By Scott Barancik/Jewish Baseball News

In less than two hours, Team Israel will take the field against South Africa in Game 1 of the World Baseball Classic qualifiers taking place this week in Jupiter, Fla. The team just started batting practice after doing some light calisthenics.

Here is the lineup and batting order for Team Israel:

  1. Ben Guez (CF)
  2. Joc Pederson (RF)
  3. Nate Freiman (1B)
  4. Cody Decker (LF)
  5. Shawn Green (DH)
  6. Josh Satin (3B)
  7. Jack Marder (2B)
  8. Charlie Cutler (C)
  9. Jake Lemmerman (SS)

Some initial thoughts:

  • San Diego Padres prospects Decker and Freiman, who are batting 3rd and cleanup, were teammates on the San Antonio Missions (AA) this season and finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in HRs among Texas League players.
  • Putting Shawn Green at DH means he doesn’t need as much conditioning, probably a smart move for someone who has been out of baseball for 5 years.
  • Not a single Israeli is in the starting lineup.

We’ll bring you more updates later.

You can watch the game for free at www.worldbaseballclassic.com.

# # #

——————————————————————————————————————————————–

Buying something on Amazon.com? Help support Jewish Baseball News — use our Amazon link!

——————————————————————————————————————————————-

Share