By Scott Barancik, Editor

Welcome to the first edition of Minor-League Monday for the 2018 season.

Here are your highlights from April 5–15, 2018:

Jewish Baseball News Hitter of the Week: Cody Decker

Decker

Decker

1B Cody Decker* (Diamondbacks/AAA) began the season in Double-A but was wisely promoted. In 26 at-bats at the Triple-A level, he hit .269 with 4 home runs — tied for #2 in the Pacific Coast League — and 8 RBIs. One of the most memorable games in Decker’s illustrious minor-league career took place April 9, when he went 4-for-4 with 2 HRs, a double, a walk and 3 RBIs.

Jewish Baseball News Pitcher of the Week: Matthew Gorst

Gorst

Gorst

  • P Matthew Gorst (Red Sox/High-A) pitched 5 scoreless innings across 2 games, yielding 3 hits and one walk while striking out 3. Gorst saw significant action with Boston during MLB Spring Training this season, going 0-0 with a 3.00 ERA in 7 relief appearances.

Other highlights

  • C Michael Barash (Angels/AA) started the 2018 season with a bang, hitting the first pitch he saw on Opening Day for a home run.
  • OF Zach Borenstein* (Mets/AAA) hit .308 (12-for-39) during the April 5-15 period, and his 10 RBIs tied for 12th most in the Pacific Coast League. In one three-game stretch, he homered in every game and drove in a total of 8 runs.
  • C Mitchell Kranson (Twins/High-A) hit .296 (8-for-27) with 3 doubles, 6 RBIs and only one strikeout.
  • C Scott Manea (Mets/A), an undrafted free agent signed in 2016, hit .438 (7-for-16) with 3 doubles and 2 RBIs.
  • C Garrett Stubbs (Astros/AAA) hit .321 (9-for-28) with 2 triples, a double and 3 RBIs.
  • RF Rhett Wiseman (Nationals/High-A) hit .293 (12-for-41) with 2 HRs, 3 doubles and a triple.
  • P Zack Weiss (Reds/AAA) had a rough go of it in his Major League debut on April 9, not too surprising given that he spent all of 2017 at the High-A or Double-A levels. But Weiss quickly got his sea legs after being sent down to Triple-A, pitching a perfect inning of relief on April 15 to earn a save.
  • P Jeremy Bleich* (Athletics/AAA) pitched 3.1 scoreless innings across 3 games, yielding 2 hits and no walks while striking out 2.
  • P Sam Delaplane (Mariners/A), a 2017 draftee, pitched 4 innings of one-run ball across 2 games, yielding 4 hits and a walk while striking out an impressive 8 batters. In his rookie season, Delaplane struck out 50 batters in 33 innings while walking only 9.
  • P Max Fried (Braves/AAA), who pitched in nine MLB games in 2017, started two games during the April 5-15 period, one each in Double-A and Triple-A. In 10.1 combined innings over those two games, Fried yielded 8 hits, one earned run and 5 walks while striking out 12.
  • P Alex Katz* (Orioles/A) earned a 1.80 ERA and a save over 3 relief appearances. He yielded 4 hits and 2 walks over 5 innings while striking out 7.
  • P Robert Stock (Padres/AA), who came close to landing a spot on San Diego’s Opening Day roster, earned a 3.00 ERA over 3 appearances, yielding 3 hits, 2 walks and an earned run in 3 innings while striking out 6.

Transactions

  • P Max Fried (Braves/AAA) was promoted from Double-A to Triple-A on April 12.
  • 1B Cody Decker* (Diamondbacks/AAA) was promoted from Double-A to Triple-A on April 8.
  • P Zack Weiss (Reds/AAA) was sent from the Major League roster to Triple-A on April 14.
  • CF Blake Gailen*, who hit .300 for the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Double-A team in 2017, was released. He subsequently signed with the Lancaster Barnstormers of the independent Atlantic League. (See our Player page for a more comprehensive list of Jews playing in independent leagues — i.e., leagues not affiliated with MLB.)

Free agents

Disabled list

Note to readers: Minor-League Monday does not include stats for all current Jewish minor-leaguers. Click here for a complete list of players, and then click on a player’s name to be taken to his stat page.

Members of Team Israel’s 2017 squad are marked with an asterisk.

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