By Ron Kaplan, contributor Kevin Pillar was 0-for-5 on Friday, striking out twice as the Toronto Blue Jays (23-27) held off the visiting Texas Rangers, 7-6. The Rangers scored three in the top of the ninth to make things interesting. On Saturday, Pillar was 0-for-4 with another strikeout in a 3-1 win. He doubled and…
By Scott Barancik, editor When the Los Angeles Dodgers drafted catcher Sam Finfer out of high school in 2013, nabbing him in the 29th round, the Bellevue, WA, native took a pass. Thus began a collegiate odyssey that took him from Seattle University and Bellevue College to Marshall University. After a lackluster junior year at Marshall, where…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Another shvach day for the fellas. Bad news for Ryan Braun: He left the Milwaukee Brewer’s 4-0 loss to the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks with a recurrence of that calf injury which put him on the disabled list. Looks like he’s heading back there. He was 0-for-1 before coming out in the…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Now that’s more like it. The boys went for a combined 7-for-18 yesterday with two doubles, two homers, and four runs scored. Kevin Pillar was one of four Toronto Blue Jays (21-26) who posted round-trippers in an 8-4 win over the host Milwaukee Brewers (25-21). His seventh of the season —…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor By default, the best performance of the day came from Richard Bleier, who made his second appearance in two days to pitch the final two innings as the Baltimore Orioles (25-19) were shut out by the visiting Minnesota Twins, 2-0. Bleier was perfect in his stint, striking out two. Craig Breslow…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Mazel of the Day: Looks like we got the Jekyll version of Scott Feldman last night. He picked up his third win for the Cincinnati Reds (21-23), going six strong innings in a 5-1 victory over the visiting Cleveland Indians. Feldman allowed just four hits, including a homer by Jason Kipnis…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your minor-league highlights from the week of May 15-21, 2017. It was a particularly good stretch for members of Team Israel’s 2017 squad, who we’ve marked with an asterisk: Jewish Baseball News Hitter of the Week: Zach Borenstein* LF Zach Borenstein* (Diamondbacks/AAA) had a modest 7 hits in 26 at-bats last week (.269) but made them count,…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Ryan Braun returned to action from the disabled list on Sunday against the host Chicago Cubs, going o-for-5 with an RBI on a ball hit softly to the pitcher. The Milwaukee Brewers (25-19) lost this one, 13-6, after beating the Cubs on Friday, 6-3. The Saturday game was postponed by rain….
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Amidst his batting woes, Joc Pederson was 1-for-3 with a walk, a strikeout, and two runs scored as the LA Dodgers (24-18) beat the visiting Miami Marlins, 7-2. Ian Kinsler singled in four at-bats as the Detroit Tigers (20-19) beat the visiting Baltimore Orioles, 6-5. Richard Bleier did not appear for…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Not a great night for the boys, a collective 3-for-21 and a poor pitching performance. Ian Kinsler‘s RBI single in the second inning gave the Detroit Tigers (19-19) a 2-1 lead over the host Baltimore Orioles (23-15) in a game they would go on to win 5-4. Kinsler added another single…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Co-mazels of the day: Kevin Pillar doubled (#12) and homered (#6) in five at-bats, but the Toronto Blue Jays (17-23) lost to the visiting Atlanta Braves, 9-5. According to a flattering profile by SportsNet, Pillar “lives the way he plays: spontaneously, without fear and confident in what he can do.” Richard Bleier pitched…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Kevin Pillar was 1-for-5 with a run scored as the Toronto Blue Jays (17-22) fell to the visiting Atlanta Braves, 10-6. The latest article to comment on the defensive wizard’s recent prowess at the plate refers to him as a “somewhat surprising Pillar of strength.” Alex Bregman hit his eighth double in three…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Mazel of the weekend: Kevin Pillar was 2-for-3 with stolen base No. 5 on Friday as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the visiting Seattle Mariners, 4-0. Saturday was even better: 3-for-4 with his 11th double, two runs scored, one RBI, and his sixth stolen base in a 7-2 win. But Sunday was…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your minor-league highlights from the week of May 8-14, 2017: Jewish Baseball News Hitter of the Week: Rowdy Tellez 1B Rowdy Tellez (Blue Jays/AAA) began the week with a four-game hitting streak, during which he hit .375 (6-for-16) with 3 doubles, 6 RBIs, 2 walks (one of them intentional) and his first stolen…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Mazel of the Day: Ian Kinsler returned to action after some hamstring problems and went 3-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored to help the Detroit Tigers (17-16) to a 7-1 decision over the host LA Angels. He also made his first error of the season, but we won’t dwell…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Mazel of the day: Danny Valencia was 4-for-6 with two singles, a double (#5), and a home run (#4), two runs scored, and two RBI as the Seattle Mariners reached the .500 mark (17-17) with an 11-6 win over the host Philadelphia Phillies. That’s the second time this month Valencia has…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Kevin Pillar accounted for one of the Toronto Blue Jays’ four hits in their 6-0 shutout at the hands of the visiting Cleveland Indians. Sorry, no highlight reel defensive plays in this one, but here he talks about Monday night’s stellar grab. The Jays are 12-21. Ryan Braun doubled (#6) in four at-bats…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Only two MOTs in action last night, but it’s quality, not quantity. Joc Pederson drove in the first run for the LA Dodgers (18-14) against the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates with a single in the first. He also drove in the 10th run on a double in the fourth en route to…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your minor-league highlights from the week of May 1-7, 2017: Jewish Baseball News Hitter of the Week: Jake Thomas LF Jake Thomas (Blue Jays/A) hit .375 (3-for-8) last week and drew two walks in each of the three games he played. Thanks to his prodigious walking — Thomas is drawing a…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor It’s been a rough few days for the boys, several of whom have been hit by the injury bug. Ian Kinsler and Ryan Braun missed all of the Detroit Tigers’ and Milwaukee Brewers’ games, respectively, over the weekend. Kinsler is suffering from a slightly pulled hammy (anathema to the MOTs) while…
