las Vegas…

By Ron Kaplan, contributor Ian Kinsler continued his hot hitting, going 3-for-4 (see below) with his 10th double and a run scored, but it didn’t prevent the LA Angels (30-27) from losing to the host Detroit Tigers, 6-2. Maybe he just had some extra incentive versus his old team: he had nine hits in 14 at-bats…

By Ron Kaplan, contributor Joc Pederson was 2-for-4 with a run scored and a sacrifice fly as the LA Dodgers (26-29) beat Gabe Kapler‘s visiting Philadelphia Phillies (30-23), 8-2. Speaking of Kap, Yahoo has an interesting interview with him. Ian Kinsler was back in the leadoff spot for the LA Angels (30-26), going 2-for-3 — including his ninth…

By Ron Kaplan, contributor Ian Kinsler was dropped to seventh in the lineup and responded by going 3-for-3 with a double (#8), home run (#3), single and a walk. He scored three runs and drove in three for a nice line in the box score. The homer came in the second with two on and gave the…

By Ron Kaplan, contributor The Atlanta Braves (31-23) called up Max Fried to pitch the opening game of a day/night doubleheader with the visiting NY Mets. He had mixed results. On the one hand, he gave up four walks and four hits in five innings. On the other hand, he struck out six, picked off two runners…

By Ron Kaplan, contributor Ryan Braun entered Friday’s game for the Milwaukee Brewers (34-20, first in NL Central) against the visiting NY Mets as a defensive replacement at first base; he did not come to bat. He was the starting left-fielder, batting third, in Saturday’s 17-6  blowout, going 1-for-4 with two runs scored, two walks, a…

By Scott Barancik, Editor   Here are your minor-league highlights from the week of May 21-27, 2018:   Jewish Baseball News Hitter of the Week: Michael Barash C Michael Barash (Angels/AA) hit .471 (8-for-17) last week with 3 doubles, 3 RBIs, 6 walks and a .583 on-base percentage. This is his second straight Hitter of the…