By Scott Barancik, Editor
D-1 colleges have been at it for eight weeks—plenty of time to get a sense of the year’s top performers. Today, we lay it all out for you.
Although the MLB season is a mere two weeks old, there’s enough news to merit an update. Mind you, it ain’t all good.
Remember to check Jewish Baseball News for our Jewish Box Score, which provides player-by-player updates every 10 minutes.
Let’s play ball!
Major Leagues
Note: Player stats shown below are accurate through 4/6/2026.
C Garrett Stubbs (Phillies/AAA) lost his bid for the final catcher spot on Philadelphia’s roster last month, but manager Rob Thomson has a plan for the Team Israel veteran. “I think he showed us enough in Spring Training that he’s a potential super-utility guy that can play anywhere in the outfield, anywhere in the infield, maybe not first base, but also catch,” Thomson told Sports Illustrated on Opening Day. “He’s got a lot of value.” Indeed, Stubbsy displayed value and versatility last week. In a 4-0 win over the Rays’ affiliate on April 2, the 32-year-old hit a 3-run HR in his first at-bat of the regular season, successfully challenged a called ball (which converted it to a strikeout pitch), and ended the day 2-for-4. In his second game, Stubbs played third base—a position he had played only once before in more than 670 pro games—and went 3-for-3 with a 2-run, game-tying HR, 2 walks, and a stolen base. Rafael Marchán, the catcher who got the Phils’ final roster spot, is 1-for-7 so far
LHP Max Fried (Yankees), who teamed up with RHP Jake Bird to shut out the Giants on Opening Day, recorded another shutout in his second start of the season, a 5-0 win over the Mariners 5-0 on March 31. The ace held Seattle to 3 hits and a walk over 7 innings while striking out six. Fried and Bird didn’t have quite the same magic in the next start. Fried gave up 3 earned runs over 6.2 innings and left the game with a 4-3 lead over the Marlins. But Bird, who entered the game with one out and a man on first in the 8th inning, was pulled after giving up a walk, hitting a batter, and yielding a 2-run double. He was hit with both the loss and a blown save in Florida’s 7-6 win. Despite the defeat, Fried’s 1.35 ERA ranks #6 in the A.L., and his WHIP comes in at #7
LHP Jared Shuster (Cardinals), who was released by the White Sox in December and was hit hard in his lone Triple-A outing this season, got a surprise call-up from the Cardinals on 4/5/2026. The middle reliever benefited from the poor performance of St. Louis RHP Chris Roycroft, who gave up 5 earned runs on 8 hits and 5 walks over a combined 3.2 MLB innings this season before being optioned to Triple-A. If he gets into a game, Shuster will be the seventh Jewish player in the Majors this season
Atlanta signed free agent Rowdy Tellez to a minor-league contract on 5/23/2026 and assigned him to the club’s Triple-A team. Tellez, who has played for five franchises over his 8-year MLB career, was released midyear by the Mariners in 2025, got picked up the Rangers, and then declared free agency in November. He hit .228 (66-for-289) last season, with 17 HRs, 49 RBIs, and a .276 OBP and .719 OPS. Tellez currently is hitting .214 (6-for-28) for the Gwinnett Braves, with 2 HRs and 8 RBIs
The Nationals, who signed 1B Matt Mervis to a minor-league contract during the offseason, released him on 3/31/2026 after the well-traveled veteran failed to make the Opening Day roster and played just one game with Washington’s Triple-A team. Last month, Mervis played 1B and DH for Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic, hitting .273 (3-for-11) with 2 doubles and 3 RBIs
Jewish batters in the MLB—all four of them—are off to a slow start. The quartet is hitting a combined .153 (19-for-124) at the plate, with just 12 RBIs, a .239 OBP, and an anemic .514 OPS. 1B Spencer Horwitz (Pirates) leads the group with a .231 average, LF Joc Pederson (Rangers) takes the bottom rung at .100, and CF Harrison Bader (Giants) has struck out 13 times in 38 ABs
Perhaps the best performance at the plate so far was in Alex Bregman’s second game as a Cub. The third baseman launched two solo HRs—the first Jewish round-trippers of 2026, in fact—in a 6-3 loss to the Nationals at Wrigley Field on 3/29/2026. The balls landed in the center-field and right-center bleachers, a surprising outcome for a pull hitter. Two days later, the Gold Glover snared an 111.6-mph liner rocketed by Mike Trout
Minor Matters
It’s been a yo-yo Spring for RHP Robert Stock. Released by the Red Sox in August, he signed a minor-league deal with New York in November and later got an invite to join the Mets for Spring Training. The 36-year-old veteran wowed the brass in his debut, a 5-0 win over the Astros on February 26, striking out 6 batters over 3 innings of relief, yielding only one baserunner, tossing strikes on 26 of 39 pitches, and earning a hold. A week later, Stock had similar success in a 1-0 exhibition victory over the Marlins, this time wearing an “Israel” jersey. Unfortunately, the March 3 outing proved costly; Stock reported shoulder discomfort after the game and chose to get thoracic outlet surgery, leading him to his current spot on the injured list. But two days after the Marlin defeat, Stock got good news: The Athletic, a website owned by the New York Times, featured Stock and Stockyard Baseball, the pitch-modeling app he created
College Catch-Up
The following players are among the best-performing Jews playing D-1 baseball this season, with stats accurate through 4/9/2026. Note that each university listed below is identified by its 2026 NCAA conference and that conference’s competitiveness ranking. For example, Georgia Tech is part of the ACC, which ranks #2 among 31 D-1 conferences (excluding the Ivy League). Gemini based its rankings on several inputs. You can see its methodology here.
- C Max Kaufer, a senior transfer at Wichita State (AAC #7), ranks among the best D-1 players with a .440 average (22-for-50), an incredible 11 HRs in just 50 ABs, and 27 RBIs. He also leads all Jews with a .567 OBP and 1.747 OPS. Kaufer previously played at Texas A&M and the University of South Carolina, both of which are in the #1-ranked SEC
- Georgia Tech (ACC #2) 3B Ryan Zuckerman, a junior, is hitting .327 (36-for-110), with 11 HRs (tied for #1 on team), 39 RBIs (#1/tied), OBP of .460, and 1.178 OPS. Zuckerman previously played at the University of Pittsburgh, a fellow ACC school
- St. John’s University (Big East #16) C Adam Agresti, a junior, is enjoying his best season yet. Agresti is hitting .315 (35-for-111) with 12 HRs (#1 on team and among all Jewish players), 32 RBIs (#2 on team), an OBP of .457 (#1), and 1.142 OPS (#1). His brother, C/LF Jason Agresti, plays for the New York Boulders of the independent Frontier League
- University of Nebraska (Big 10 #4) RHP Cooper Katskee, a redshirt junior who previously played for Indiana University (Big 10 #4) and Miami of Ohio (MAC #20), is an impressive 5-0 with a 2.79 ERA, 0.83 WHIP (tied for #10 among all D-1 pitchers), and 45 strikeouts against 8 walks. Katskee was the 2025 MAC Pitcher of the Year
- Tulane University (AAC #7) LHP Jake Toporek, a graduate student who spent his first three seasons in a much lower-ranked conference (NEC #25), has risen to the challenge. The 23-year-old reliever is 1-2 with a 2.67 ERA (#1 on team), 3.75 strikeout-to-walk ratio (#1), 1.15 WHIP (#2), and is averaging 10 strikeouts per 9 innings
- University of Maryland (Big Ten #4) LHP Austin Weiss, a freshman, made his college debut on March 22, and it was one he’ll always remember. The first batter Weiss faced was UCLA SS Roch Cholowsky — the projected #1 pick in the 2026 draft. What did Weiss do? Struck him out on a 2-2 count. Weiss ended up tossing a scoreless inning against the country’s top-ranked college team, yielding no hits and two walks while striking out two. Alas, UCLA trounced Maryland 14-4
Recent Transactions
- Cardinals call up LHP Jared Shuster from Triple-A (4/5/2026)
- Diamondbacks place RHP Jacob Steinmetz (High-A) on 7-day injured list (4/3/2026)
- Mets place RHP RJ Gordon (Double-A) on 7-day injured list (4/2/2026)
- Padres place RHP Josh Mallitz (Double-A) on 7-day injured list (4/2/2026)
- Mets place RHP Josh Blum (High-A) on 7-day injured list (4/2/2026)
- Nationals release 1B Matt Mervis (3/31/2026)
- Dodgers promote 3B Jake Gelof to Double-A (3/31/2026)
- Guardians reassign LHP Ryan Prager to rookie league (3/31/2026)
- Phillies promote C Jordan Dissin to Double-A (3/30/2026)
- Phillies outright C Garrett Stubbs to Triple-A (3/28/2026)
- Tigers place RHP Scott Effross (AAA) on 7-day injured list (3/27/2026)
- Cardinals reassign LHP Jared Shuster to Triple-A (3/27/2026)
