New York Yankees Select Jewish Pitcher in MLB Draft

The New York Yankees on Monday selected Eric Reyzelman, a Jewish pitcher from Louisiana State University, in the fifth round of the Major League Baseball draft, Arutz Sheva reports. Reyzelman, picked 160th overall, told JTA he plans to sign with the team and begin his career in professional baseball instead of returning for final year at LSU. He does not yet know what his first stop will be in the Yankees organization.

Reyzelman was born and raised in California and has never been to New York. He is the son of two Jewish immigrants — his mother from Ukraine and his father from Moldova, and Reyzelman said he is looking forward to putting down Jewish roots in New York. “Everywhere I’ve gone, every Jewish person in so many areas of the country are somehow all Yankee fans. It’s unbelievable,” he told JTA.

Reyzelman is not Orthodox like pitcher Jacob Steinmetz and catcher Elie Kligman, who were drafted last year, but told JTA that his Jewish faith helps drive him on the mound, and that he wants to get involved in the local Jewish community of wherever he ends up playing.

{Matzav.com}