According to the media 22 Jews were in major league spring training camps.
Some only had Jewish fathers, many married non-Jews and most have a very limited knowledge of Judaism.
Let’s focus on two brothers who grew up in Delaware. Their family belonged to a conservative synagogue, where their grandmother served as president and they had some Hebrew schooling. The most important thing while they’re in uniform is that they are good players who can hit for power and could be all-stars.
Zack Gelof plays a fine second base for the Oakland Athletics, but his bat has the fans excited. In Triple-A and with the A’s last year, Gelof totaled 26 home runs and batted .285 in 533 at-bats. His big league totals were 14 homers with a .267 average after being brought up to the majors where he batted 270 times. Pitchers also learned that he can steal bases.
Zack’s brother, Jake, is also a home run threat and was picked by the Dodgers in the second round of the major league draft. Over three college baseball seasons Jake slugged 48 homers and he hit 23 home runs in his last season. In 34 professional at-bats late last season in the Dodgers chain, Jake hit six home runs. The brothers were thrilled in spring training when L.A. played Oakland and they made an appearance in the same box score.
The best Jewish hitter over the past few seasons has been Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman. The 29-year-old Bregman is in his last year before possibly leaving the Astros as a free agent. Last season Breggie hit 25 home runs while batting .262.
The two best Jewish pitchers are Max Fried and Dean Kremer. In an injury shortened season, Fried won 8 and lost 3 while posting a 2.71 ERA for the Atlanta Braves. Fried hopes for a healthy season and then sign a mega free agent contract with Atlanta or the highest bidder.
Dean Kremer won 13 and lost 5 for the Baltimore Orioles last year with an earned run average of 4.12. After serving in the IDF, Dean’s Israeli parents came to America to take advantage of a college scholarship and eventually settled in Stockton, Ca., where Dean was born. He grew up speaking Hebrew at home and most of the Kremer family lives in Israel as does one of Dean’s brothers who is currently serving in the IDF. While pitching in the post season playoffs last year, Kremer wore a very visible Star of David chain around his neck.
Kremer is aiming for helping the Orioles to the World Series this season. It’s a tough task as the American League East boasts a Yankees team which added Juan Soto to go along with Aaron Judge, but who knows how long Gerritt Cole will be sidelined with an elbow injury and Tampa that has some good seasoned young stars. The American League West has two excellent Texas teams, the Rangers and Astros and the Seattle Mariners are also capable of topping the division. The American League Central has the weakest clubs and the best are considered the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians. But surprise, surprise, look for the Detroit Tigers to blow by them with many young players giving the team a strong lineup and good pitching. This is the best group of young upcoming stars that the team compiled in decades. One thing for sure, the team will win more games than it loses.
In the National League the spotlight will shine on the Los Angeles Dodgers. Their great lineup of stars has been buoyed by the addition of free agent Shohei Otani who left the Angels. The Dodgers should win more games than any other team, but Otani can’t pitch this season as he’s recovering from arm surgery. But the two-way star should provide the Dodgers with a plus .300 average with over 40 homers as he did last year for the Angels.
It doesn’t seem to matter if Milwaukee and Atlanta win their divisions. As we saw last year a team just has to win enough games to make it to the playoffs and then get hot. No one could imagine that the Arizona Diamondbacks (84 wins) would face the Texas Rangers (90) in the Fall Classic. Atlanta, Baltimore and the Dodgers all won over a hundred regular season games while Tampa won 99 but ran out of gas in the post season.
Enjoy the season.
