MLB Monday (July 12-18, 2021)

Mazel tov

• Atlanta’s 9-0 win over the Rays on July 17 arguably was a historic day for Jewish ballplayers. Braves starter Max Fried was the game’s star (see below). In addition to tossing a shutout, Fried was 3-for-3 at the plate. Among his batting feats that day was a 2-run double in the 4th inning that came after Tampa Bay intentionally walked a batter to face him. Even better, new teammate Joc Pederson — in his first start as a Brave since being traded by the Cubs — followed Fried’s double with a 2-run home run. After the game, the new teammates lauded one another. Said Pederson about Fried: “The dude rakes! Might have to be Shohei Ohtani soon, huh?” And Fried said about Pederson: “He’s electric. He obviously has a lot of thunder in his bat.”
• Of the 612 players selected in last week’s annual amateur draft, at least six were Jewish. Many thanks to our colleagues at Jewish Sports Review for assembling this list, which includes an undrafted free agent who signed a minor-league contract last week:
  1. Zack Gelof (3B), Athletics (Rd 2, #60)
  2. Jacob Steinmetz (P), Diamondbacks (Rd 3, #77)
  3. Colton Gorton (P), Astros (Rd 8, #238)
  4. Michael Rothenberg (C), Tigers (Rd 12, #345)
  5. Shawn Goosenberg (SS), White Sox (Rd 19, #575)
  6. Elie Kligman (C), Nationals (Rd 20, #593)
  7. Daniel Federman (P), Orioles (free agent)

Stats to share

• When P Max Fried (Braves) went 3-for-3 on July 17, he became only the fifth MLB pitcher in the past 5 seasons to do so. Meanwhile, Fried is hitting .333 this season, 2nd-best among MLB pitchers with at least 30 plate appearances. (Note: Fried’s batting average includes his 1-for-2 record as a pinch hitter.)

Weekly overview

• Jewish batters hit a combined .350 (7-for-20) last week, with a home run, 2 doubles, 7 RBIs, 2 walks, a hit-by-pitch, and a .435 on-base percentage (OBP). The performance raised their collective batting average from .233 to .236, versus the Major League average of .241.
• Jewish pitchers went a combined 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA last week, yielding 5 hits and a walk over 9 combined innings while striking out 7. The performance lowered their collective ERA to 5.08, versus the Major League average of 4.17.

On the mound

• Richard Bleier (Marlins) had a perfect 0.00 ERA over 2 appearances last week, yielding a hit and no walks over 2 combined innings. Bleier needed just 13 pitches to record the 6 outs.
• Max Fried (Braves) pitched a shutout on July 17, yielding just 4 hits and a walk over 7 innings while striking out 7.

At the plate

• LF Joc Pederson (Braves) hit .400 (4-for 10) in his first week as a Brave, contributing a home run, double, 4 RBIs, and a .455 OBP.
• P Max Fried (Braves) went 3-for-3 on July 17 with a 2-run double.
• 1B Rowdy Tellez (Brewers) hit .000 (0-for-4) but drew a walk as well as a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch, giving him one RBI and a .333 OBP.
• CF Kevin Pillar (Mets) hit .000 (0-for-3) across 3 appearances as a late-game replacement. Pillar hasn’t started a game for New York since July 10.

Players to watch

• P Noah Davis (Reds/High-A/Dayton Dragons earned a win on July 17, yielding one earned run over 6 innings on 5 hits, 2 walks, and 7 strikeouts. Davis is 3-1 since starting the season 0-4. He has 74 strikeouts over 61.1 innings.
• P Jared Shuster (Braves/High-A/Rome Braves) tossed four nearly spotless innings in a July 13 start, yielding one hit and no walks while striking out 5. So far this season, Shuster has held opposing batters to a .162 average and has recorded 36 strikeouts against 8 walks over 28 innings.
• P Ben Gross (Twins/High-A/Cedar Rapids Kernels) raised his record to 4-0 with a July 18 win. Over 5.1 innings, Gross yielded 4 hits and no walks while striking out 8.
• P Robert Stock (Mets/Triple-A/Syracuse Mets) tossed 6 innings of one-run ball in a July 13 start, yielding 6 hits and a walk while striking out 8. Stock went on to pitch a perfect inning of relief on July 18.

Transactions

• C Garrett Stubbs (Astros) was recalled from Triple-A on July 19.
• LF Joc Pederson was traded from the Chicago Cubs to Atlanta on July 15.

Injured list

• 3B Alex Bregman (Astros), left quad strain, since June 17.

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