By Ron Kaplan, contributor Welcome to the club: Max Fried made his Major League debut last night, tossing the final two innings (scoreless!) in the Atlanta Braves’ 5-2 loss to the visiting Philadelphia Phillies. He walked two (one intentionally) and gave up two hits while striking out one. Mazel tov, Max! Alex Bregman had a two-out, game-tying, three-run…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Three days after his improbable call-up from Double-A, Atlanta Braves prospect Max Fried made his MLB debut tonight, pitching two scoreless innings of relief in a 5-2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies (see game stream). In so doing, he became the 12th Jewish player in the Majors this season and only…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor A very light night for baseball, with only two of the boys in action. Ryan Braun, batting second these days, had his best showing in awhile with two singles, a double (#16), and a run scored, but the Minnesota Twins overcame a 4-1 deficit to beat the Milwaukee Brewers (59-55), 5-4….
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your minor-league highlights from the week of July 31-August 6, 2017: Jewish Baseball News Hitter of the Week: Blake Gailen* LF Blake Gailen* (Dodgers/AA) had a career game on August 5, going 3-for-5 with 2 HRs and 6 RBIs. It was his second two-homer game since being signing with Los Angeles out…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Kevin Pillar was 3-for-9 in two games (he missed Friday’s opener) with two runs scored as the Toronto Blue Jays (52-59) lost two of three to the host Houston Astros (71-40). Alex Bregman had one hit in each game, all for extra bases: his 13th home run on Friday, 28th double on Saturday, and…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Max Fried, a 23-year-old pitcher picked 7th overall in the 2012 draft, was called up today by the Atlanta Braves. Fried’s call-up is nothing less than surprising. The 6’4″ southpaw missed most of 2014 and all of 2015 with injuries and Tommy John surgery, and he didn’t exceed Single-A ball until this season, when…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Congrats to Ian Kinsler. He became the fifth MOT to reach 10 home runs this year, thanks to a leadoff shot to start the game. He also walked and scored another run in four plate appearances as the Detroit Tigers (50-57) beat the host Baltimore Orioles (53-55), 7-5. It was the fifth time…
By Ethel Hilsenroth, contributor It’s August, and Richard Bleier‘s ERA this season is 1.56. That’s after pitching in 31 games for the Baltimore Orioles. A total of 40.1 innings. How special is that? Well, to put it in perspective, not one other American League pitcher who has pitched 40 or more innings this season has as low…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Ryan Braun singled and doubled in four at-bats, but the Milwaukee Brewers (56-53) came up short in a 5-4 decision to the visiting St. Louis Cardinals. Ian Kinsler scored one of two runs the Detroit Tigers (49-57) plated to shut out the host NY Yankees, 2-0. Kinsler was 1-for-4 in the game, which endured multiple…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor August already? Where did the time go? Alex Bregman cracked home run #12, a solo shot, and drove in another run, but the Houston Astros (69-37) still lost to the visiting Tampa Bay Rays, 6-4. Ryan Braun was 1-for-4 and drove in the first run of the game on a ground out to…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor So despite all the rumors, none of the MOTs moved prior to the non-waiver trade deadline yesterday at 4 p.m. Brad Goldberg had the best outing of his young Major League career, getting his ERA under 10 thanks to two innings of scoreless relief in which he gave up one hit, walked…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your minor-league highlights from the week of July 24-30, 2017: Jewish Baseball News Hitter of the Week: Jake Thomas LF Jake Thomas (Blue Jays/High-A) hit .389 (7-for-18) with 2 doubles, 3 RBIs and 5 walks last week. His .436 on-base percentage ranks 8th-best among all minor leaguers this season. Jewish Baseball News…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Kevin Pillar hit his 12th home run on Sunday in one of the great comebacks in memory as the Toronto Blue Jays scored seven times in the bottom of the ninth to beat the visiting LA Angels, 11-10. Pillar’s long knock came with one man on base and decreased the deficit to…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor A bleak day except for one brief shining moment. Joc Pederson hit his 11th home run, a solo shot in the fourth inning to put the LA Dodgers on the board in a game that they would eventually win, 6-5, over the visiting Minnesota Twins. The victory put LA 40 games over…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor No home runs last night. In fact, Jewish batters went just 4-for-21. Alex Bregman had been relatively unscathed this year, but that ended when he injured his hamstring running out a triple (#2) in his only at bat as the Houston Astros (67-33) shut out the host Philadelphia Phillies, 5-0. That came…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor The home run parade continues. Joc Pederson and Alex Bregman joined the double-digit club last night. Bregman hit #10 — a solo job — along with two doubles in five at-bats as the Houston Astros (66-33) beat the host Philadelphia Phillies, 13-4. Pederson cracked his tenth — similarly good for one run — to tie the game at 2-2 and…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Alex Bregman hit his ninth home run of the year. The solo blast came in the Houston Astros’ (65-33) 8-4 win on Friday over the host Baltimore Orioles (47-51). It was one of his two hits in 11 at bats (plus a walk) as the Astros took two of the three…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your minor-league highlights from the week of July 17-23, 2017: Jewish Baseball News Hitter of the Week: Rhett Wiseman RF Rhett Wiseman (Nationals/High-A) hit .364 (8-for-22) last week with 2 home runs, a triple and 6 RBIs. In his last 10 games, he is hitting .432 with 2 HRs and 8 RBIs. Jewish…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Ian Kinsler hit his 15th double on a two-out, 0-2 pitch to drive in two runs for the Detroit Tigers (43-51) in their 16-4 loss to the host KC Royals. Kinsler has a modest five-game hitting streak going on. Danny Valencia was 2-for-4 as the Seattle Mariners (48-49) lost to the visiting NY Yankees,…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Baby steps: Brad Goldberg lowered his ERA from 108.00 to 36.00 by tossing scoreless relief for 2/3 of an inning as the Chicago White Sox (38-54) lost to the LA Dodgers (66-29), 9-1, in a game that ended in the eighth because of rain. Joc Pederson entered the game as a defensive replacement and was…
