By Scott Barancik, Editor
Here are your MLB highlights for the week of July 22-28, 2019:
Mazel tov
- Israel’s baseball team took another step toward qualifying for the 2020 Olympics last week when it crushed Lithuania in a battle of B-Pool champions at the European Championships. Israel beat Lithuania 12-2 and 15-0 in the best-of-three series, amassing an astonishing .419 batting average along with 9 home runs and a 0.64 ERA. 1B Simon Rosenbaum (4-for-7, 2 HRs, double, 6 RBIs) led all batters, while former Kansas City Royals prospect Gabe Cramer tossed a one-hitter in Game 2. Israel’s next challenge will be the A-Pool tournament in Germany on September 7-15, where its pitching staff will be bolstered by three new arrivals who recently obtained Israeli citizenship: top Baltimore Orioles prospect Dean Kremer, and former MLB prospects Jon Moscot and Zach Weiss. The top 5 of 12 teams in that tourney will move on to the Olympic qualifiers in Italy on September 18-22. Click here if you want to contribute toward Israel’s $250,000 budget.
Stats to share
- Ryan Braun hit the 100th Jewish home run of the 2019 season on July 24. The Jewish record of 118 was set in 2018.
At the plate
- 2B Ian Kinsler (Padres) batted 1.000 (2-for-2) with two pinch-hit singles, bringing his career hit total to 1,998. Shawn Green holds the Jewish record of 2,003.
- LF Joc Pederson (Dodgers) hit .235 (4-for-17) with an RBI and a .381 on-base percentage.
- C Ryan Lavarnway (Reds) hit .200 (2-for-10) with a double and an RBI before being designated for assignment on July 28.
- LF Ryan Braun (Brewers) hit .143 (2-for-14) with a home run, double, 3 RBIs, and a .250 OBP.
- CF Kevin Pillar (Giants) hit .148 (4-for-27) with 3 doubles and 2 RBIs, striking out 7 times while drawing no walks. We failed to mention last week that he was ejected on July 21.
- 3B Alex Bregman (Astros) had his worst week of the season, hitting .059 (1-for-17) with a double, RBI, and a .238 OBP. One has to wonder if getting hit on the head with a 97-mph fastball on July 19 played any role. None of that stopped MLB.com from celebrating Bregman’s young career in this video.
- 1B Rowdy Tellez (Blue Jays), who was sent down to Triple-A on July 15, made a strong case for returning to Toronto, hitting .429 (9-for-21) with 4 HRs, a double, 6 RBIs, and a .538 OBP.
On the mound
- Max Fried (Braves) came off the injured list July 27 to start against the Philadelphia Phillies. Although a little shaky — he yielded 4 earned runs on 7 hits and 3 walks over 5.1 innings — Fried earned his 11th win, thing him for #4 in the National League. He pitched in at the plate, too, going 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.
- Richard Bleier (Orioles) went 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA across 4 appearances, yielding an earned run on 2 hits and no walks over 3.1 innings while striking out 2.
- Robert Stock (Padres) is on the injured list, having last pitched on July 2.
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