By Bill Simons

As the 2025 baseball beckoned, the biggest Jewish baseball stories of the off-season involved pitcher Max Fried and third baseman Alex Bregman donning new uniforms. Free agents Fried and Bregman, today’s pre-eminent Jewish major leaguers, signed lucrative contracts with new teams. 
After building a career won-loss percentage higher than that of Sandy Koufax during eight seasons with the Atlanta Braves, Fried joined the New York Yankees, baseball’s most fabled franchise, situated in the capital of American Jewry. 
Contemporaneously, after nine years, nearly 200 regular season home runs (HRs) with another 19 in the post-season and stellar defense at the hot corner as an Astro, Bregman departed Houston for the Boston Red Sox.
Fried went on to have a terrific season, but the specifics of his 2025 triumphs will await my next column, given that the detail and significance associated with those feats require a stand-alone article. 
Boston finally came to an agreement with Bregman on February 12. His Red Sox contract called for $120 million over three years. When Rafael Devers, a formidable slugger, but mediocre fielder, radiated negativity at moving from third base to make way for 2024 Gold Glove winner Bregman, the Red Sox ultimately traded him. 
In an interview with The Boston Herald, Bregman spoke of his Jewish pride despite push back when he affixed the Star of David to his Astros’ cap: “I got more hate for that than anything else in my entire career.” Networking with Boston’s Jewish fans and organizations, Bregman discussed possibly joining Team Israel for the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
Rejuvenated in the friendly confines of Fenway Park, Bregman emerged as the Sox’ most valuable position player. Superb on defense, his offensive statistics after 51 games – .299 batting average (BA) 11 HRs, 17 doubles, .553 slugging percentage, 35 runs batted in (RBIs) – elicited hope amongst the Boston faithful that Bregman would lead the team to the World Series. Alas, a serious right quad game injury on May 23 kept him out of the lineup until July 11 and necessitated Bregman turning down his All-Star Game selection. Upon return, he never regained his punch at the plate, finishing with disappointing offensive statistics – .273 BA, 18 HRs, 62 RBIs. After the Red Sox were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, credible sources claimed that Bregman would opt out of his contract and exit Boston. 
Matching the 2023 record, 18 Jews appeared on MLB rosters in 2025, nearly enough for a double minyan. Thanks to Jacob Gruvis, the stellar Jewish Telegraphic Agency sportswriter, for generously sharing his compilation. 
As a starting pitcher for the dismal Baltimore Orioles, righthander Dean Kremer, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, won a team high 11 games against 10 losses. Another tall, Jewish right-handed starting pitcher, Houston Astros rookie Colton Gordon posted a 6 W-4 L record. 
MLB’s corps of relief pitchers included five Jews. Jake Bird – 4 W, 2 L, 0 saves (SV), 5.53 earned run average (ERA) – split the season between the Colorado Rockies and the Yankees. In addition to Fried and Bird, a third Jew, Scott Effross, pitched briefly for the 2025 Yankees (0 W, 0 L, 0 SV, 8.44 ERA). The Philadelphia Phillies’ Max Lazer (1 W, 1 L, 0 SV, 4.79 ERA), Chicago White Sox’ Jared Shuster (0 W, 0 L, 0 SV, 8.04 ERA) and Red Sox’ Robert Stock (0 W, 0 L, 0 SV, 10.13 ERA) rounded out a struggling Jewish relief pitcher contingent. 
Catchers CJ (Washington Nationals, hitless in three at bats) and Garrett Stubbs (Philadelphia Phillies, hitless in one bat) constituted a Jewish MLB brothers act. 
A dislocated left shoulder cost Oakland Athletics second baseman Zack Gelof (.174 BA, 2 HRs, 30 games) most of the season. 
Miami Marlins’ first baseman Matt Mervis (.175 BA. 7 HRs) has yet to realize the hitting potential he demonstrated in the minors. In 364 at bats, Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Spencer Horwitz (.272 BA, 11 HR) was a steady presence on a hapless team. Another first baseman (Seattle Mariners/Texas Rangers), Rowdy Tellez wacked 17 HRs in only 289 at bats, but failed to hit for average (.228 BA).
A former outfielder now at 33 primarily used as designated hitter, the colorful Joc Pederson, a longtime Team Israel stalwart and the leader in career HRs (218) amongst active Jewish players, endured a difficult season (.181 BA, 9 HRs) with the Texas Rangers. Conversely, Harrison Bader, after joining the Philadelphia Phillies for the stretch run, hit a robust .305 and provided impressive defense in centerfield. Unfortunately, he suffered a disabling groin injury in the first round of the playoffs. 
Despite resurgent antisemitism and escalating criticism of Israel, Jews also remained prominent beyond the foul lines. At Boston’s invitation, former Hamas hostage Omer Shem Tov, a veteran of the Israeli military, threw out the ceremonial first pitch on May 19 at Fenway Park. Retired Boston All-Star Kevin Youkilis, a Team Israel coach, spoke about his solidarity trip to Israel and castigated “radical mobs chanting for intifadas in NYC.” Various major and minor league teams sponsored salutes to their Jewish fans. On July 20, I attended a Jewish Heritage Night, sponsored by the Tri-City Valley Cats of the independent Frontier League, at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium in Troy, NY. As CEO of Israel Baseball Americas, Nate Fish labored to enlarge the Jewish American “pipeline of talent for the Israel National Team Program.” 
Of the MLB coaches, managers, executives and owners, none could match the tsuris of New York Mets owner Steve Cohen. Determined to bring a championship to long suffering Queens fans, Cohen has suffered futility since acquiring the team in 2020 despite spending a fortune on big-name free agent stars. Finally, slugger Juan Soto appeared poised to lead the Mets to the promised land. At mid-season 2025, their 45 W-24 L record was the best in MLB. Then, true to form, an epic collapse undid Cohen’s Mets. 
Hitting only .209 in 43 at-bats prior to his release by the Texas Rangers, Jewish centerfielder Kevin Pillar (career: .255 BA, 114 HRs) officially ended his 13-year MLB career with a retirement announcement on July 2. Still strong defensively, Pillar aspires to play for Team Israel in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Unexpectedly, he peaked this reporter’s baseball season. In a video shoutout, Pillar wished me a “Happy Father’s Day,” referenced my publications on Jewish ballplayers and expressed appreciation for my fan support. My attorney son Joe had covertly arranged for Pillar to contact me.