MLB highlights
By Scott Barancik, Editor Baseball is coming back to life after its offseason slumber. Team Israel’s first game of the 2026 World Baseball Classic is this Saturday, March 7, at 7:00pm ET against Venezuela on FS2. MLB’s regular season starts March 25. NCAA baseball began three weeks ago. Jewish ballplayers across the sport are already…
By Scott Barancik [Updated 3/3/2026] Major League Baseball, which owns the World Baseball Classic, unveiled Israel’s 2026 WBC roster on its website and social media accounts yesterday. The list of 30 players includes WBC veterans, newbies, current and former Major League players, one native-born Israeli, and a handful of ballplayers who qualify by virtue of…
By Scott Barancik Opening Day of the college baseball season is just weeks away. To mark the occasion, Jewish Baseball News (JBN) has prepared a timely update on the latest comings and goings in the D-1 landscape. Our report includes two Jewish ballplayers new to our D-1 roster, 12 transfers to new D-1 schools for…
By Scott Barancik, Editor We’ve been saving up news to share with you, dear readers. In other words, procrastinating. But Alex Bregman’s signing by the Cubs has forced our hand. Check out these highlights from the past few months. Bregman Bolts Boston Reports surfaced on the night of January 10 that the Chicago Cubs had…
(This article was updated on 1/5/2026 to include two #1-ranked prospects in the High-School Class of 2025 who we inadvertently left out of the initial publication: 1B Charlie Buckles, and LHP Austin Weiss.) A couple years ago, Jewish Baseball News began tracking high-school athletes who had officially committed to play baseball at a Division 1…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Two teams fighting for a spot in the 2025 MLB playoffs made moves just hours before the trade deadline, acquiring Jewish players they hope will boost their chances. The Philadelphia Phillies (61-47), currently second in the race for one of three National League wildcard spots, acquired outfielder Harrison Bader from the…
By Shel Wallman (Editor’s note: our original list of the top D-1 players was updated 8/5/2025 to add OF Harrison Feinberg, whom we inadvertently had omitted.) Welcome to our 2025 College All-America Team, which lists the top performers at every position among Jewish athletes playing Division 1 baseball. The squad includes 8 position players and…
By Scott Barancik, editor Welcome to the 2025 baseball season! Spring Training is well underway, and through March 3, the tally of Jews officially competing for an MLB team has reached 31. The group is nearly evenly divided between position players (16) and pitchers (11). (Updated 3/3/2025 to include Astros LHP Colton Gordon and Marlins…
Six of 18 Jews who played in MLB this season — CF Harrison Bader (Mets), 3B Alex Bregman (Astros), LHP Max Fried (Braves), RHP Dean Kremer (Orioles), RHP Max Lazar (Phillies), and C Garrett Stubbs (Phillies) — make it onto a playoff roster, but three fall out when their teams are swept in 2-game Wild Card series. See ‘Jewish Box Score’ for details (10/2/2024) Of 18 Jews…
Phillies call-up RHP Max Lazar from Triple-A (10/1/2024) Cubs call-up 1B Matt Mervis from Triple-A (10/1/2024) Yankees reassign RHP Scott Effross to Triple-A (9/29/2024) Yankees call-up RHP Scott Effross from Triple-A (9/26/2024) Pirates release 1B Rowdy Tellez (9/25/2024) Pirates designate 1B Rowdy Tellez for assignment (9/24/2024) Yankees assign RHP Harrison Cohen (High-A) to Salt River Rafters of Arizona Fall League (9/25/2024) Dodgers assign 3B Jake Gelof (High-A) to Glendale…
By Scott Barancik, editor At least 28 Jewish athletes spent time at an MLB Spring Training camp in 2024. Sixteen were there by virtue of being on a 40-man roster, five received non-roster invitations, and eight were called-up from minor-league camp. (If we discover additional call-ups, we will add them here.) Here are some highlights:…
By Scott Barancik, editor A total of 21* Jews are at an MLB Spring Training camp this season, including 10 pitchers and 12 position players (see list below). Seventeen of the 22 are there by virtue of being on their team’s 40-man roster. The remaining five, including veteran outfielder and recent free-agent signee Kevin Pillar…
By Shel Wallman (Note: Originally published on 6/16/2023, this article has been updated three times. On 6/27/2023, we added IF Hank Zeisler of the U. of Missouri and C Will King of Eastern Kentucky U. to our All-America team. On 7/12/2023, we added P Ben Simon of Elon U. to the team. On 7/16/2023, we…
By Scott Barancik, editor A dozen of the 26 Jews who participated in this year’s MLB Spring Training have landed spots on an Opening Day roster. When the season begins today, the Atlanta Braves will lead the pack with three players. They include starting pitchers Max Fried and Jared Shuster along with veteran outfielder Kevin…
By Scott Barancik, editor Atlanta Braves star Max Fried is having a heckuva Spring. After finishing second last season in N.L. Cy Young Award voting, the 6’4″ All-Star is 3-0 this preseason with a perfect 0.00 ERA and 14 strikeouts over 11.1 innings. Yet it’s possible he won’t be the only Jewish pitcher in Atlanta’s…
By Scott Barancik, editor A 3rd-round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2017 amateur draft, the University of Florida alum and 2021 Gold Glove winner is poised to begin his first full season with the Yankees and 7th season overall in the Major Leagues. Harrison Bader, a 28-year-old centerfielder with the New York…
By Scott Barancik, editor Colorado Rockies reliever Jake Bird, who made his MLB debut in June and later committed to represent Israel in next month’s World Baseball Classic, is the most recent Major Leaguer to be identified as Jewish. The 27-year-old California native starred at UCLA, his hometown school. In 2018, his senior year, Bird…
By Scott Barancik, editor Dalton Guthrie, a Philadelphia Phillies rookie who considered joining Team Israel for the upcoming World Baseball Classic, is the latest Major Leaguer to be identified as Jewish. The lanky 27-year-old is a talented and versatile fielder. Plucked out of the University of Florida in the 6th round of the 2017 amateur…
By Scott Barancik, editor Jewish Baseball News’ most recent MLB update took us through games played June 17. Following is an overview of what has happened since then, through games played August 21. Mazel Tov P Jake Fishman (Marlins) became the third Jewish pitcher to make his MLB debut in 2022. In 3.1 innings of…
